The most enigmatic frontispiece in baroque literature is analyzed in terms of design, iconographic tradition, and in the context of the genre. This analysis produces philological evidence that the original drawing on which the engraving is based stems from Grimmelshausen himself. The frontispiece is decoded as a poetological symbol designed, in each and every detail, to justify the -Simplicissimus- and its complexity, not least by presenting it as a satirical novel that opens the book of the world in such a way that human failings can be recognized for what they are."

This volume provides a chronological survey of the complex development of the mental illness of J.M.R. Lenz as it manifested itself between autumn 1777 and early 1778. Much greater accuracy is achieved in connection with the well-known events in question thanks to the 150 documents quoted, a mine of information for all those interested in the course taken by Lenz' illness. The volume opens with a chronology outlining the sequence of the relevant events. An annex contains picture material, an index of places and a name index with biographical data.

The book is a study of Johann Friedrich Oberlin's report "Herr L..." (1778), an account of Storm and Stress poet Jakob M. R. Lenz' sojourn in Steintal/Alsace. The account has a dual relevance for literary historians. It is a) the most important testimony we have for Lenz' enigmatically disastrous biography, and b) it served as Georg BA1/4chner's main source when he was writing his (ultimately unfinished) novella "Lenz" in 1835. The material and the studies assembled in this volume cover a spectrum ranging from text critique and editing to historical-critical text interpretation. The findings they come up with have a bearing on the source material itself and are of interest in terms of literary history, the history of mentalitA(c), and deep psychology.