Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Bookplate |
Object ID # |
2006.4.3 |
Title |
Catherine Fretz bookplate, ca. 1825 |
Creator |
Unknown |
Place of Origin |
Bedminster Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania |
Date |
1825 ca |
Material |
Paper, watercolor, ink |
Description |
1813 Somerset Bible with elaborate fraktur bookplate for Catherine Fretz: "Diese Bibel Gehöret Mir Catharina Fretzin. Ich bin Gebohren den16ten Februarius im Jahr unsers Herrn Jesu Christi AD 1805 / Ein Geschenk von Meinne Großmutter Barbara Stauffern, Mir zur lehr und Gott zur Ehr. [This Bible belongs to me, Catherine Fretz. I was born the 16th of February in the year of our Lord A.D. 1805. A present from my grandmother Barbara Stauffer, to teach me and honor God]". Other inscriptions are in both English and German script: "Mariah Brunner Died February 21, 1864, Joel Strawn granmother / My grammother Brunner died February 21, 1864, Joel W. Strawn / [German inscription referencing a couple of hymn titles and 1 Peter 1:3, signed Hannah Strahwn] / Joel Strawn was Born September 3, 1803, Died June 14, 1887, Aged 83 years, 9 Mo, 11 days" and on the rear of the title page: "Abel Strawn Was bornd the 5 of december 1830 / Elizabeth Strawn Was bornd the 16 of January 1834". |
Notes |
DVD transcription: 1.23:40 Bible [in German] - 1813 - Somerset, PA --inscribed with names of those who later joined the Evangelical Mennonites/Bible Fellowship Church, Brunners and Strawns --contains a marvelous Fraktur: "This Bible belongs to me, Catherine Fretz,…a present from my grandmother, Barbara Stauffer, to teach me and honor God." According to John Ruth, this is one of the great[est?] Fraktur inscriptions anywhere in America. --It is noted that this edition was the third German Bible printed in America and first Bible printed west of the Alleghenies. --Clarence states that this book was given to him by William G. Nyce's family. He was good friends with W. G. Nyce (founder of Nyce Printing) and they would often sit together in each other's libraries. --According to John, the bird in this fraktur is a cross between a bluebird, a cardinal, and a flicker. Clarence calls the tree a "sausage tree" [he says it in PA German]. John thinks that this fraktur was perhaps done by [Isaac] Hunsicker [but this is questionable]. |
Provenance |
Made for Catherine S. Fretz Strawn (1805-1889), daughter of William Fretz (1768-1847) and Mary Stover Fretz (1775-1805) of Bedminster Township, Bucks County. Most likely the bookplate was made in the 1820s before Catherine was married in November 1829 to Joel R. Strawn (1803-1887). There are three bookplates that bear the same inscription: "A gift from Grandmother Stauffer", made for Catherine and her sisters Barbara and Magdalena, in three Bibles of the same edition. Apparently the girls' maternal grandmother, Barbara Swartz Stover (1752-1822), gave these Bibles to them sometime between 1813 when the books were published and her death in 1822. The bookplates were added at different times by different artists, but all bearing the same basic inscription recording the birthdate of the girl and that the Bible was a gift from her grandmother "to teach me and honor God". Barbara Stover had other granddaughters, and these girls had two brothers, but we've only seen these three "Grandmother Stauffer" bookplates. There is a fourth bookplate that is similar in style to the Catherine Fretz plate (with almost the same unusual border), and we know it belonged to the girls' younger half-sister Elizabeth (from their father's second wife, not a biological granddaughter of Barbara Stover). Elizabeth's plate has no text, but seems related. Whoever made Catherine's bookplate probably made Elizabeth's, but neither are signed. The Barbara and Magdalena Fretz bookplates are in private collections; the Elizabeth Fretz plate is in the collection of the Historical Society of Montgomery County. |
Source |
Gift of Isaac Clarence Kulp |
People |
Brunner, Maria Sell, 1799-1864 Fretz, Mary Stover, 1775-1805 Fretz, William, 1768-1843 (Bedminster Twp) Kemmerer, Elizabeth F. Strawn, 1834-1884 Nyce, William G., 1888-1958 Stover, Barbara Swartz, 1752-1822 Strawn, Abel F., 1830-1913 Strawn, Catherine S. Fretz, 1805-1889 Strawn, Hannah S. Brunner, 1827-1900 Strawn, Joel R., 1803-1887 Strawn, Joel W., 1852-1883 |
Collection |
Fraktur |