The play was first published by Anzensgruber under the pseudonym "L. Gruber" in 1871 after it had premiered in Vienna in 1870. The item is a published copy with minor annotations that may have been related to a performance in Philadelphia in 1888 (see playbill, folder 706). Publishing information on title page of this copy appears to have been obscured by a label giving the name and address of Theodor Bloch, who was active in German-language theater in Philadelphia at that time as a prompter, and who also ran a theater lending library. The title is listed in Bloch's catalog for his library, dated 1886 (see box 34). The play is prefaced by a foreword from the author under the title "Mit Verlaub, lieber Leser!" but despite the promise on the title page of an accompanying "dramaturgical report" from Heinrich Laube, the book does not appear to contain anything written by Laube.
