Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Tunebook, Manuscript |
Object ID # |
2024.52.1 |
Other Name |
Notenbuchlein |
Title |
Manuscript tunebook by Jacob Gross, 1835 |
Creator |
Gross, Jacob W., 1807-1900 (attributed) |
Place of Origin |
New Britain Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania |
Date |
1835 |
Material |
Paper, ink |
Dimensions |
H-4 W-7 inches |
Description |
Manuscript hymn-tune booklet with nice fraktur bookplate, dated February 25, 1835, attributed to Schoolmaster Jacob Gross of New Britain Township, made for a student of the same name, Jacob Gross "in the New Britain School." Inscription on the bookplate reads: "Dieses Harmonische Melodeyen buchlein gehoret Mir Jacob Gross, Sing Schuler in der Neu Britten Schule, Geschrieben den 25ten Hornung [February] Anno 1835." (This harmonic melody [tune] booklet belonmgs to me Jscob Gross, Singing scholar in the New Britain School, written the 25th February, in the year 1835). The tunebook is filled with hand-written first lines of German hymn texts with first stanzas of each hymn tune, numbered up to #72. |
Provenance |
Manuscript hymn-tune booklet with fraktur bookplate, dated February 25, 1835, made by (attributed) Schoolmaster Jacob Gross (1807-1900) of New Britain Township, Bucks County, for a student of the same name - Jacob Gross "in the New Britain School." The student was probably Jacob L. Gross (1822-1843), the son of Preacher John K. Gross (1786-1864) and Mary Leatherman Gross of Plumstead Township (near Fountainville) Bucks County. Jacob L. Gross died at the age of 20, with no children. The student Jacob Gross would have been a younger cousin of his teacher Jacob Gross. In a letter dated May 5, 1836, written to relatives in Ontario, father John Gross wrote (translated from German): "My oldest son Jacob has been sickly and weak for a few weeks. Sometimes he is overcome by fear and fright. I took him to a doctor who thought that must be the cause of his sickness. He prescribed remedies..." The later provenance of the hymn-tune booklet is not known. The Menonite Heritage Center purchased the booklet from a collector-dealer who purchased it at a Pook & Pook Auction sometime in 2024. |
Source |
Mennonite Heritage Center purchase |
People |
Gross, Jacob W., 1807-1900 (schoolmaster) Gross, Jacob L., 1822-1843 |