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German Americana from William Reese German Americana from William Reese Co. By Michael Stillman Americana seller William Reese Company has issued a catalogue dedicated specifically to German Americana. This includes publications written in German, books by German authors, books by or about German travelers, German translations of books originally published in other languages, and the like. What they all have in common is a connection to America, and another to Germany. The books date from as early as 1518 to as late as 1900. The earliest ones may have only tangential connections to America. Not much was known about the land then. Many later ones relate to German immigration to America, of which there was a great deal, especially during the 19th century. These books range from early Moravian missionaries in Pennsylvania, to utopian communities in the Midwest, to the German communities settled in Texas after the Mexican War. German Americana is not always that easy to locate. Those who collect in this field will welcome a chance to read Reese catalogue number 245, German Americana. The Bible is the most printed book in the world, so consequently most are not particularly collectible. Here is an exception. Item 15 - Biblia - was printed in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1743. Printer Christoph Saur was a German native who settled in Germantown and practiced medicine before turning to printing. What makes his German Bible special is that it was the first Bible in a European language printed in America. It was preceded only by John Eliot's Indian Bibles. This first Bible is priced at $11,000. You don't need to be fluent in German to translate the title of item 25: Buffalo Bill und sein Wilder Westen. Carl Henckel put together this 1891 portfolio of images of the "wilder westen" for one of Buffalo Bill's European tours. Bill was a big hit in Europe, Germany in particular. This item includes 14 western images and an introduction to Mr. Cody by Henckel. $1,250. Baron Manfred von Richtofen, also known as the Red Baron, was one of the greatest flying aces of all time. Serving the German Air Force during the First World War, he shot down countless allied planes. Not even Snoopy was ever able to stop him, though in reality he was struck by a bullet while flying a mission in 1918 and died shortly after an emergency landing. But, who was the Baron's father? The answer is Baron Walter von Richthofen. The earlier Baron spent time in America, Colorado in particular, raising cattle. He evidently was an enthusiastic supporter of American ranching and in 1885 published this book: Cattle-Raising on the Plains of North America. This may not have been as exciting as air combat, but was undoubtedly much safer. Item 114. $600. How many books translate Tlinkit to German? Probably not many, but here is one: Die Tlinkit Indianer. The 1885 German book by Aurel Krause reports on this Native American tribe (more often spelled "Tlingit"). They live in southernmost Alaska and northwest Canada. The Tlinkit language is one of the Athabaskan languages, shared not only by some of their neighbors in the far north, but by the Navajo and Apache Indian tribes of the American Southwest. $500.
German Americana from William Reese Christian Post's Second Journal recalls his important mission during the French and Indian War Item 13 has been described as "one of the greatest American view books." This is the Album of Virginia; or, Illustration of the Old Dominion. It was created by Edward Beyer, a German artist who drew scenes from all around Virginia. The book states that it was printed in Richmond in 1858, but Reese notes that it was actually produced in Dresden and Berlin. Nevertheless, it is one of the best compilations of American scenery, and Virginia in particular, ever produced. It is also very rare. $45,000. Karl Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, undertook a long trip through the United States in 1825-1826. He visited many of the southern states, stopped at New Orleans, traveled up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and eventually made his way to the utopian community in New Harmony, Indiana. Perhaps the highlight of the trip for this man who appreciated fine homes more than rustic wilderness was an overnight stay with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Jefferson was over 80 at the time and near the end of his life. You may relive the Duke's trip through the first American edition of his book, published in Philadelphia in 1828, Travels Through North America, During the Years 1825 and 1826. Item 10. $850. If you speak German, you can read the actual first, printed the same year in Weimar. Item 9. $3,000. Item 112 recounts an important but little known event in American history. During the French and Indian War, there was a major battle for the inland areas of America between the French and British. The ultimate victory by the British would decide who would control this land, that being, naturally, the British at first, but eventually their successors the Americans. However, for a while things were not going well for the British as the French had made allies of many of the Indians. No one was having much success at wooing over the Indians until Christian Post, a Moravian missionary, ventured into western Pennsylvania alone and at great peril to convince the natives to either support the British, or at least remain neutral. His story is told in The Second Journal of Christian Frederick Post, on a Message from the Governor of Pensilvania to the Indians on the Ohio, published in 1759. $20,000. The website for the William Reese Company is www.reeseco.com, phone number 203-789-8081.

German Americana from William Reese

German Americana from William Reese Co.

