Verlegts Conrad König. Leipzig and Hamburg. 1738. 19.5 x 13 cm.

470, (18) pages. Leather binding with traces of use.

Very rare first book edition of one of the most important German moral weeklies. The journal first appeared in 1725/26 in ... of 25 copies each. In the present edition only the signature under the dedication to Rahel Sophie Marschall gives the clue to the editor, who slipped into the role of a woman and employed staff. The "Tadlerinnen" allow a multi-faceted insight into the socio-cultural situation of the early 18th century. The necessity of female education is emphasized, scenarios of emancipation are sketched out, albeit only ironically. In addition, with its discussions on language and poetry, the journal sees itself as a medium of aesthetic taste formation, as a pioneer of a universally valid national language as well as of a German national literature. (Partially quoted from Beck, Ruhr University Bochum/Leipzig Antiquarian Book Fair).

Provenance: On loose title page: ownership stamp "Loge zu den drei Weltkugeln" and in endpaper: bookplate August Schultz, Magdeburg (1762).