How to sell a #broadside in early modern Germany?
Have a look at this single-sheet print of 1675 and discover a story of mice in battle formation including a religious comment. A thread for #bookhistory, #mediahistory and #animalhistory. #histodons #history
Access the print here: https://t1p.de/pjk1
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In order to sell a printed story on a broadside one needed some good content in text and image. The highlighted image part (on the left) was important as you wanted to address illiterate audiences too. Text and image relate to each other. Bestselling broadsides had often as much text as image.
Next step: a good title. Something catchy to attract a buying audience. Use catch words like "true" (wahr), memorable incident ("denckwürdigen Begebenheit"), and introduce your theme: mice (Mäuse).
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It is important wo have a good story on more than one level. This print chose a story of a horseman meeting thousands of mice in battle formation near #Hannover. This is a good start, as everyone has seen a battle formation - and mice. #animalhistory #histodons
Bonus detail: a rat as a colonel ("Feld-Obrister").
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Next advice: Use text and image references to make your story interesting. Speed up your story, introduce an accident or turning point: the horseman decides to kill one mouse. The text explains the happening, and the image has an A scene. So far, so good. Drama incoming. #histodons
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The drama evolves. The other mice start attacking the horseman in military order. He escapes by riding off - scene B of the image.
Now it is time to introduce the meaning levels of the story.
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Fighting, acting and attacking mice were an established longtime theme in European #history and beyond. The seventeenth-century audiences of this print knew all these media stories of mice. According to this heritage, mice attacked sometimes houses, cats, castles and so on.
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Now spice up your topic with some religious advise. Let the mice deliver a few messages.
Firstly, god acts in mysterious ways (like sending masses of mice and their damage to certain cities like #Hameln). Be grateful to the Lord.
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Secondly, remind the audience of another religious aspect of importance. Mice do know their place, humans do often not. Mice accept a laudable order ("löbliche Ordnung"), mice have obedience to those above.
All this is symbolized in the battle formation! Take this human.
And the thread ends here. Thank you for your attention to battling mice with religious messages in 1675. Goodbye, #histodons.
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Daniel Bellingradt 