The most enigmatic frontispiece in baroque literature is analyzed in terms of design, iconographic tradition, and in the context of the genre. This analysis produces philological evidence that the original drawing on which the engraving is based stems from Grimmelshausen himself. The frontispiece is decoded as a poetological symbol designed, in each and every detail, to justify the »Simplicissimus« and its complexity, not least by presenting it as a satirical novel that opens the book of the world in such a way that human failings can be recognized for what they are.

>menschlichen Dingen< im Welt-Buch erkennen lassen.