The article discusses the text of the memoirs of Glikl von Hameln, a Jewish mother of 14 in 17th century Hamburg, Germany, whose work recounts a 13 year marriage, her and her husband's business enterprise, a decade of widowhood, her remarriage, and her perilous life among a Christian majority. The memoir is seen as a historical window on the social and political treatment of Jews at the time and a record of marital practices and financial affairs. The editing and first publication of the memoirs in 1896 is traced, and their scholarly interest as a family and social chronicle is reviewed.