The Surprising Adventures of Baron Munchausen - Paperback

by Rudolf Erich Raspe (Author)

Baron Munchausen is a fictional German nobleman. The character is loosely based on a real baron, Hieronymus Karl Friedrich, Freiherr von M nchhausen (1720-1797) Born in Bodenwerder, Electorate of Brunswick-L neburg, the real-life M nchhausen fought for the Russian Empire in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735-1739. Upon retiring in 1760, he became a minor celebrity within German aristocratic circles for telling outrageous tall tales based on his military career. After hearing some of M nchhausen's stories, Raspe adapted them anonymously into literary form, first in German as ephemeral magazine pieces and then in English as the 1785 book, which was first published in Oxford by a bookseller named Smith. The book was soon translated into other European languages, including a German version expanded by the poet Gottfried August B rger. The real-life M nchhausen was deeply upset at the development of a fictional character bearing his name and threatened legal proceedings against the book's publisher. Perhaps fearing a libel suit, Raspe never acknowledged his authorship of the work, which was only established posthumously.