Rudolf Erich Raspe Rudolf Erich Raspe Rudolf Erich Raspe (March 1736 – 16 November 1794) was a German librarian, writer, and scientist, called by his biographer John Patrick Carswell a "rogue". He is best known for his collection of tall tales, "" also known as "Baron Munchausen's Narrative of his Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia", originally a satirical work with political aims. Raspe was born in Hanover, and baptised on 28 March 1736. He studied law and jurisprudence at Göttingen and Leipzig and worked as a librarian for the university of Göttingen. In 1762, he became a clerk in the university library
Rudolf Erich Raspe and his learning to secure a living by publishing books on various subjects, and English translations of German works, and there are allusions to him as "a Dutch savant" in 1780 in the writings of Horace Walpole, who gave him money and helped him to publish an "Essay on the Origin of Oil-painting" (1781). But Raspe remained poor, and the Royal Society expunged his name from its list. From 1782 to 1788, he was employed by Matthew Boulton as assay-master and storekeeper in the Dolcoath mine in Cornwall. At the same time, he also authored books in geology and the