Folio Archives 40: Mother Courage 1965 and Simplicissimus (LEC) 1981 by Johann von Grimmelshausen
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1wcarter
Mother Courage 1965 and Simplicissimus (LEC) 1981 by Johann von Grimmelshausen
Born in 1621, Johann von Grimmelshausen was one of the earliest German novelists. He grew up during the Thirty Years War that raged across central Europe from Denmark to northern Italy in the middle of the 17th. Century, and he had first hand experience of this as a conscripted soldier.
His most significant work was Simplicissimus, which is sub-tited “The account of the life of an odd vagrant named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim: namely where and in what manner he came into this world, what he saw, learned, experienced, and endured therein; also why he again left it of his own free will." Simplicius is a simpleton who must fend for himself during this war. He is conscripted as a boy into military service, and from there embarks on years of foraging, military triumph, wealth, prostitution, disease, bourgeois domestic life, and travels to France and Russia.
A minor character in Simplicissimus is a woman called by the nickname Courage, with whom he has a brief liason. Grimmelshaussen exapnded on the character of Courage, and wrote a spin-off book titled Mother Courage, that purposely disparages Simlicissimus.
Mother Courage is the story of a woman who came from a good family but was orphaned and to avoid being ravished as a 13 year old when an invading army entered her town, disguises herself as a boy, and becomes a soldier.
The book details her extraordinary life with innumerable military husbands, her escapades as she survives in an era of turmoil, and her extraordinary sexual desires. It is only moderately bawdy though, as most activities are only alluded to, rather than described in deatil.
Both books are very entertaining and easy reading.
Simplicissimus has never been published by the Folio Society, but I have a beautiful copy produced by the Limited Editions Club in 1981. It is a large volume, 33x24.7cm with 319 pages printed letterpress. It is bound in cloth embossed with the title and housed in a heavy plain orange slipcase. There are 18 engravings by Fritz Eichenberg. 2000 copies were printed and mine is nmber 1078.
In 1965 the Folio Society published Mother Courage as a very much smaller volume, only 21.5x14.5cm. It is one of the smallest FS books that I own. The book is fully bound in cloth blocked with an amusing design of a rag-tag army marching across the lower edge of both covers and the spine. Annoyingly (to my eye), the title runs from bottom to top on the spine, rather than the usual top to bottom. The slipcase is slightly textured, which is typical of the era for the FS, but unillustrated. There are 28 brief chapters, and each one is headed by a delightful and often amusing “lift-ground drawing” by Fritz Wegner. There is also a frontispiece. The translator is Walter Wallich. At only 150 pages, it is a quick and easy read.
You can certainly read each book independently of the other as they are only peripherally connected, but as I own interesting editions of each, I thought I would bring them together in this review.
Mother Courage
Simlicissimus
Limited Editions Club publication.
NB. THIS IS NOT A FOLIO SOCIETY BOOK
Showing the comparative sizes of the two books.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed at : http://www.librarything.com/topic/266300
An index of the fine press illustrated reviews in the this series can be viewed here.
Born in 1621, Johann von Grimmelshausen was one of the earliest German novelists. He grew up during the Thirty Years War that raged across central Europe from Denmark to northern Italy in the middle of the 17th. Century, and he had first hand experience of this as a conscripted soldier.
His most significant work was Simplicissimus, which is sub-tited “The account of the life of an odd vagrant named Melchior Sternfels von Fuchshaim: namely where and in what manner he came into this world, what he saw, learned, experienced, and endured therein; also why he again left it of his own free will." Simplicius is a simpleton who must fend for himself during this war. He is conscripted as a boy into military service, and from there embarks on years of foraging, military triumph, wealth, prostitution, disease, bourgeois domestic life, and travels to France and Russia.
A minor character in Simplicissimus is a woman called by the nickname Courage, with whom he has a brief liason. Grimmelshaussen exapnded on the character of Courage, and wrote a spin-off book titled Mother Courage, that purposely disparages Simlicissimus.
Mother Courage is the story of a woman who came from a good family but was orphaned and to avoid being ravished as a 13 year old when an invading army entered her town, disguises herself as a boy, and becomes a soldier.
The book details her extraordinary life with innumerable military husbands, her escapades as she survives in an era of turmoil, and her extraordinary sexual desires. It is only moderately bawdy though, as most activities are only alluded to, rather than described in deatil.
Both books are very entertaining and easy reading.
Simplicissimus has never been published by the Folio Society, but I have a beautiful copy produced by the Limited Editions Club in 1981. It is a large volume, 33x24.7cm with 319 pages printed letterpress. It is bound in cloth embossed with the title and housed in a heavy plain orange slipcase. There are 18 engravings by Fritz Eichenberg. 2000 copies were printed and mine is nmber 1078.
