Produced by Emma Dudding Dagny John Bickers David WidgerTHE SURPRISING ADVENTURES OF BARON MUNCHAUSENBy Rudolph Erich RaspePublished in 1895INTRODUCTIONIt is a curious fact that of that class of literature to whichMunchausen belongs that namely of _Voyages Imaginaires_ the threegreat types should have all been created in England Utopia RobinsonCrusoe and Gulliver illustrating respectively the philosophical theedifying and the satirical type of fictitious travel were all writtenin England and at the end of the eighteenth century a fourth typethe fantastically mendacious was evolved in this country Of this typeMunchausen was the modern original and remains the classical exampleThe adaptability of such a species of composition to local and topicaluses might well be considered prejudicial to its chances of obtaining apermanent place in literature Yet Munchausen has undoubtedly achievedsuch a place The Barons notoriety is universal his characterproverbial and his name as familiar as that of Mr Lemuel Gulliver orRobinson Crusoe mariner of York Condemned by the learned like someother masterpieces as worthless Munchausens travels have obtainedsuch a worldwide fame that the story of their origin possesses ageneral and historic interest apart from whatever of obscurity or ofcuriosity it may have to recommend itThe work first appeared in London in the course of the year 1785 Nocopy of the first edition appears to be accessible it seems howeverto have been issued some time in the autumn and in the _CriticalReview_ for December 1785 there is the following notice BaronMunchausens Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaignsin Russia Small 8vo IS Smith This is a satirical productioncalculated to throw ridicule on the bold assertions of someparliamentary declaimers If rant may be best foiled at its own weaponsthe authors design is not illfounded for the marvellous has neverbeen carried to a more whimsical and ludicrous extent The reviewer hadprobably read the work through from one paper cover to the other It wasin fact too short to bore the most blasé of his kind consisting ofbut fortynine small octavo pages The second edition which is in theBritish Museum bears the following title Baron Munchausens Narrativeof his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia humbly dedicated andrecommended to country gentlemen and if they please to be repeated astheir own after a hunt at horse races in watering places and othersuch polite assemblies round the bottle and fireside Smith Printed atOxford 1786 The fact that this little pamphlet again consists of butfortynine small octavo pages combined with the similarity of titleas far as that of the first edition is given in the _Critical Review_publisher and price affords a strong presumption that it was identicalwith the first edition This edition contains only chapters ii iiiiv v and vi pp 1044 of the present reprint These chapters arethe best in the book and their substantial if peculiar merit can hardlybe denied but the pamphlet appears to have met with little successand early in 1786 Smith seems to have sold the property to anotherbookseller Kearsley Kearsley had it enlarged but not we areexpressly informed in the preface to the seventh edition by the handof the original author who happened to be in Cornwall at the time Healso had it illustrated and brought it out in the same year in bookform at the enhanced price of two shillings under the title GulliverRevivd The Singular Travels Campaigns Voyages and SportingAdventures of Baron Munnikhouson commonly pronounced Munchausen as herelates them over a bottle when surrounded by his friends A new editionconsiderably enlarged with views from the Barons drawings London1786 A wellinformed _Critical Reviewer_ would have amended the titlethus Lucian revivd or Gulliver Beat with his own BowFour editions now succeeded each other with rapidity and withoutmodification A German translation appeared in 1786 with the imprintLondon it was however in reality printed by Dieterich at GöttingenIt was a free rendering of the fifth edition the preface being a clumsycombination of that prefixed to the original edition with that whichKearsley had added to the thirdThe fifth edition which is with the exception of trifling differenceson the titlepage identical with the third fourth and sixth isalso that which has been followed in the present reprint down to theconclusion of chapter twenty where it ends with the words the greatquadrangle The supplement treating of Munchausens extraordinaryflight on the back of an eagle over France to Gibraltar South and NorthAmerica the Polar Regions and back to England is derived from theseventh edition of 1793 which has a new subtitleGulliver revivdor the Vice of Lying properly exposed The preface to this enlargededition also informs the reader that the last four editions had met withextraordinary success and that the supplementary chapters all thatis with the exception of chapters ii iii iv v and vi whichare ascribed to Baron Munchausen himself were the production of anotherpen written however in the Barons manner To the same ingeniousperson the public was indebted for the engravings with which the bookwas embellished The seventh was the last edition by which the classictext of Munchausen was seriously modified Even before this importantconsummation had been arrived at a sequel which was within a fractionas long as the original work it occupies pp 163299 of this volumehad appeared under the title A Sequel to the Adventures of BaronMunchausen    Humbly dedicated to Mr Bruce the Abyssiniantraveller as the Baron conceives that it may be some service to himprevious to his making another journey into Abyssinia But if thisadvice does not delight Mr Bruce the Baron is willing to fight him onany terms he pleases This work was issued separately London 17928voSuch is the history of the book during the first eight or constructiveyears of its existence beyond which it is necessary to trace it untilat least we have touched upon the longvexed question of its authorshipMunchausens travels have in fact been ascribed to as many differenthands as those of Odysseus But as in most other respects it differsfrom the more ancient fabulous narrative in that its authorship hasbeen the subject of but little controversy Many people have entertainederroneous notions as to its authorship which they have circulated