First Dutch edition of a criminal biography of Nickel List and his gang by Magister Sigismund Hosmann (1660-1701). The title-page gives only the authors initials, but his identity was eventually revealed. He was a German clergyman, who guided and accompanied arrested criminals during the legal process, their conviction and sometimes even up until the moment of their execution. The present work has been translated from the German original, which was first published as Fürtreffliches Denck-Mahl der Göttlichen Regierung in Frankfurt and Leipzig in 1700/1701.
The present work not only relates a collection of sensational stories and descriptions of the many crimes and cunning escapes of Nickel List and his (approximately) 11 accomplices, it can also really be defined as a criminal biography since the author provides a broader context for Nickel List's criminal career by sharing more general personal details of his life. Furthermore, the story has a definite moralising function, apparent not only from the story itself, but also from the illustrations. Most, including the frontispiece, contain moralising captions telling the reader that life always ends badly for criminals and thus warning them to not follow the same path. After Nickel Lists capture, he was convicted of innumerable crimes, including murder and the obvious sacrilege of the infamous church robbery, and was tortured and executed in a most gruesome way. The place where List and some of his cronies were executed, at the gallows in Celle, Germany, is depicted in detail on one of the folding plates.
Hinges slightly worn, binding somewhat soiled. Some foxing and browning throughout, occasional small wormholes in the margins. Large folding plates restored along some of the folding lines. Buijnsters, Levens van beruchte personen, pp.15-16 & 35 (not distinguising eds., erroneously noting 20 plates); Scheepers (1949) 902 (not distinguishing eds.); STCN 304458937 (cf. 186169833); cf. Buisman 1677 (2nd ed.?, erroneously noting 20 plates); Waller 1242 (2nd ed.?).