In 1965 the Folio Society published Mother Courage as a very much smaller volume, only 21.5x14.5cm. It is one of the smallest FS books that I own. The book is fully bound in cloth blocked with an amusing design of a rag-tag army marching across the lower edge of both covers and the spine. Annoyingly (to my eye), the title runs from bottom to top on the spine, rather than the usual top to bottom. The slipcase is slightly textured, which is typical of the era for the FS, but unillustrated. There are 28 brief chapters, and each one is headed by a delightful and often amusing “lift-ground drawing” by Fritz Wegner. There is also a frontispiece. The translator is Walter Wallich. At only 150 pages, it is a quick and easy read.
You can certainly read each book independently of the other as they are only peripherally connected, but as I own interesting editions of each, I thought I would bring them together in this review.
Mother Courage
Simlicissimus
Limited Editions Club publication.
NB. THIS IS NOT A FOLIO SOCIETY BOOK
Showing the comparative sizes of the two books.
An index of the other illustrated reviews in the "Folio Archives" series can be viewed at : http://www.librarything.com/topic/266300
An index of the fine press illustrated reviews in the this series can be viewed here.
2Niurn
Ah, Fritz Einchenberg's illustrations are always a delight. Nice to see a signed edition by him.
Thanks wcarter.
Thanks wcarter.
3skullduggery
Lovely review of both books - I have a rather battered copy of Mother Courage (from a charity shop), but that LEC Simplicissimus looks really lovely.
4gmacaree
I love the Simplicissimus. It occupies the early-80s LEC sweet spot of having superior materials and design without the cost spiraling out of control. You can frequently find it for around $75 and occasionally much less.
6ReadTree
Thank you for your review! I found this edition of Mother Courage in excellent condition at a local used bookshop, and couldn't resist purchasing the little volume. At the time I didn't realize it was a spinoff, so you just answered my question as to whether or not it can be read independently of the other. I'm looking forward to reading it!
7MobyRichard
Simplicissimus might be the best LEC bargain out there, though Winesburg Ohio is a close second.
8SF-72
I find it interesting that you call these an easy read. I found the German original of Simplicissimus a real chore to read, with very long, convoluted sentences and a really difficult vocabulary. I never read the whole, just passages as a result. I imagine that the translation into English improved upon that.
These editions are truly beautiful, I particularly love the illustrations.
These editions are truly beautiful, I particularly love the illustrations.
9elladan0891
>8 SF-72:
While I don't read German, I suspect it's not a matter of good English translation improving upon bad German original. At least I'm not surprised to hear that a 17th century original text is viewed as a non-easy read with difficult vocabulary, unusual sentence structure, style, etc. by a native speaker in the 21st century, as opposed to readers of its modern 20th century translation.
While reading these boards might make one think that native English speakers are versed in Elizabethan and even Chaucer's Middle English since nursery, the truth is that Shakespeare is not an easy read/easy listening for most either (and that's probably an understatement).
While I don't read German, I suspect it's not a matter of good English translation improving upon bad German original. At least I'm not surprised to hear that a 17th century original text is viewed as a non-easy read with difficult vocabulary, unusual sentence structure, style, etc. by a native speaker in the 21st century, as opposed to readers of its modern 20th century translation.
While reading these boards might make one think that native English speakers are versed in Elizabethan and even Chaucer's Middle English since nursery, the truth is that Shakespeare is not an easy read/easy listening for most either (and that's probably an understatement).
10SF-72
>9 elladan0891:
I didn't mean it that way. Of course the German original is basically typical for its time, though it's actually worse than a few others I've read. But whoever translated it probably split one sentence into several to adapt it to what's more typical for English, and possibly translated with more common words instead of trying to make it sound as difficult / old-fashioned as the original.
By the way, I find Shakespeare an easier and more pleasant read than Grimmelshausen, for example, but I have the suspicion that his language might actually be a bit more accessible to me as a non-native speaker because there are parallels to German that help, especially when it comes to grammar.
I didn't mean it that way. Of course the German original is basically typical for its time, though it's actually worse than a few others I've read. But whoever translated it probably split one sentence into several to adapt it to what's more typical for English, and possibly translated with more common words instead of trying to make it sound as difficult / old-fashioned as the original.
By the way, I find Shakespeare an easier and more pleasant read than Grimmelshausen, for example, but I have the suspicion that his language might actually be a bit more accessible to me as a non-native speaker because there are parallels to German that help, especially when it comes to grammar.
