Rare edition with the French captions, of a print series "plunged in noble bile" (Füssli) on the misery of a peasant in the Helvetic Republic (1798-1803). This so-called Bauernvaterunser, a type of parody in which the miseries of peasants during war are placed opposite the Lord's Prayer, tells the story of a shepherd who loses his home and his son during the war. Living the life of a beggar together with his grandson, he watches his community being torn apart. The print series refers to the uprising of Unterwalden in 1798 against the Helvetic Republic. During the following punitive expedition, the French army killed 368 inhabitants, including numerous women and children. In the print series however, it is a local "traitor" who sets fire to the shepherd's cabin and whom the shepherd later encounters in the woods. Together with the final plate, which mentions that even the most enlightened and distinguished men were torn apart from their families, this indicates that the author viewed the conflict above all as a local strife that divided the community.
Johann Martin Usteri (1763-1827) was a Swiss poet and artist, known for his satirical works. His print series on Unterwalden was simultaneously published in German, French and English in 1803 and as copper engravings in 1805 in Augsburg and London. Several parodies appeared in which the positive aspects of the Helvetic Republic were highlighted.
With the binding worn at the extremities and front with two small holes near the spine. Endpapers somewhat browned and spotted and tissue guards with a few spots. Fore-edge margin of the title and final leaf soiled; a very good copy. Boerma, "Vaterunser Parodien in den Niederlanden, in Bayern, in der Schweiz" in: Arbeitskreis Bild Druck Papier XIV, pp. 39-41; Brunet V, cols. 1020-1021; Füssli, Allgemeines Künstlerlexicon, II. Theil, p. 4054; WorldCat (2 copies).