“Ames breaks new ground in the study of Pennsylvania German manuscript art by synthesizing the significance of the religious context with the artistic achievements of creating the pieces. This is also the first book to integrate research based on several collections of Pennsylvania German Fraktur across many regions. The Word in the Wilderness is a remarkable achievement reflecting years of study and an amazing breadth of research.”
—Jeff Bach, author of Voices of the Turtledoves: The Sacred World of Ephrata
“Book and website testify to Ames’ focus on detail and ambition to establish himself as a scholar of devotional-calligraphic art. … He presents a novel approach to manuscript studies and provides a thoughtful analysis. With his discussion of the manuscripts’ cultural origins, spiritual purpose, and historical significance, he initiates a debate on early American spirituality that invites more comparative research on literacy instruction and penmanship of religious communities in New England and Pennsylvania. His study of Pennsylvania German calligraphic art should be particularly welcomed by historians and researchers of early American religious history who are interested in new and creative ways of engaging with historical devotional texts.”
—Berit Jany, University of Colorado-Boulder, in Yearbook of German-American Studies 55 (2020)
Image: Johannes Bard, fraktur (writing sample), Adams County, Pennsylvania, 1819-1821. 2011.0028.010, Gift of Nick and Jo Wilson, Courtesy of Winterthur Museum.