Der Scharringgelhof, oder Regeln der guten Lebensart beym Abschiednehmen von der Stubenhüre bis zur Hausthüre und auf der Gasse. Zu Nutz und Frommen junger Herren und Bürger…in Bildern dargestellt…Much ado about nothing.
Switzerland, s.n. c. 1801.
Oblong 4to (214 x 364 mm.). [ii]p., six uncut comedic etched plates (160/179 x 162/318 mm), [1]p.
PUBLISHER’S ORIGINAL UNCUT PRINTED BLUE WRAPPERS PRESERVED (once stabbed) with the title on the first recto, the dialog for each of the plates on the verso and the artist’s eight-line epilogue addressing the reader on the inside rear wrapper, all within a half-calf and pastepaper board binding.
Lively wit, a light needle and an eye for the hollow customs of local manners for taking leave. The use of French in the host and visitor’s conversation and reference to Shakespeare on the front wrapper establishes the two men’s social standing.
The tale starts with a handshake at the top of the stairs and ends with the visitor face down in the street mired in excrement. From behind his closed front door, his relieved host declares, “There lies the fool in the D[reck]…”. The artist’s epilogue acknowledges the hazards of public perambulation and warns, “Stay in your room”! I have found four other examples, two each in Germany and Switzerland. Only one has the printed wrappers bearing the text (Zürich ZB). In good condition (ink spot in one blank margin), bookplates of Hein. Sarasin and of E. Schroth.
¶Lonchamp, Manuel du bibliophile suisse 1469; Brun, Schweizerisches Künstler-lexikon II: 52-3; overlooked by Weilenmann’s Annotierte Bibliographie der schweizer Kinder- und Jugendliteratur.
Price: $2,100.00