The Marvellous Adventures and Rare Conceits of Master Tyll Owlglass

40. 1618. “Wunderbarliche und seltzame Historia | Tyllen Eulen- | spiegels, eines Bawren Son, | aus dem Land zu Braunschweig bür- | tig. Newlich aus Sächsischer Sprache auff | gut Hochteutsch verdolmetschet sehr | kurtzweilig zu lesen. Jetzundt wider frisch gesotten vnd new gebacken. Gedruckt im Jahr M.D.C.XVIII.”

Thirteen sheets in small octavo, without pagination. The stories, 102 in number, with woodcuts. Preserved in a book, together with a song-book printed by Jacob Singe, and with which the Eulenspiegel is uniform, at the Town Library at Bremen.

41. 1636. This edition is not in the list of Dr. Lappenberg. The copy I have examined is in the British Museum (press mark 12315 c), and the title is as follows: “L’histoire de | Tiel Vlespiegle | contenant ses faits | merueilleux, & les grandes fortunes | quil a euës durant sa vie. | Nouuellement traduit de Flammand en François.” (Beneath this a woodcut representing in a rude way Eulenspiegel with the glass in the right hand and the owl in the left, on horseback), a Paris, chez Iean Promé, en sa boutique au coin de la ruë Dauphine. 1636. 16mo. The stories are forty-six in number and the epitaph is thus given:—

“Vlespiegle est icy gisant,
Son corp est icy mis en terre,
Pour-ce on aduise le passant,
Q’aucen ne change cette pierre.”

The pagination is only on one side, and extends to thirty-five, signatures A-E iij, and the rude woodcut at the commencement is repeated at the end. The chapters are not numbered, and the following prologue is printed at the back of the title: “Ayant esgard aux prieres d’aucuns miens familiers, ausquels ie n’ay osé bounement refuser, amy Lecteur, i’ay acteur du present Liure, amasse & compilé les plaisantes tromperies mocqueries & finesses, dont usa en sa vie Tiel Vlespiegle, lequel depuis mourut l’an mil trois cent cinquante. En quoy toutes fois ie demande d’estre excusé à l’endroit de toutes personnes, tant Spirituels, que Temporels, Nobles que Roturiers; attendu le dessein que i’ay tousiours eu de n’offencer aucun, l’ayant composé, non point au mespris de la gloire de Dieu, ou pour inuenter menteries & enseigner malice; mais seulement pour recreer & resueiller les esprit eunuyez, afin aussi que les simples se puissent garder de telles tromperies au temps aduenir.” The copy in the Museum is well bound in a dark coloured calf.

42. 1637. “Wonderbaerliche ende seltsame historie van Thijl Ulenspiegel, van zijne schalke, listighe bootsen ende boeverijen, gedruckt by broer Jansz.” Broer Jansz is known as the printer of the earliest Amsterdam newspaper, in 1628.

43. 1640 (?). “Het aerdig leven | van | Thijl Ulenspiegel | Waer in verhallt worden niet alleenelyk veel aerdige en kluchtige Poetsen en Boeveryen, maer ook besonderlyk syn wondere aventueren, die hem geduerende syn Leuen gebeurt zyn, zoo hier, als in andere Landen. T’Antwerpen. By J. H. Heyliger, op de groote Merkt in de Pauw.”

Sheets A-D 2. Sixty-one sides without pagination, in octavo, with rough woodcuts. This edition varies considerably from all others, although founded upon the edition of Broer Jansz. New adventures and scenes are introduced, and the tone of the book much altered.

44. 1655. “La vie de Tiel Vlespiegle de ses faicts merveilleux et finesses par luy faictes, & des grandes fortunes qu’il a euës, lequel par nulles fallaces ne se laissa tromper. Nouuellement corrigée & translatée de Flamand en François. A Troyes. Chez Nicholas Oudot, demeurant en la ruë Nostre Dame au Chappon d’Or Couronné.” Signatures A-E, in small 8vo. In the public Library of Ponikau at Halle.

45. 1657–63. In a volume, entitled “Recueil des plus illustres proverbes, mis en lumière par Jacq. Lagniet”—the Life of Eulenspiegel is given as the fourth book. Brunet, Manuel, Tom. III. s. v. Lagniet.

