Object Record
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Metadata
Object Name |
Tunebook, Manuscript |
Object ID # |
2022.3.2 |
Other Name |
Notenbuchlein |
Title |
Abraham Geissinger's manuscript tunebook, 1810 |
Date |
1810 |
Material |
Paper, leather, ink |
Dimensions |
H-4.75 W-8 D-1 inches |
Description |
Oblong "notenbuchlein" (manuscript hymn-tune book), dated 1810, compiled by an unknown schoolmaster for Abraham Geissinger, student either in Springfield Township, Bucks County or Upper Saucon Township, Northampton County. The book has a nice fraktur bookplate in the front, has many pages and is nearly filled with handwritten hymntunes and first lines of texts. There are 665 numbered hymn texts & tunes, plus several pages more of un-numbered tunes. Throughout the book, there are fraktur decorated headings for each succeeding letter of the alphabet. The hymn texts are arranged in alphabetical order. It has a soft, worn leather cover. |
Provenance |
Manuscript hymn-tune book, dated December 22, 1810, compiled for one Abraham Geissinger, a student most likely in Springfield, Bucks County or Upper Saucon, Northampton County. The exact identity of this Abraham Geissinger is not known, but he could have been the Abraham Geissinger (1789-1871) who married Barbara Meyer and is buried at the Springfield Mennonite Cemetery. The ownership history of the book is mostly unknown, but it eventually ended up in the collection of the late Kirke Bryan, an attorney and PA German decorative arts collector of Norristown, PA. Bryan consigned it to Alderfer's Auction Center, where it was sold in September 1990 and purchased by Henry L. Rosenberger, who then placed it on indefinite loan at the Menonite Heritage Center, and eventually donated it. |
Source |
Gift of Henry L. & Charlotte Rosenberger |
Collection |
Fraktur |