Einleitung zu der Historie der vornehmsten Reiche und Staaten, so jetziger Zeit in Europa sich befinden. Zum vierdten mal gedruckt.

"In 1682, Samuel Pufendorf published his treatise Einleitung zu der Historie der Vornehmsten Reiche und Staaten so itziger Zeit in Europa sich befinden (…). This book included a short reference to the early beginnings of mankind, which combined biblical and Aristotelian perspectives: 'To the time of the deluge', Pufendorf suggested, there was no magistracy, but 'the Government was lodged only in each Father of his Family, a Paternal Government', which might have continued 'for a considerable time after the deluge'. Here, the biblical account was combined with a more or less ethnographic approach. But this period was not at the centre of Pufendorf's interest, since, as the title of his book already indicated, he focused on the development of modern states and societies. For his purposes, for the analysis of present political and legal developments, biblical history was nothing more than a vague reference point" (Godfrey 207-08).

The work was published numerous times throughout the 18th century.