What Luther Says, Available Online

Volume 1 (Internet Archive)

Volume 2 (Internet Archive)

Volume 3 (Internet Archive)

The Internet Archive continues to provide free access to many of the books I've purchased! I bought the three-volume set of What Luther Says around twenty years ago. It's not a set that simply sits on my bookshelf: I've continued to use it regularly in my studies or treatments of Luther here on this blog.  Early on, when I came across a seemingly outrageous charge about Luther, often I was able to get a broad overview of what Luther really thought on the subject by using this anthology.  

In regard to English treatments of Luther, this set is one the most helpful in my entire library. The author, Ewald Plass, went painstakingly through Luther's writings (in their original languages) and compiled a massive anthology of what Luther thought about particular topics. It isn't a systematic theology per se, but there is a sense in which it's a topical systematic treatment of Luther's immense literary output. According to the Forward of the set, the project began in 1948 and finished in 1956.  

What I find unfortunate is that detailed information as to exactly who the author was is not easily located online. Concordia Publishing says of the author, 

Edwald Plass, a long-time Lutheran college professor, devoted his life to introducing laypeople and clergy alike to Martin Luther, a man's whose writings he thoroughly studied and read in the original language. His great work What Luther Says remains in print to this day as the most outstanding and thorough collection of the wit and wisdom of Martin Luther. This volume offers a storehouse of information about Luther, about those with whom he worked and struggled during the tumultuous years of the Reformation. In his book, Plass presents Luther's attitudes on many aspects of life, while demonstrating Luther's one overriding passion that animated everything he did: the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let Ewald Plass introduce you to Martin Luther.

With a such a unique name, I suspected the author was the founding pastor of Mount Calvary Lutheran Church in Milwaukee WI:

Founding Pastor, Rev. Ewald M. Plass, imparted to the congregation a strong support for foreign missions which remains a part of Mount Calvary’s ethos. Rev. Plass served two years at the Lutheran Seminary in Brazil and his passion for overseas mission work took hold at Mount Calvary.

This was confirmed in an obituary which provided the following information:

Lutheran Church--Missouri Synod pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI from 1926 to 1936; Assistant pastor at Nazareth Lutheran Church, Milwaukee, WI. He served as a professor at Concordia Seminary, Porto Alegre, Brazil from 1923 to 1925 and Concordia College, Milwaukee, Wisconsin from 1936 to 1960, where he was also the librarian from 1941 to 1950. He served as the Secretary of the Commission on College and University Work for the LCMS from 1932 to 1956. He was a published author, providing a book of sermon illustrations with Frederick Selle, as well as a Luther biography in 1948 and his monumental three-volume anthology of "What Luther Says" in 1959.

I'm sure there are some of you reading this that, sometimes like me, do a basic Internet search of your name to see what's out there. Sad to say that many cyber hits to my name are slanderous and malicious. Not so with Ewald Plass! A typical search of "Ewald Plass" produces countless hits to his set, What Luther Says. He truly left a significant legacy and deserves to be remembered!

Addendum  

Volume 1 (Google Books, search only)

Volume 2 (Google Books, search only) 

Volume 3 (Google Books, search only)