Freund Heins Erscheinungen in Holbeins Manier 1803.
This emblem book is titled Freund Heins Erscheinungen in Holbeins Manier, which means Apparitions of Death in the Manner of Holbein, and it is a new edition written by Johann Karl August Musaus (“Neue Auslage”), illustrated by Johan Georg Mansfeld after the originals by Swiss artist Johann Rudolph von Schellenberg, and published in Mannheim, Germany in 1803. The text is in German, the book has tan decorated boards, blank endpapers, a frontispiece with an engraving that depicts the Grim Reaper, J. Mansfeld’s name is below the frontispiece instead of Schellenberg’s, and the skeleton on the frontispiece is the Grim Reaper holding a scythe that is a classic symbol of death and a reminder that death comes to us all (Memento Mori). Then the title page, a foreword (Vorbericht), pages 7 - 10 are missing at the beginning, there are 23 half-page engravings plus the full-page frontis, for a total of 24 engravings in the book, the book is 157 pages long, with a list of emblem titles (Anzeiger) at the rear, explanations in prose and verse by Musäus, the final plate (plate XXIV) on page 153 shows the author Musaus and artist Schellenberg in an embrace with the skeleton of Death, and the plates depict scenes with a skeleton of death that visits people from all levels of society.
The book has 24 plates altogether, 23 in the text plus the frontispiece, but the plate on page 9 is missing and would have shown the engraving titled “Gestorte Liebe”, which means “Lost Love” and depicts a skeleton holding a net over a young woman, and pages 7- 10 were not torn out the book, but just not included in the binding process, it seems.
Johann Karl August Musäus (1735 - 1787) was a German author and one of the first collectors of German folk stories. He studied theology in Jena and after landing a job as a pastor and losing it because local neighbors saw him dancing, he turned to writing satires, and his folk tales became part of a revived interest in fairy tales.
Johan Georg Mansfeld (1764 - 1817) was an engraver, lithographer and painter from Vienna. His engravings include a portrait of Mozart, a portrait of Maria Theresa of Austria, the Holy Roman Empress, and animal portraits, especially of horses and dogs, among others.
The book measures 6 7/8 x 4 7/16 inches wide and is in very good condition, with a tight binding and clean pages and text, with just hints of soiling and light brown spots in a few margins.
WorldCat shows one copy of this title published in Mannheim in Special Collections around the world, at the British Library in London, so the book is exceptionally rare, even though it is not the first edition, which was published in Winterthur in 1785, and two copies are being sold on the rare book website we use, one for $435 and another for $900, Biblio is offering a copy for $1391 Australian dollars ($1085) and that book has heavy soiling, and a single engraving by Mansfeld from the book (plate XII) is going for $180 all by itself.
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