FIRST EDITION, COLOURED LARGE PAPER COPY. SCARCE. Large 8vo, pp. [iv], 68, with 12 hand-coloured etched plates; minimally spotted in places; well-preserved in early 20th-century mottled calf by Bedford, spine with raised bands, compartments ornamented in gilt, two gilt-stamped red morocco lettering-pieces, covers with triple fillets ruled in gilt; inner dentelles gilt, top edge gilt, others uncut; original printed wrappers bound in at the end. Carl Maria von Weber's highly romantic and successful opera was staged first in Berlin in 1821 and subsequently about fifty times in the following one and a half years all over Europe. The Freischutz fever provoked satirical responses, such as this: - The 'Amateur' draughtsman mentioned in the title was the writer and satirical illustrator Alfred Henry Forrestier (1804-71), was better known under his pseudonym; Crowquill. Coloured plates in order: 1. Caspar and Rollo. 2. Caspar and Rollo; one holds a target in his hand; the other turns his back on him. 3. Caspar shoots at a target in the sky. (eagle) 4. The Eagle is felled by the shot. 5. Zamiel, Caspar and Rodolph. 6. Rodolph and Agnes. 7. Rodolph and the ghost of Agnes' (red) shoe. 8. Caspar and Rodolph in The Wolf's Glen. 9. Caspar and Rodolph are surrounded by ghosts and spirits, snakes and skulls. 10. A scene in a Wood with a Pigeon fixed against a tree as a mark. Ottocar, a Bohemian Prince, Agnes, Kuno, Rodolph and Caspar. 11. Rodolph fires his gun, Caspar flees, and Zamiel takes the form of a fiery sun. 12. Zamiel, in human form, Rodolph and Caspar.