Dedekind was the author of
Grobianus et Grobiana: sive, de morum simplicitate, libri tres (
Cologne, 1558). This work had first been published in
1549 as
Grobianus, but it appeared with additions known as
Grobiana in
1554.
A poem in
Latin elegiac verse, it was first published in two books in
1549, and revised form and enlarged to three books in
1552. Dedekind's work had an immense popularity across Continental
Europe.
The work describes the fictional
Saint Grobian as a counselor who teaches men on how to avoid bad manners,
gluttony, and
drunkenness.
Dedekind's work appeared in
England in
1605 as
The Schoole of Slovenrie: Or, Cato turnd wrong side outward, published by one "R.F.". The "Schoole" was imagined as a place where one was instructed to use one's greasy
fingers to grab at the nicest portions of any dish and snatch food belonging to fellow diners. Holding back the desire to
urinate, fart, and
vomit is taught to be bad for one's health; thus, one has to indulge freely in all three activities.
The work also inspired
Thomas Dekker's The Guls Horne-Booke (
1609).
