Heavenly handwriting, teutonic type: faith and script in German Pennsylvania, ca. 1683-1855

Author(s)Ames, Alexander Lawrence
Date Accessioned2019-10-15T11:52:23Z
Date Available2019-10-15T11:52:23Z
Publication Date2014
SWORD Update2018-02-23T17:27:19Z
Abstract"All nations have something peculiar to their writing," wrote Johann Merken in a ca. 1782 German-language writing manual. The German-speaking peoples of Central Europe, for whom ideas of nation, peoplehood, and faith practice were closely intertwined, cultivated unique lettering traditions known as "Fraktur," or neo-gothic, "broken-letter" type and script. The German-speaking settlers of early Pennsylvania carried vibrant manuscript illumination traditions involving Fraktur letter forms with them to the New World. Those manuscripts comprise a rich record of Pennsylvania German religious life. This thesis explores the European antecedents of types and scripts in America, the spiritualistic heritage of Pennsylvania German settlers, and the teaching of reading and writing among two groups of Pennsylvania Germans to assess the spiritual foundations of their manuscript practices and consider the documents' utility as indicators of cultural change. The study suggests the politically and religiously charged heritage of print and manuscript Fraktur letter forms, and the extent to which Protestant spiritual practice relied on reading and writing religious texts. A quantitative methodology documents that the Vorschrift, or teacher-made manuscript writing sample, diverged from baroque European writing samples between ca. 1750 and 1850, suggesting the form's association with changes in literacy education at the national, state, and community levels.en_US
AdvisorMetzger, Consuela
DegreeM.A.
ProgramUniversity of Delaware, Winterthur Program in American Material Culture
Unique Identifier1123169905
URLhttp://udspace.udel.edu/handle/19716/24473
Languageen
PublisherUniversity of Delawareen_US
URIhttps://search.proquest.com/docview/2025916305?accountid=10457
dc.subject.lcshIllumination of books and manuscripts, Pennsylvania Dutch
dc.subject.lcshFraktur art -- Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania Dutch Country
dc.subject.lcshReligious education -- Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania Dutch Country
dc.subject.lcshLanguage arts (Elementary) -- Pennsylvania -- Pennsylvania Dutch Country
TitleHeavenly handwriting, teutonic type: faith and script in German Pennsylvania, ca. 1683-1855en_US
TypeThesisen_US
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