Schlatter, Michael - Pennsylvania - 1752

Schlatter, Michael: True Account, of the true condition of the mostly shepherdless communities in Pennsylvania and the neighboring provinces... presented in Dutch, now however translated by the author himself into the German language. Frankfurt, Eichenberg 1752. 92 pp. Cover size 20 x 17 cm.
Sabin XIX, 22 (only the Dutch edition). - About KVK only copies located in Switzerland. - The Reformed Swiss pastor Michael Schlatter (1716–1790) traveled at the behest of the Dutch synods to Pennsylvania to organize the German and Swiss Reformed congregations there, which were largely pastorless (hence "shepherdless"). The work contains his diaries, travel reports, and letters from 1746 to 1751. It describes in detail the often chaotic conditions, the geographical features, the settlers’ lives, and his efforts to establish church structures. The work is one of the most important primary sources for the history of German-speaking immigrants and the beginnings of the Reformed Church (the later United Church of Christ) in the United States. - Spine rubbed. Entirely damp-stained.