First of all the historical-critical edition in its entirety (edited text and apparatus) must reproduce all authorized states of the text with historical exactitude. Hence, the various states must be kept distinct and must not be mixed in the text or in the apparatus. For example, only one specific version, one specific witness document which, as the carrier of a particular state of the work, represents a unique historical moment or a discrete stage in the development of the work and the author, forms the basis of the edited text. Since–and insofar as–punctuation and spelling are inseparable from the historical situation, this conceptual approach does not pose the question of modernization or normalization. The conception excludes correcting an authorized document from another witness document. The result would be a contaminated text.