Michel Hermann - Unterhaltungen eines Christen mit Gott und seinen Heiligen - 1790

HERMANN, Michael Kajetan (Pastor at Dehlau)
Conversations of a Christian with God and His Saints. A prayer- and edification-book for Christ worshippers. Augsburg (Augsburg), in Matth. Rieger’s late eighteenth-century bookshop (s.d., fin XVIIIe). Original label glued to the flyleaf: “ To be found at Lud. Fr. Le Nour, Buchdrucker, auf dem Münsterplatz Nro. 17 ” (Strasbourg).

A quarto volume. Superb gilt-ornamented full morocco binding in red-purple of the period, boards enriched with a wide gold border featuring palmette motifs and cornerpieces, spine with false nerves magnificently decorated with friezes of Greek motifs and gold roulettes, edges entirely gilded. Usures of use and small losses at corners and at the head and tail. Frontispiece engraved in copperplate depicting Christ teaching the disciples to pray (“Herr! lehre uns bethen. Luk. XI, 1” by Thom. Weber del. & Geo. Schön sc.) and typographic fleurons on the title.

Historical item attached: Contains a rare World War II-era prisoner-of-war camp money coupon (Kriegsgefangenen-Lagergeld) valued at 5 Reichsmark (Der Chef des Oberkommandos der Wehrmacht), preserved between the pages.

An exceptionally elegant copy of this Catholic devotional manual written by the curate Michael Kajetan Hermann, printed in Augsburg by the heirs of Rieger. This volume brings together prayers, meditations and hymns, magnificently enhanced by careful Gothic typography and high-quality copper engravings.

The work stands out for the exceptional preservation of its original luxury morocco binding. The presence of the printer-bookseller label of Lud. Fr. Le Nour, located directly on the forecourt of Strasbourg Cathedral (Münsterplatz), testifies to the circuit of importing high-end bindings and prayer books between Bavaria and Alsace under the Ancien Régime or the First Empire.

The fortuitous presence of the original 5 Reichsmark WW2 prisoner-of-war coupon constitutes a moving and unexpected testimony: this intimate object attests to the continued use of the book as a companion of faith and a memory site for a soldier or captive during the Second World War.

A pinnacle of the art of engraving and religious bookbinding in the 18th and 19th centuries, Augsburg produced Bet-Bücher of remarkable craftsmanship intended for the nobility and the Bavarian or Alsatian upper bourgeoisie. It was customary to present these morocco-bound volumes on major family occasions. The fact that a Wehrmacht POW coupon was carefully preserved there recalls how these precious bindings served as personal memory chests, safeguarding secrets and material memories through the wars for generations.