Fraktur, that exquisite script formed with ornate letters and highly decorated borders, was created for nearly 90 consecutive years by a series of teachers in the Mennonite schools in communities northwest of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Because Mennonites were not known for producing paintings and other two-dimensional art, this well-developed practice of making quill-lettered mottos, certificates, and rewards is particularly outstanding.
Historian and fraktur expert and collector Mary Jane Lederach Hershey tells about these Mennonite-run schools, the unusual teachers who oversaw them, and the artistic tradition they carried forward and passed on to their willing students.
The book includes rich full-color photographs of more than 100 pieces of fraktur made between 1747 and 1836, complete with English translations of their German texts.
