Munchausen, MUHN chow zuhn, Baron, was the name given to the narrator and central figure in an anonymous booklet of tall tales, Baron Munchausen's Narrative of His Marvellous Travels and Campaigns in Russia. It was first published in England in 1785. The booklet sold so widely that enlarged editions began to pour from the printing presses. These used extravagant boasts. The German translation appeared in 1786. The author was an exiled German professor living in London named Rudolph Erich Raspe (1737-1794).