Single-sheet print – Folk medicine – Fraiss letter
First half of the 19th century
… „Such a child, or an old person, has the convulsion.“ Typographic single-sheet print with small woodcut.
Strasbourg, Peter Auer, n.d. (probably first half of the 19th century, could also be older). Approx. 36 x 22.5 cm. – Rare convulsion letter (also convulsion or freedom letter). – Single-sheet print as a magical remedy of folk medicine
against convulsions, derived from the Old High German ‚vreislich‘ (painful, frightening), a term widespread in the
Upper German-Austrian linguistic area, mainly for illnesses or attacks
accompanied by cramps
(cf. M. Höfler, Deutsches Krankheitsnamen-Buch, Munich 1899, p. 165). –
„Thus, one should read the letter about the sick person who has convulsions three times,
and call the person by the name where the N. is written, and then one should give the
letter to the sick person.“ „Place it on your chest until it changes to life or death.“
– A printed letter of incantation by Peter Auer in Strasbourg is documented in the literature (see, for example, M. Andree-Eysn, Volkskundliches aus dem bayrisch-österreichischen Alpengebiet [Folklore from the Bavarian-Austrian Alpine Region],
Braunschweig 1910, p. 124); location given as „Staßburg“.
Estimated price: €400
In good condition for its age, with creases and fold marks.
