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The early modern republic of letters has largely been analysed as an epistolary network. In this case study on Leonhard Christoph Sturm (1669–1719) we suggest a broader approach which integrates data on letters and publications from the VD 17, VD 18, and Kalliope catalogues along with a reconstruction of Sturm’s library. Based on this data we perform an exploratory network analysis which, in turn, informs a hermeneutic inquiry in two key areas of Sturm‘s scholarly interest: the design of fortifications and theology. In this way, we offer a comprehensive methodology which combines distant and close reading to study the intellectual networks of the early Enlightenment around 1700.