46. 1663. A French translation in “Les œuvres de Bruscambille. Rouen.” Copy preserved in the Royal Library of Göttingen.

47. 1675. Tyll Eulenspiegel is referred to by Koch, as published this year without place.

48. 1677. “La vie de Til Eulenspiegel, a Troyes.” An octavo, preserved at Göttingen.

49. 1683. This edition was not known to Dr. Lappenberg when his work appeared. The title page is as follows: “La vie | de | Tiel Ulespiegle | De ses farces & merveilleuses finesses, par luy | faites, & des grandes fortunes qu’il | a euës, lequel par milles fallaces | ne se laissa tromper. | Nouvellement corrigée & translatée de Flamen en François, avec des belles figures. | (Here a figure of an owl in a looking-glass). A Paris | Chez Pierre Clinchet, à l’enseigne du Dauphin | M.DC.LXXXIII.” In the British Museum (Press mark, 12315 a), small octavo, bound in paper. The woodcuts in this edition are of the rudest kind and the prologue the same as that in the edition of 1636. The stories are forty-six in number, and the epitaph; the number of pages are eighty-eight. Signatures A-F iij. It seems to be a close reprint of the edition above mentioned, No. 44.

50. 1690. “Historia Tillen Eulenspiegels.” An octavo, named in Heise’s Bücher-Catalog. Hamburg, 1827. Vol. I.

51. 1696. “Underlig oc selsom Historie om Tiile Ugelspegel, een Bondes Soen, barnfoed udi Lande Brunszwig, saare Kortvillig at laese, af Tydsken paa danske udsat. Sidste Gang prentet i dette Aar.” At the end is the date of the year, 1696. Thirteen sheets in octavo.

52. 1699. “La vie | de Tiel Ulespiegle | De ses faits merveilleux, des grandes fortunes qu’il a | eues, lequel par aucunes fallace [sic] ne se laissa surprendre ni tromper. A Troyes | Chez Jacques Oudot, demeurant en la rue | du Temple, 1699. Avec permission.” A small octavo, signatures A-C (query F), forty-eight pages, without numbers. The copy described by Lappenberg is preserved in the Imperial Library of Paris.

17th Century, without particular date

53, 54. Without date, but belonging to the seventeenth century are two octavo editions mentioned in a catalogue published at Halle in 1846, p. 379.

55. An undated Dutch edition of this period in octavo has the following title: “Wonderlijke Levensgeschiedniss van Thyl Uilenspiegel, behelzende zijn schalkachtig en avonteurlijk leven, op nieuw verbeterd en vermeerderd, met zeldzaamheden welke noch nimmer bekent zijn geweest. Tweede Druck. Rotterdam.” This is a second edition.

56. An edition without date appeared at Amsterdam about this time in octavo. “Wonderbarelyke en zeldzame Historien van Thyl Uilenspiegel, van zyn schalke, listige potsen en Boeveryen, di hy, zoo in zyn dood, als ook in zyn leven bedreven heest. Zeer tydkordig en geneuglyk om te lezen voor oude en jonge lieden.”

57. A Rotterdam edition, with following title page, is in the Bodleian (Douce, v. 58): “Wonderbaarlyke en Zeldzaame | Historie | van | Thyl | Ulenspiegel, | en van Zyn Schalke, Listig Bootzen en | Boerveryen, | die hy en zyn leven | bedreef. | Zeer tydkörtig en genoeglyk om te leezen | Verciert met Figuuren en zyn Lyk-Ceel. | Te Rotterdam. | By Johannes Scheffers, Boek- | Drukker in de Prinsestraat.” Duodecimo, eighty-eight numbered pages, and eight without pagination. Rough woodcuts, and typography in black letter, except the headings of chapters, and the last eight pages. This edition is not mentioned by Dr. Lappenberg.

58. Without date: “La vie de Tiel Vlespiegle de ses faicts et merveilles & des grandes fortunes qu’il a eues, lequel par milles fallacies ne se laissa surprendre n’y tromper. A Troyes et se vend a Paris chez Antoine de Rafflé, Imprimeur Marchand libraire, Rue de petit Pont, à l’Image S. Antoine.” Signatures A-D, small octavo. Preserved in the Royal Library of Dresden, and in the public Library of Ponikau at Halle.

