The volume documents the issues revolving around the relation between transmission, editing, manuscript proximity, and textual reconstruction that aroused lively discussion at the Berlin Editing Conference in 2004. Overview articles and reports on projects ranging from Old High German to late medieval carnival plays investigate questions of text constitution and the status of manuscripts, reflected in a broad spectrum of editing approaches selected in accordance with the respective state of transmission. The collection is supplemented by articles on editorial paratexts and electronic editing forms.