Photos don't quite do justice to the richness and radiance of the color on this 1850 Pennsylvania German fraktur bookplate--I find it just glorious. The lower half reads "In Ober [Upper] Bern Township, Berks County, 1850." The upper portion is the name of its owner--I read it as Eleisa Mager, but I think I may have a letter or two wrong as I've not found a match; perhaps Mayer? (Surely someone better at reading fraktur lettering than I am can figure it out!) Best of all that green pointing hand at upper right, known as a manicule (from Latin manicula, "little hand"), typically used to highlight important information, but here pointing toward the blank page opposite (to my mind the void!--but I presume as intended toward the contents of the hymnal.) I also like how the hand itself almost looks as though lettering the word "of." The volume itself is Das Gemeinschaftliche Gesangbuch ("The Joint Hymn Book") printed in 1846 in Philadelphia by Mentz und Rovoudt, with the text in German, fraktur style lettering throughout. I would be inclined to remove the cover to frame it, a lovely example. Note the way in which Township [Tounschip] is spelled and wraps from one line to the next.
Endboard with fraktur: 6 1/8" x 3 5/8". Book overall 6 1/98" x 3 7/8", 374 pages. Dark green leather cover with gold title on spine. Pages show a good bit of toning/spotting, but bookplate is in good condition, color very strong and bold, much better in hand. A bit of bleeding to the ink and watercolor here and there (as on the decorative dots around "Ober", minor and original to it.
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