An almanac issued for 1772 was donated to Bridgewater College’s Robert R. Newlen ’75 & John C. Bradford Special Collections on Aug. 1 by M. Ellen Catlett of Fairplay, Md.
The almanac was passed down to Catlett by her father, the late Rev. C. Basil Grossnickle, who was a lifelong member of the Grossnickle Church of the Brethren in Myersville, Md., and a Brethren minister. Catlett said that her father asked her to consider donating the almanac to BC on his behalf.
The almanac, “Der hoch-deutsch Americanishe Calender, auf das Jahr 1772,” was printed in Germantown, Pa., by Christopher Sower/Sauer/Saur II, whose father, Christopher Sower I, started the Sower Press in 1738. The Sower Press is notable for being the first German-language press in America and printing the first colonial Bible in a European language in 1743. Almanacs from the Sower Press were printed in fraktur typeface, which was popular in Germany and would have been easily recognizable to German immigrants in colonial America.
“Christopher Sower imprints are rare. Bridgewater College is fortunate to own another Sower Press almanac from colonial America and one printed during the 1790s revival of the almanac by Christopher Sower’s grandson, Samuel Sower,” said Stephanie Gardner, BC special collections librarian. “It will be a great addition to our collection.”
Bridgewater first received Sower Press almanacs through donations made in 2017 by alumnae Donna Spitler Fields ’67 of Arlington, Va., and Joyce Spitler Nicholson ’58 of Santa Cruz, Calif. In addition to the Sower Press almanacs, Bridgewater College Special Collections preserves copies of Christopher Sower Bibles, hymnbooks, grammar books and a collection of German-language devotional cards referred to as “Lottery of the Pious.”
Bridgewater College Special Collections are available by appointment. Contact Gardner at sgardner@bridgewater.edu or 540-828-8018 to schedule a research visit.
Media Contact:
Eli Quay ’20
Communications and Media Relations Specialist
equay3@bridgewater.edu
540-828-5486
