Up to the present, little scholarly attention has been given to the earliest versions of the "Eulenspiegel" material, largely because research has concentrated on the figure generally thought to be the author - the Brunswick customs officer Hermann Bote. These initial versions originated in the early 16th century from the workshop of the successful Strasbourg printer Johannes Grüninger. This study of the early prints employs bibliographics and literary criticism in equal measure to show that the "Eulenspiegel" did not in fact take shape in Bote's Brunswick excise office but received the profile that started it on its worldwide literary career in Grüninger's print-shop in Strasbourg.