[1][2][3] Whereas traditional scholarly editing can be seen as constructing a new document drawing together and comparing many source documents to cast light on a work, genetic editing closely examines a single extant manuscript and traces back each aspect to cast light on the work.
Genetic editing is strong in European, particularly French and German, textual scholarship.
The German genetic editing, which has been associated with synoptic telescoping,[4] has a different method of presentation from the Anglo-American model.
[5] The primary model and test case of German editions has been Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
These documents are similar to documentary editions but it also include information detailing the different phases of writing and rewriting of the manuscript.