The copperplate was not part of any of the major collections and is probably not in existence.

It is the first etching in which Rembrandt extents his pictures of ‘everyday’ street-people, of which he made many in the period between 1628 and 1631, into one that tells a short story.

Although this etching had always been called The rat catcher, it actually pictures a salesman of rat poison. The basket on the pole, in his left hand, is sort of an advertisement. In the basket are living rats, under it we can see dead rats hanging down (‘see what my stuff can do!’). The poison is in the box carried by the boy and is offered to the man in the doorway. From the drawing it is not clear if ever a sale was made here.

By using thick etching lines to picture the house on the foreground and much thinner lines for the one in the background, the artist creates perspective.

Hinterding points at a drawing in the Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam (Benesch 341) for a resemblance of the house in the background with landscapes of this period.

The large number of copies (NH lists no less than 23) shows the popularity of the subject at the time. There are eight copies in the same direction. Copy C is signed by Gerret van Schagen (142 x 119 mm, WB 2). Copy E is inscribed Rembrandt fecit 1636 and published by Johann Georg Hertel (his nr. 227, 136 x 122 mm, WB 3).
Copy M is a very deceptive copy by James  Bretherton, signed Rt 1632 (the last two numbers reversed, 142 x 123 mm, WB 2). It is included in the collection ‘Rembrandt in Black & White’, nr 369. It can be identified by the scratch over the foot which is bended sharply at the left side.
Copy S is by William Bree (80 x 65). There are four more anonymous copies (F, I, T and W).
There are fifteen copies in reverse. Copy A is anonymous, of the head only (39 x 34 mm, WB 10). Copy B is also anonymous, inscribed Rembr (four states, 136 x 122 mm, WB 6). Copy G is signed and dated 1768 by Abraham Hume (152 x 137mm). Copy H is signed and dated 1774 by John Tobin (156 x 126, WB 18).
Copy N is by Francesco Novelli (his nr 26, two states, 137 x 124 mm, WB 5). Copy O is inscribed Rembrandt f. 1635 (183 x 153, WB 8). Copy P is signed and dated 1817 by Frederic James Crome(138 x 121, WB 7). Copy Q is also by Crome, the ratcatcher only (72 x 56). Copy R is of the ratcatcher only, singed and dated 1817 by Edmund Girling (133 x 81). There are six more anonymous copies (D, F, J, K, L, U). See Biörklund p. 52 or White-Boon p. 63-64 or NH for a complete listing of the copies.
One anonymous copy (145 x 98 mm) in reverse shows an annotation by John Barnard: This print is extremely scarce, there is no other known to be, except in the King of France’s collection. By now we know that this is not correct.

The etching is considered as special by Seidlitz.
The plate was made by a pupil according to Coppier.

NH, as most other authors, lists three states, all contemporary. Hind lists two states, Nowell-Usticke two trial prints and two states.
In the 1^st state (NH, WB, R356/NU trial print A) there is not yet any diagonal shading on the tree above the head of the rat catcher nor on the side of the box in the hands of the boy*. A long scratch runs over the right foot*.
In the 2^nd state (NH, WB, R357/NU trial print B) the diagonal shading on the box becomes visible*.
In the 3^rd state (NH, WB, R358/NU 1st state) the shading on the tree becomes visible*. Later prints become greyish, the backside of the hat becomes weak.
In the 2^nd state (NU, R359) the backside of the hat is reworked.

Of the 1st state only two impressions are known, one in the Kupferstichkabinett in Dresden and one in the British Museum.
Of the 2nd state only one impression exists, in the Rothschild Collection at the Louvre.

In the 3rd state: Arms of Burgundy and Austria (1632); Countermarks FD and NHD (1632); Arms of Württemberg (c. 1634-36); Foolscap with five-pointed collar (3 ed., c. 1639-40 and c. 1650); Strasbourg lily (c. 1635); Basilisk.

H 97, BB 32-C, G 117, M 261, Mz 255, RA 356-359, Cl 123, W 125, Bl 95, Du 122, CD 68
Hinterding 2006, p. 284; Hinterding 2008, p. 253ff; Rembrandts Radierungen 2011, p. 40-41; Rutgers/Standring 2018, p. 42;

NH/WB: 3rd and final state.
A good, early impression. The scratch over the right foot clearly visible. Several fox marks visible recto.
Sheet 208 x 175/171 mm, broad margins of approx. 25 mm at both sides and approx. 35 mm at top and bottom = +106%).
Watermark according to Douwes: Double-headed eagle (Ash & Fletcher A.a.). Paper with this mark was used by Rembrandt between 1631 en 1637. Hinterding 2006 only lists this watermark for the unique impression of the 2nd state. The mark may in fact be the Arms of Burgundy and Austria A.a, which would date the print to 1632. See Hinterding 2006, p. 49. Vertical chain lines.

In the collectioon of Th. Laurentius, Middelburg;
Then in another private collection in the Netherlands;

The Rotunda at Exchange Square, Hong Kong, January 2008
Rembrandt in Zwart-Wit, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), Het Markiezenhof (Bergen op Zoom), Stedelijk Museum Zutphen, Het Hannemahuis (Harlingen), Museum Gouda, Jan ten Horne Museum (Weert), Stadsmuseum Harderwijk, March 2013-August 2015; Stedelijk Museum Vianen, October 2017 – January 2018;
Rembrandt in Black & White, Schloß Britz (Berlin), Bozar Expo (Brussels), Chateau des Penthes (Geneva), November 2015-September 2016;
Rembrandt, fotograaf avant-la-lettre, Museum De Reede (Antwerp), January – May 2023;
Rembrandt, 17th century photographer, Daegu Art Museum (Korea), November 2023 – March 2024;
Rembrandt, de fotograaf, Westfries Museum (Hoorn), June 2024 – January 2025;