Preview
Scrivener
Wlm. Gross (active circa 1861-86)
Decorator
Stencil Printshop Illuminator
Accession Number
PAG1998.223
Creation Date
1865
Description
Printed Taufschein with angels in profile facing outward at sides, pair of birds on vine in bottom corners, spread eagle with banner at top center, colored in blue, green, red, and yellow.
Dimensions in Inches
16 3/4 x 13 7/8
Dimensions in Centimeters
43 x 35
Materials
Watercolor and Ink on Paper
Technique
Drawn, Hand colored
Print Shop Location
Allentown, Pennsylvania
Associated Places
Richmond Township, Berks County, Pennsylvania
Category
Birth and baptismal certificate (Geburts-und-Taufschein)
Motifs
angels, eagles, birds, leaves, clouds, laurels
Associated Names
Johannes Wiand, Anna Leibensperger, Mary Ida, Gramlich, Mary Zimmerman
Rights
Please contact the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art at Ursinus College for permissions which fall outside of educational fair use.
Source
Ursinus College Library Special Collections and the Philip and Muriel Berman Museum of Art
Provenance
Pennsylvania Folklife Society
Script/Text
Fraktur lettering, German script
Language
German
Transcription
Geburts=und Tauf=Schein.
Wann wir kaum geboren werden,/Ist vom ersten Lebenstritt/Bis zum kühlen Grab der Erden,/Nur ein kurz gemeß’ner Schritt./Ach! mit jedem Augenblick/Gehet uns’re Kraft zurück;/Und wir sind mit jedem Jahre,/ Alle reif zur Todten Bahre!
O! wer weiß in welcher Stunde,/Uns die letzte Stimme weckt;/Denn Gott hat’s mit seinem Munde/Keinem Menschen noch endeckt!/Wer sein Haus nun wohl bestellt,/Geht mit Freuden aus der Welt:/Da die Sicherheit hingegen,/Ewig’s Sterben kann erregen.
[Banner] Gottes Friede sei mit/dir und erhalte dich!
Den/Ehegatten/Johannes Wiand/ und seiner Frau Anna/eine geborne Leibensperger/ist eine Tochter geboren worden den 10ten/Januar im Jahr unsers Herrn 1864/Diese Tochter ist geboren in Richmond/Taunschip Berks County/im Staat Pennsylvanien in/Nord=Amerika, ist getauft worden und erhielt den Namen/Mary Ida/den 8ten Tag May im Jahr/unsers Herrn 1864 von Herrn Gramlich/Taufzeugen waren:/Mary Zimmerman/Allentown, Pa./Gedruckt und zu haben bei Saeger und Leisenring/1865
Wlm:Groß
Ich bin getauft! ich steh’ im Bunde,/Durch meine Tauf mit meinem Gott!/So sprech ich stets mit frohem Munde,/In Kreuz, in Trübsal, Angst und Noth,/Ich bin getauft! des freu ich mich,/Die Freude bleibt mir ewiglich!
Ich bin getauft in deinem Namen,/Gott, Vater, Sohn und heiliger Geist!/Ich bin gezählt zu deinem Saamen,/Zum Volk, das Dir geheiligt heißt./O! welch ein Glück ward da durch mein!/Herr, laß mich deßen würdig seyn!
Ich bin getauft ob ich gleich sterbe,/Was schadet mir das kühle Grab?/Ich weiß mein Vaterland und Erbe,/Das ich bei Gott im Himmel hab:/Nach meinem Tod ist mir bereit,/Des Himmels Freud’ und Feier-kleid!
Translation
Birth and Baptismal Certificate.
When we are just born…
God’s peace be with you and receive you!
To these spouses, Johannes Wiand and his wife Anna a born Leibensperger was a daughter born, the 10th of January in the year of our Lord 1864. This daughter is born in Richmond Township Berks County in the state of Pennsylvania in North America, was baptized and received the name Mary Ida the 8th day of May in the year of our Lord 1864 by Mister Gramlich. The baptismal sponsors were Mary Zimmermann. Allentown, Pa. Printed and for sale by Saeger and Leisenring 1865.
W[illia]m Groß
I was baptized, I stand in the union…
I was baptized in your name…
I was baptized, if I die immediately…
Comment
This piece may have been colored by a printshop illuminator working with a stencil. The even dispersal of the color and the fact that it appears to be not exactly aligned is an indication of this. Gross, one of the most prolific scriveners, frequently signed his work, as he did here. Gross favored printed Taufscheine with angels, usually filling them out in red but sometimes purple ink.
Condition
Good
Published
Stopp, Klaus. The Printed Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans. 6 vols. (Mainz, Germany, and East Berlin, Pa.: privately published, 1997–99). vol. 1, p. 219.
File Format
.jpeg
Type
image
Keywords
fraktur, Pennsylvania German, Pennsylvania Dutch, folk art, illuminated manuscript, taufschein
Image Location
Rights Statement
No Copyright - Non-Commercial Use Only. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/NoC-NC/1.0/
This object has been digitized in a public-private partnership. As part of this partnership, the partners have agreed to limit commercial uses of this digital representation of the object by third parties. You can, without permission, copy, modify, distribute, display, or perform the digital object, for non-commercial uses. For any other permissible uses, please review the terms and conditions of the organization that has made the item available.
