Sonderbarer Bericht von dem beym Anfange des vorigen Seculi im Böhmer-Walde, und zwar in einem Bären-Bau zufälliger Weise gefundenen Wunder-Knaben, dem in der Heil. Tauffe die Namen Ignatius Augustinus Samson beygeleget ..

Erfurt: Jungnicol, 1748. Engraved frontispiece, title in red and black, woodcut chapter headings and initials. Contemporary paste-boards; a fine copy. Second edition, first published the prior year, of the story of a “wonderboy” which, according to the author, is derived from an honest historian honestly communicating to the public from authentic old manuscripts. Apparently the hero, Ignatius augustinus Samson (the name given to him at his baptism), was found, by chance, in a bear’s den in the Bohemian Forest. These are his adventures.

Schnabel (1692-ca 1753) was a German author quite well-known for his adventure stories. His most famous work is Die Insel Felsenburg (Felsenburg Island 1731). Following the initial publication of Robinson Crusoe, a genre was suddenly created (robinsonade), led by Schnabel in Germany, of stories involving the shipwreck or other misadventure and survival of individuals or small groups, typically of Europeans, in remote locales. Die Inssel Felsenburg is about a seaman who is shipwrecked on the coast of an island, where he marries and starts a family of 300. It combines themes of the robinsonade with elements of a social utopia.

Rare; OCLC locates only 2 copies of the first edition and 2 copies of this edition, all in Germany.