By Michael Stillman

Americana seller William Reese Company has issued a catalogue dedicated specifically to German Americana. This includes publications written in German, books by German authors, books by or about German travelers, German translations of books originally published in other languages, and the like. What they all have in common is a connection to America, and another to Germany. The books date from as early as 1518 to as late as 1900. The earliest ones may have only tangential connections to America. Not much was known about the land then. Many later ones relate to German immigration to America, of which there was a great deal, especially during the 19th century. These books range from early Moravian missionaries in Pennsylvania, to utopian communities in the Midwest, to the German communities settled in Texas after the Mexican War. German Americana is not always that easy to locate. Those who collect in this field will welcome a chance to read Reese catalogue number 245, German Americana.

The Bible is the most printed book in the world, so consequently most are not particularly collectible. Here is an exception. Item 15 - Biblia - was printed in Germantown, Pennsylvania, in 1743. Printer Christoph Saur was a German native who settled in Germantown and practiced medicine before turning to printing. What makes his German Bible special is that it was the first Bible in a European language printed in America. It was preceded only by John Eliot's Indian Bibles. This first Bible is priced at $11,000.

You don't need to be fluent in German to translate the title of item 25: Buffalo Bill und sein Wilder Westen. Carl Henckel put together this 1891 portfolio of images of the "wilder westen" for one of Buffalo Bill's European tours. Bill was a big hit in Europe, Germany in particular. This item includes 14 western images and an introduction to Mr. Cody by Henckel. $1,250.

Baron Manfred von Richtofen, also known as the Red Baron, was one of the greatest flying aces of all time. Serving the German Air Force during the First World War, he shot down countless allied planes. Not even Snoopy was ever able to stop him, though in reality he was struck by a bullet while flying a mission in 1918 and died shortly after an emergency landing. But, who was the Baron's father? The answer is Baron Walter von Richthofen. The earlier Baron spent time in America, Colorado in particular, raising cattle. He evidently was an enthusiastic supporter of American ranching and in 1885 published this book: Cattle-Raising on the Plains of North America. This may not have been as exciting as air combat, but was undoubtedly much safer. Item 114. $600.

How many books translate Tlinkit to German? Probably not many, but here is one: Die Tlinkit Indianer. The 1885 German book by Aurel Krause reports on this Native American tribe (more often spelled "Tlingit"). They live in southernmost Alaska and northwest Canada. The Tlinkit language is one of the Athabaskan languages, shared not only by some of their neighbors in the far north, but by the Navajo and Apache Indian tribes of the American Southwest. $500.

German Americana from William Reese

Christian Post's Second Journal recalls his important mission during the French and Indian War

Item 13 has been described as "one of the greatest American view books." This is the Album of Virginia; or, Illustration of the Old Dominion. It was created by Edward Beyer, a German artist who drew scenes from all around Virginia. The book states that it was printed in Richmond in 1858, but Reese notes that it was actually produced in Dresden and Berlin. Nevertheless, it is one of the best compilations of American scenery, and Virginia in particular, ever produced. It is also very rare. $45,000.

Karl Bernhard, Duke of Saxe-Weimar Eisenach, undertook a long trip through the United States in 1825-1826. He visited many of the southern states, stopped at New Orleans, traveled up the Mississippi to St. Louis, and eventually made his way to the utopian community in New Harmony, Indiana. Perhaps the highlight of the trip for this man who appreciated fine homes more than rustic wilderness was an overnight stay with Thomas Jefferson at Monticello. Jefferson was over 80 at the time and near the end of his life. You may relive the Duke's trip through the first American edition of his book, published in Philadelphia in 1828, Travels Through North America, During the Years 1825 and 1826. Item 10. $850. If you speak German, you can read the actual first, printed the same year in Weimar. Item 9. $3,000.

Item 112 recounts an important but little known event in American history. During the French and Indian War, there was a major battle for the inland areas of America between the French and British. The ultimate victory by the British would decide who would control this land, that being, naturally, the British at first, but eventually their successors the Americans. However, for a while things were not going well for the British as the French had made allies of many of the Indians. No one was having much success at wooing over the Indians until Christian Post, a Moravian missionary, ventured into western Pennsylvania alone and at great peril to convince the natives to either support the British, or at least remain neutral. His story is told in The Second Journal of Christian Frederick Post, on a Message from the Governor of Pensilvania to the Indians on the Ohio, published in 1759. $20,000.

The website for the William Reese Company is www.reeseco.com, phone number 203-789-8081.