59. A Rouen edition, without date, not mentioned by Lappenberg: “Tiel Vlespiegle de sa vie ..... ne se laissa tromper. A Rouen chez Loys Costé, rue Escuyere aux trois croix Couronnées.” Printed in double columns in quarto, without pagination, and bound in a volume, preserved in the British Museum (press mark, 12513

5, g), together with a number of publications by Loys Costé and others, comprising Melusine, Geoffrey a la grand Dent, Richard sans paour, Florimont, and Oliuier de Castille.

60, 61, 62. At this time several Polish translations seem to have appeared. See San Marte Gross-Polens Nationalsagen. Bromberg, 1842. p. 203.

63. 1701. “Tiel Wliespiegle, de sa vie, de ses faits et merveilleuses finesses par lui faites, et des grandes fortunes qu’il a eues, lequel par les fallaces, ne se laissa tromper, traduit du flamand. Rouen. Besogne, 1701.” An octavo, on which see Brunet.

64. 1702. “Histoire de la vie de Tiel Wlepiegle, Contenant ses faits et finesses .... ne s’étant jamais laissé tromper par aucune personne. Amsterdam, chez Nicolas Chevalier.” A duodecimo, in the Royal Library at München, and in the possession of Herr Regierungsrath Blumenbach, of Hanover; as also in the British Museum, press mark, 12315 a.

65. 1702. “Histoire de la vie de Tiel Wlespiegle. Contenant ses faits et finesses, ses aventures, et les grandes fortunes qu’il a euës, ne s’etant jamais laissé tromper par aucune personne. Nouvelle Traduction de l’Alemand en François: où l’on a ajouté à cette edition, plusieurs pieces qui n’ont point encore paru en François jusques à present. A Middelbourg chez Ric. Parmenter. MDCCII.” A duodecimo, at the Royal Library at Dresden.

66. 1703. The same title at Amsterdam, printed by Pierre Marteau, MDCCIII. 247 pages, and eight leaves, in duodecimo. In this edition, several adventures are added, which appear in the German Rogue (vide infra, No. 71). Copies in the British Museum (press mark 1079 b, 18); at the Royal Library at Dresden, and the Town Library at Hamburg.

67. “La | Vie de Tiel | Ulespiegle | (see edition of 1699, supra). Troyes, chez la veuve Jacques Oudot. 1705. Avec permission.” In small octavo, with two rude cuts. Signatures extend from A-D ij, over fifty-four pages. Flemish names, as in some other editions, take the place of German. This edition is in the library of Dr. Lappenberg.

68. 1713. “Wunderliche und seltsame Historien Tillen Eulenspiegels, eines Bauren Sohn, aus dem Lande zu Braunschweig bürtig; neulich aus Sächsischer Sprache auf gut Hochteutsch verdollmetscht, &c., &c. Anitzo wieder aufs neue aufgelegt. Gedruckt in diesem Jahre (13) Mit Holzschnitten.” Small octavo. Referred to in the Catalogue of the “Bibliothek der Maatschappij van Nederlandsche Letterkunde, te Leiden,” vol. ii. p. 336.

69. 1714. “La Vie de Tiel Ulespiegle de ses faits … tromper. A Troyes, 1714.” Duodecimo.

70. 1714. “Wunderliche & Seltzame Historien von Tyll Eulenspiegel.... Kurtzweilig zu lesen. Hamburg gedruckt auffm Schaarsteinweg.” Octavo, sixty-three woodcuts, numbered to 100 chapters, except that, by the omission of chap. 79, there are really only ninety-nine. This is the commonly received text constantly reprinted.

