Johann Gottfried Schnabel

[1] After an apprenticeship with a barber from 1706 to 1709, Schnabel worked as a Feldsher, a military barber-surgeon, in the regiments of Wolfenbüttel and Saxony until 1717.

[2] The year 1750 shows the last record of Schnabel's life; his death date and place are unknown.

The Insel Felsenburg (literally: Rock Castle Island) was originally published in 1731 under the title The title was only in 1828 shortened into Insel Felsenburg when republished in an abridged version by German romanticist Ludwig Tieck.

German author Arno Schmidt wrote in a review to a reissue of the book: "It is attested that around and after 1750 the library of a commoner consisted of at least two volumes: the Bible and the Insel Felsenburg.

"[3] Due to the success of the original work, Schnabel published three sequels of decreasing quality.