Item Info

Scripts/Text: Fraktur; Roman print
Language: German; English
Physical Description: Leaf
Material: Wove paper; watercolor; ink
Transcription:

Haus=Segen.
In GOttes Namen geh ich aus, Ach HErr! regier du heut das \ Haus; Die Hausfrau und die Kinder mein, Laß dir, O GOtt! \ befohlen sein. Bewahr mein Herze, Mund und Hand, Vor großem \ Laster und vor Schand: Gib daß ich mein Sach wohl richt aus, \ Und wider fröhlich komm zu Haus, Daß solches, O getreuer \ HErr! Gereichen möcht zu deiner Ehr. Hüt dich, fluch \ nicht in meinem Haus, oder geh bald zur Thür hinaus: \ Es möcht sonst GOtt vom Himmelreich auch \ Strafen mich und dich zugleich. 

Gedruckt und zu haben bei \ Isaac Palm, \ Brecknock Taunschip, \ Lancaster Co. \ 1860.

[on shield, in English]
IN GOD \ WE HOPE

[in heart on left]
O leite mich in Segen, \ dem großen Ziel ent= \ gegen, dahin dein \ Wort mich \ weißt.

[in heart on right]
Mein Leben und mein \ Ende ist dein, in dei= \ ne Hände, befehl \ ich meinen \ Geist.

Translation:

House Blessing
In God’s name I go out; O Lord, rule over my house today. Let the wife and my children be commended to you, o God. Preserve my heart, mouth and hand from great sin and shame; take care that I do my work well, and return home cheerfully, that such, o faithful Lord, will suffice for your honor. Restrain yourself, don’t curse in my house, or go soon out the door. Or else God from heaven will punish me and you at the same time.

Printed and to be had at Isaac Palm, Brecknock Township, Lancaster County, 1860.

[on shield, in English]
In God we hope

[in heart on left]
O, lead me in blessings toward the great goal; toward it your word is directing me.

[in heart on right]
My life and my end are yours, in your hands I order my spirit.

Category: House Blessing (Haussegen)
Media Type: Letterpress Prints
Source: Rare Book Department
Notes:

Hand-drawn; hand-colored; printed form. The main text, which is printed in fraktur, is within a large hand-drawn heart in the center of the document. Two kneeling angels and a winged angel head are printed beneath the title. A sitting women holding a shield bearing an anchor and an English inscription is printed above the imprint, at the bottom of the central heart. The two additional printed verses are within hand-drawn hearts in the lower corners. The central heart is surrounded by hand-drawn images of birds and flowers, including tulips. Two leaping deer are in the lower corners.
Several other copies of this edition are known, with decoration attributed to the same hand (probably Isaac Palm). For another example, see FLP 249.

Typographical evidence indicates that Arnold Puwelle of Reading printed this document. It was probably commissioned by Isaac Palm, whose name appears at the bottom and who probably decorated it.
 

Associated Names: Palm, Isaac
Bibliography:

Russell D. Earnest, Corinne P. Earnest, and Patricia Earnest Suter, God Bless This House: The Printed House Blessings (Haus-Segen) of the Pennsylvania Germans 1780-1921 (Clayton, Del.: Russell D. Earnest Associates, 2015), p. 78. 

Secondary Place Town/Township: Geographic Coverage State/Province:[Pennsylvania]
Geographic Coverage City/Town/Township:[Reading]
Geographic Coverage Note:Based on location of Arnold Puwelle's printshop.
Geographic Coverage Region/County:[Berks]

Creation Place Town/Township: Creation Place Note:Based on location of Isaac Palm.
Region/County:Lancaster
City/Town/Township:Brecknock Township
State/Province:Pennsylvania

Creation Year (Single Year or Range Begin): 1860
Image Dimensions Width: 32 cm
ShelfMark: FLP 247
Creator Name: Anonymous - Decorator
Isaac Palm (1843-1906) - Printer/Publisher
[Arnold Puwelle] - Printer/Publisher