This volume includes 228 letters that Goethe wrote between the time of his return from Italy to the end of 1790, and seven official letters. An additional 395 original letters were accessed to produce this volume. The correspondence documents the completion of the first edition of Goethe's works, his extensive official activities, his second trip to Italy, the start of his cohabitation with Christiane Vulpius, and the birth of their son, August.