1767 Pennsylvania German Vorschrift Fraktur, Conestoga Township

Conestoga Township, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, single sheet, watercolor and ink on laid paper, the upper fifth decorated with tulips and flowers above elaborate fraktur and Kurrentschrift lettering, the lower line penned "Canastogen Township, Lancaster County, den 17t September, Anno 1767," mounted onto a fine weave canvas or linen and framed behind glass.

Sheet 13 x 16 1/2 in.; Frame dimensions 17 1/8 x 21 1/16 in.

The Vorschrift is written in 18th-century German Kurrent-schrift, and roughly reads:

"Warum solt ich / dann graben hab ich doch Chri-/ stum? noch, we wibllmir den nehmen, we will den Himmel rauben, den mir schon Gottes Sohn, / beigelegt im glauben. / Nackend lag ich auf dem Boden, da ich kam, da ich nahm, meinen ersten / Athem?, Nacken werd ich auch hinfahren, wenn ich werd von der Erd als ein[en] Schatten? schleichen?. / Gut und Blut, Lieb, Seel, und Leben ist nicht mein, Gott allein ist es, der's gegeben; / Will er's wieder zu sich nehmen, Nimm es him, ich will ihn, dennoch fröhlich ehren. / Schickt er mir ein Creutz zu tragen, Bringt darein, Angst und Pein, soll ich drum verzagen? / Der es schickt, der wird es wenden, Er weis wohl wieder soll, all mein Unglück enden. / Gott hat mich bet gun Tagen, oft ergötzt, sollt ich jetzt, auch nicht etwas tragen? Fromm ist / Gott und sorgt mit maassen, sein Gericht, kann mich nicht, ganz un gar verlassen. / Satan, Welt, und ihre Rotten, Konnen mir, nichts denn? hier thun, als meiner spotten, / Lass sie spotten, lass sie lachen, Gott mein Heil, wird sie wohl, gar zu schanden machen. /1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,20,30,40,50,60,70,80,90,100,200,300,400,500,1000./ a,b,c,d,e,f,ff,g,h,i,j,k,l,ll,m,n,o,p,q,r,s,long s, sch, st, u, v. W, x, y ,z, tz./
Canastogen Township, Lancaster County, den 17t September, Anno 1767"

Translating to:

Why then should I grieve? For I still have Christ; who would take Him from me? Who would steal the heaven that God’s Son has already bestowed upon me through faith? Naked I lay upon the ground when I came and drew my first breath; naked I shall depart when I slip away from the earth like a shadow. Goods and blood, love, soul, and life are not mine; it is God alone who gave them. If He wills to take them back—let Him take them; I will still joyfully honor Him. If He sends me a cross to bear—bringing with it fear and pain—should I therefore despair? He who sends it will also turn it aside; He knows well how all my misfortune shall end. God has often delighted me in days past; should I not now bear some burden too? God is righteous and cares with wisdom; His judgment will never utterly forsake me. Satan, the world, and their cohorts can do nothing to me here but mock me; let them mock, let them laugh—God, my salvation, will surely put them to shame.

Canastogen Township, Lancaster County, 17th September, in the year 1767.

A “fraktur” is a work of penmanship often incorporating decorative motifs such as floral, bird, and other symbolic elements. It is called fraktur because of the broken or fractured style of the German lettering used. Vorschriften are often larger forms of frakturs that were composed as writing models. A Vorschrift often contains a hymn or a moral teaching, and may have the alphabet in upper and lower case, and sometimes include the numbers and occasionally the months of the year. Many of these writing pieces contain colorful birds, tulips, borders, and more. The name of the child who received a Vorschrift is sometimes included as is the date that the schoolmaster created the piece. In our example the lower part identifies Conestoga Township, Lancaster, Pennsylvania and the date it was presumably created on the 17th of September 1767. In the archives of the Winterthur Museum, there is records of an active Vorschrift artist known as the "Conestoga Township Artist" during the 1770s, however it is not confirmed whether this work is by that same artist.

Mounted to linen or canvas, with fold lines, mild toning, scattered foxing, and small losses, some soiling to paper and cloth, and a few areas of smudging; light wear to frame.