Johann Gottfried Schnabel

Johann Gottfried Schnabel (November 7, 1692 – ) was a German writer best known for his novel Palisades Island. He published his works under the pen name Gisander.

Schnabel was born in Sandersdorf near Bitterfeld, today's Germany. Orphaned in 1694, he was raised by relatives. 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. In this capacity he took part in the War of the Spanish Succession. In 1719, Schnabel settled as a master barber in Querfurt. From 1724 he was court barber in the County of Stolberg-Wernigerode, where he was promoted to valet de chambre in 1729 and to court agent around 1737. Due to the success of the original work, Schnabel published three sequels of decreasing quality.

Works Wunderliche Fata einiger See-Fahrer... (Insel Felsenburg) (1731, sequels in 1732, 1736 and 1743) Lebens- Helden- und Todes-Geschicht des berühmtesten Feld-Herrn bißheriger Zeiten Eugenii Francisci, Printzen von Savoyen und Piemont... (1736) Der im Irr-Garten der Liebe herum taumelnde Cavalier... (1738, published anonymously) Der aus dem Mond gefallene und nachhero zur Sonne des Glücks gestiegene Printz... (1750)

Translation Palisades Island: A Translation of Insel Felsenburg by J. G. Schnabel. Translated by John W. Van Cleve (Mellen: Lewiston and Lampeter, 2017)