The Holy Experiment
Germantown and the
Church in Colonial America
Better, perhaps, than any other medium, books track the fundamentality of religious tolerance to colonial America. William Penn, the son of an admiral and one of history’s largest non-royal landowners, set out to undertake a Holy Experiment: to establish a place free of religious persecution, one in which cohabitation and coexistence were the laws of the land. Germantown was peopled with Protestants who valued a direct engagement with the Word, making it a flourishing center of printing. Below are selections from our collection illustrating this unparalleled contribution to religious freedom in the United States. Read more...
J.L. Rosenberg (D.Phil, Oxon.)
Head of Rare Books, Arader Galleries
View the Collection
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THE FIRST GERMAN BLACKLETTER BOOK PRINTED IN AMERICA
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[Hymnal – German.] Zionitischer Weyrauchs-Hu[e]gel. Germantown: Sauer, 1739.
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$ 6,500.00
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AN UNRECORDED GERMANTOWN EPHEMERUM
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Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb. Ein Lied zu singen bey der Beerdigung eines Nachfolgers JEsu Christi. [Germantown: Leibert and Billmeyer, ca. 1785.]
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$ 2,500.00
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A RHYMING ACROSTIC POEM COMPOSED FOR SAUER’S SIXTIETH BIRTHDAY
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Sauer, Christopher. Ein Einfältiges Reim-Gedichte, welches Christoph Saur gemacht hat auf seinen Namen und Geburts-Tag, als er sechzig Jahr alt war den 26sten September, 1781. [Germantown: Leibert and Billmeyer, ca. 1784.]
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$ 8,500.00
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A HYMNAL FROM THE EPHRATA CLOISTER
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[Hymnal – Ephrata Cloister.] Paradisisches Wunder-Spiel, Welches sich In diesen letzten Zeiten und Tagen in denen Abend-la[e]ndischen Welt-Theilen…. Ephrata: Ephrata Cloister, 1766.
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$ 2,800.00
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A RARE STEINER & CIST GERMAN HYMNAL
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[Hymnal.] Das kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions, von Alten und Neuen auserlesenen Geistes Gefa[e]ngen… Philadelphia: Steiner and Cist, 1781.
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$ 6,500.00
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FROM THE LIBRARY OF A PIOUS GERMANTOWN WOMAN
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[Hymnal.] Das kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions, Von Alten und Neuen auserlesenen Geistes-Gefa[e]ngen… Germantown: Christoph Sauer, 1764.
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$ 1,600.00
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THE FIRST MENNONITE HYMNAL PRINTED IN AMERICA
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[Hymnal.] Die kleine geistliche Harfe der Kinder Zions… Erste Auflage. Auf Verordnung der Mennonisten Gemeinden. Germantown: Michael Billmeyer, 1803.
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$ 4,500.00
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THE AUTOGRAPH MANUSCRIPT PLAN OF GERMANTOWN
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[Pastorius, Francis Daniel.] Manuscript plan of Germantown, Pennsylvania with manuscript descriptions. Germantown: ca. 1686–1687.
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$ 900,000.00
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THE PENN FAMILY COPY OF THE PURCHASE AGREEMENT OF GERMANTOWN
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[Frankfurter Landgesellschaft.] Agreement of purchase of 25,000 acres in Pennsylvania. Frankfurt-am-Main: 12 November 1686.
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$ 250,000.00
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PASTORIUS RELIEVED OF HIS DUTIES AT GERMANTOWN
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[Frankfurter Landgesellschaft.] Manuscript letter of attorney transferring agency of the Frankfurt Land Company from Francis Daniel Pastorius to Daniel Falkner, Johannes Kelpius and Johannes Jawert. Frankfurt-am-Main: 24 January 1700.
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$ 85,000.00
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Manuscript plan of Germantown, Pennsylvania with manuscript descriptions with an Agreement of purchase of 25,000 acres in Pennsylvania and a Manuscript letter of attorney transferring agency of the Frankfurt Land Company from Francis Daniel Pastorius to Daniel Falkner, Johannes Kelpius and Johannes Jawert Pastorius.
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Manuscript Plan of Germantown, Penssylvania with manuscript descreptions with an Agreement of purchase... 1686
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$ 1,100,000.00
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QUIETISM FROM THE PEN OF A FRENCH ARCHBISHOP
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[Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe.] The Archbishop of Cambray’s dissertation on pure love… Germantown: Christophor Sowr, 1750. Second Pennsylvania edition.
