THE volume herewith presented to the English-speaking public is a translation of Part I of Max Weber’s Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft, which was in turn originally published as Volume III of the collaborative work Grundriss der Sozialoekonomik, in the planning of which Weber played a major role. Its relation to Weber’s work as a whole is explained in the editor’s Introduction. It is, however, relatively self-contained so as to appear suitable for separate publication in translation. The choice of an English title, for which the editor is wholly responsible, is meant to designate this independent significance.Finally I should like to record my gratification that this translation does not stand alone in bringing to the English reader some of the more comprehensive and fundamental works of Max Weber. There has also recently appeared, published by the Oxford University Press, a volume of selections from Weber’s most important sociological writings translated and edited by Hans Gerth and C. Wright Mills.