Illustrated, Crime, 1710 | Omstandig en waaragtig verhaal van veele gepleegde en nooit gehoorde diefstallen (.), Amsterdam: H. Schelte 1710, (8)+377+(17) pp.

H[osmann], M[agister] S[igismund]

About this Item

4°, (8) 377 (17) pp. Hardcover binding with decorative paper. Illustrated with an engraved frontispiece and 17 full-page prints, 3 of which are fold-out. A few plates with spots of lighter contrast. Internally, a very good copy.The first Dutch edition of a 17th-century account of true crime in Germany, authored by the same clergyman tasked with providing spiritual and legal guidance to the accused!This work is one of the earliest Dutch-language crime stories in prose. Originally published as Fürtreffliches Denck-mahl der Göttlichen Regierung in 1700, it tells of the crimes of Nickel List and his gang, who terrorized Lower Saxony in the late 17th century. Their crimes ranged from robbery to murder. Especially egregious -- and a focus of the book -- was the desecration in 1698 of St. Michael's Church in Lüneburg. List and his gang robbed the "Golden Table" (golden high altar) and cracked it. The author, originally identified as only "M.S.H.", was eventually known to be Magister Sigismund Hosmann (1660-1701), a preacher in Celle, where the criminals were tried, tortured, and hanged. As their spiritual and legal guide, Hosmann was privy to details of the entire saga, including the personal backgrounds of the accused. Hosmann's text demonstrates a virulent anti-Semitism, as a number of the men in List's gang were Jewish.In addition to reading like a detective novel, this Dutch translation underlines God's avenging omnipotence more than the original German edition. Nearly all images, including the frontispiece, bear new moralizing captions signed by D. Schelte (1639-1715). The publisher also notes in his preface that he added an index to the book with the names--both aliases and given--of criminals, so that judges in the Netherlands could check what offenders who fell into their hands had done in the past.C0019 - eerste roman over waargebeurde criminaliteit in Duitsland - diefstal gouden tafel - anti-semitisch - anti semiet - anti-semitisme. Full title: Omstandig en waaragtig verhaal van veele gepleegde en nooit gehoorde diefstallen: als voornamentlyk aan de zeer beruchte goude tafel, nevens veele hoog-gewaardeerde oudheden en dierbaare sieraaden, van aloude tyden af in 't Hooge Autaar van St. Michiels kerke te Lunenburg geplaatst en bewaart, als mede aan veele andere der voornaamste kerken te Hamburg, Bronswyk enz. en een groot aantal huisbraaken, listige en behendige ontsluiting van welgesloote huizen en gewelfde kelders, allerwegen in Duitsland gepleegd. Door M.S.H. . Uit het Hoogduits vertaald. Seller Inventory # 53387

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Title: Illustrated, Crime, 1710 | Omstandig en ...