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$ 3,800.00
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THE PILGRIM’S PROGRESS, THE FIRST GERMAN TRANSLATION PRINTED IN AMERICA
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Bunyan, John; trans. Christoph Matthäus Seidel. Eines Christen Reise Nach der seeligen Ewigkeit… Two parts in one volume. Ephrata: Druck und Verlag der Bru[e]derschafft, 1754.
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$ 4,800.00
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AN IMMIGRANT BIBLE, WITH A RICH GERMANTOWN PROVENANCE
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[Bible in German.] Biblia, Das ist: Die gantze Heilige Schrifft, deß Alten und Neuen Testaments… Nuremberg: Johann Andreas Endter’s heirs, 1770.
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$ 3,800.00
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![[Hymnal – German.] Zionitischer Weyrauchs-Hu[e]gel. Germantown: Sauer, 1739.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/Blackletter1_580x.jpg?v=1661643695)
![Klopstock, Friedrich Gottlieb. Ein Lied zu singen bey der Beerdigung eines Nachfolgers JEsu Christi. [Germantown: Leibert and Billmeyer, ca. 1785.]](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/songtosing1_580x.jpg?v=1661643091)
![Sauer, Christopher. Ein Einfältiges Reim-Gedichte, welches Christoph Saur gemacht hat auf seinen Namen und Geburts-Tag, als er sechzig Jahr alt war den 26sten September, 1781. [Germantown: Leibert and Billmeyer, ca. 1784.]](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/CSSong1_580x.jpg?v=1661642590)
![[Hymnal – Ephrata Cloister.] Paradisisches Wunder-Spiel, Welches sich In diesen letzten Zeiten und Tagen in denen Abend-la[e]ndischen Welt-Theilen…. Ephrata: Ephrata Cloister, 1766.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/Ephrata1_580x.jpg?v=1661641320)
![[Hymnal.] Das kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions, von Alten und Neuen auserlesenen Geistes Gefa[e]ngen… Philadelphia: Steiner and Cist, 1781.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/KindDavid17811_580x.jpg?v=1661640422)
![[Hymnal.] Das kleine Davidische Psalterspiel der Kinder Zions, Von Alten und Neuen auserlesenen Geistes-Gefa[e]ngen… Germantown: Christoph Sauer, 1764.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/KindDavid1_580x.jpg?v=1661639745)
![[Hymnal.] Die kleine geistliche Harfe der Kinder Zions… Erste Auflage. Auf Verordnung der Mennonisten Gemeinden. Germantown: Michael Billmeyer, 1803.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/mennonite1_580x.jpg?v=1661636197)
![[Pastorius, Francis Daniel.] Manuscript plan of Germantown, Pennsylvania with manuscript descriptions. Germantown: ca. 1686–1687.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/Germantownmanuscript1_580x.jpg?v=1661635568)
![[Frankfurter Landgesellschaft.] Agreement of purchase of 25,000 acres in Pennsylvania. Frankfurt-am-Main: 12 November 1686.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/Agreementofpurchase1_580x.jpg?v=1661635175)
![[Frankfurter Landgesellschaft.] Manuscript letter of attorney transferring agency of the Frankfurt Land Company from Francis Daniel Pastorius to Daniel Falkner, Johannes Kelpius and Johannes Jawert. Frankfurt-am-Main: 24 January 1700.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/Attorneyletter1_580x.jpg?v=1661634647)
![[Fénelon, François de Salignac de la Mothe.] The Archbishop of Cambray’s dissertation on pure love… Germantown: Christophor Sowr, 1750. Second Pennsylvania edition.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/purelove1_580x.jpg?v=1661633158)
![Bunyan, John; trans. Christoph Matthäus Seidel. Eines Christen Reise Nach der seeligen Ewigkeit… Two parts in one volume. Ephrata: Druck und Verlag der Bru[e]derschafft, 1754.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/Pilgrim1_580x.jpg?v=1661631447)
![[Bible in German.] Biblia, Das ist: Die gantze Heilige Schrifft, deß Alten und Neuen Testaments… Nuremberg: Johann Andreas Endter’s heirs, 1770.](http://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/1156/7956/products/BibliaImage1_580x.jpg?v=1661630684)