udwig Bechstein (1801-1860) was a prolific author and illustrator, although most
of his drawings were aimed at children.
He illustrated several fairy tales and made other kiddie cartoons like the "frog swim school"
to the left.
However, in 1831 it was neither fairy tales nor frogs that occupied him, when he
published "Der Todtentanz, ein Gedicht".
The book consisted of 200 pages of text with 48 copperplates. Bechstein's faithful outlines
were engraved in copper by Johann Gottlieb Abraham Frenzel (1782-1855).
The book is available from Google Books (see link below), but the reproduction is very poor and hard on the old eyeballs.
The following pictures are some I've found on various Ebay-auctions (hence the different colours).
Resources
Bechstein's book can be downloaded from Google Books as a PDF-file: There's even 2 copies,
but the quality of both is so bad that it'll make your eyes hurt.
Search Google Books for
bechstein intitle:todtentanz.
The pictures on the present site are taken from the Net, mostly from Ebay.
udwig Bechstein (1801-1860) was a prolific author and illustrator, although most
of his drawings were aimed at children.
He illustrated several fairy tales and made other kiddie cartoons like the "frog swim school"
to the left.
Dances of death
Holbein