71. 1720. “The | German Rogue, | or the | Life and Merry | Adventures, | Cheats, Stratagems | & | Contrivances | of Tiel Eulespiegel. Let none Eulespiegle’s Artifices blame, | For Rogues of ev’ry Country are the same. | Made English From the High Dutch. London: Printed in the Year MDCCXX.” This edition is the only other version ever made of the work presented in this volume. It differs widely, however, from the popular German Owlglass; many stories are introduced which the original editions did not contain, and the taste for tales of the Decameron class has been consulted in the compilation of it. Dr. Lappenberg, in his bibliographical section, assigns to it the date of 1709; but the only two copies I have seen, one of which is in my possession, give the date 1720 as above. It is an octavo and of extreme rarity, the British Museum contains no copy of it; the only other copy is in the Douce Collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford. That which I have was formerly the property of Mr. Bernard Quaritch, who priced it at £2 12s. 6d. A note on the fly-leaf states the rarity of the book, and that the annotator never met with another; and Mr. Thoms says, that he only saw the one in Douce’s Collection. The number of pages is 111, and of chapters forty-four. Signatures B-P 4, with title and preface. The rarity of the book is not much to be regretted; for its contents are not in any way of a nature fitted for quotation or great remark.

72. 1736. “Lustige Historien oder Merckwürdiges Leben, Thaten und Reisen des Weltbekandten Tyll Eulenspiegels. Mit vielen Historischen, Politischen, und Moralischen Anmerckungen, Auch allerhand Tugend-, Staats und Sitten-Lehren, Nach aller Ständen durch und durch, bei jeder Historie, erläutert und beschrieben (Dresden bei Hilscher).” An octavo, preserved at the Royal Libraries of Dresden and Göttingen.

73. 1774. “Wonderbaerlyke en zeldzame Historie van Thyl Ulenspiegel, van zyn Schalke..... Zeer teydkortig en geneuglijk on te lezen. Vor Oude en Jonge Lieden. Te Amsterdam, by Joannes Kannewet.” A small octavo, of eighty-eight numbered pages, and four pages without numbers, preserved at München.

74. A popular romance on Owlglass appeared in two volumes in 1779 and 1784.

75. A Danish translation was published in 1787 at Copenhagen; twelve sheets in octavo without pagination.

76. 1794. “Leben und Sonderbare Thaten Till Eulenspiegels.” An octavo of 136 pages.

77. 1795. The same, republished at Prague and Vienna.

18th Century, without particular date

78. In the Bodleian at Oxford (Douce Collection, p. 280, press-mark TT iii) is a French Eulenspiegel, entitled, “Histoire | Plaisante | de | Tiel Ulespiegel | Contenant les faits & subtilités dont | il s’est servi. | Revue et Corrigée de Nouveau. | A Limoges, | Chez F. Chapoulard, Imprimeur-Libraire, | place de Banc.” It is an octavo of twenty-nine pages, and the number of adventures far from complete. It is printed on very bad paper, and evidently with a view to cheapness.

79. “Wonderbaarlyke | en zeldame | Historie | van | Thyl Ulenspiegel, &c. Te Leyden. By P. van Leeuwen. In the de Pieters Choorsteg.” Chiefly curious from a cut on the title, representing Eulenspiegel holding a mirror up for an owl to look in, with the inscription above it, “Broeder myn.” Ninety pages duodecimo, with the ordinary adventures and rude cuts. Preserved in the Bodleian.

80, 81. Several stories of Eulenspiegel were translated into Jew-German, and printed at Frankfort-on-the-Main, in octavo, according to Wolf, “Bibliotheca Hebraica,” vol. iii., p. 86, 1727. Another Hebrew-German edition appears referred to in the same work, vol. ii., p. 1255, 1721.

82. Flögel mentions, in 1789, an old Polish version (p. 473): “Sowizrzal Krotochwilny Smiezny Poczatek, zywot y dokonanie iego.” Without year or place, in octavo.

83. “La Vie | joyeuse et récréative de Thiel Ulespiègle … qu’il a eues. A Douai. Chez Deregnaucourt. Imprimeur-Libraire, rue Jacques, no. 45.” Three sheets of forty-eight pages in duodecimo, in the Imperial Library at Paris.

84, 85. Of the eighteenth century. “Historien von dem wunderlichen & seltsamen Till Eulenspiegel. Hamburg.” Twelve sheets in octavo. Another edition published by Solbrig of Leipzig.

86, 87. 1804 and 1806. Two Dutch editions, published at Amsterdam and Deventer.