Since Mercer first wrote about American fraktur -- the decorated manuscripts of the Pennsylvania Germans -- it has gained respect as an important American folk art. Shelley's own landmark study, published by the Pennsylvania German Society in 1960, is still considered the standard reference. Other milestones included auctions of major collections at Sotheby's and Christie's in New York. One of these belonged to Edgar and Bernice Chrysler Garbisch. Sold at Sotheby's in 1974, the Garbisch collection was one that Sotheby's had helped assemble.

Two years later, in 1976, the Pennsylvania German Society published the fraktur collection of the Free Library of Philadelphia. More recent publications have brought the art form into clearer focus. This year, Professor Klaus Stopp of Mainz, Germany, launched the first two volumes of a five-volume set of books showing the many variants of printed fraktur birth and baptism certificates.

A comprehensive and technical analysis, The Birth and Baptismal Certificates of the German Americans is an investment-quality book of which only 500 copies were printed. It illustrates printed variants of fraktur birth and baptism certificates that are surprising even to those who are very familiar with fraktur. When Stopp began his study, he and others assumed there might be about 500 to 600 printed variants at most, but his study has uncovered over 1,200 examples.

Stopp was to be a lead speaker at the May 17 symposium, but he took ill and could not travel to the United States. At his request, his speech was delivered, complete with color slides. Stopp explained that birth and baptism certificates were printed in limited numbers as demand dictated. The type and decorative woodcuts used to print them were disassembled and recombined to form new designs. When supplies of printed certificates ran low, the printer created new forms. The printer's flexibility in meeting demand explains the variety of certificates that survive.

Those attending the symposium were surprised to learn that some partially printed fraktur are being mistaken for freehand work. Woodcuts were often hand-stamped on fraktur, and the prints were then partially painted. Examples discussed included the Hanovertown Artist's Adam and Eve woodcuts (active circa 1775-1793) and Samuel Siegfried's fraktur (active circa 1810-1820) that were decorated with as many as nine individual woodcuts.

Besides beginning, intermediate and advanced collectors and dealers, the symposium was a who's who of scholars in the field. Among them were Josh Reeder, who is publishing new material on Nineteenth Century scriveners of fraktur and Bible records that follow the fraktur tradition; Irene Walsh, who is publishing on major artists; Paul Conner, whose work on fraktur at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., is well-known; and Lynn Brockelbank, whose study of western Pennsylvania artists is widely recognized. Dealers who attended included Harry Hartman, Steve and Marcy Hench, Ray Mead and Sidney Gecker.

Peter Seibert, director, and Wendell Zercher, curator, of the Heritage Center Museum also attended the symposium. Results of their recent research on scriveners Joseph McGlauphlin (active circa 1891-1930) and Israel Landes (active circa 1875-1889) are displayed at the Heritage Center Museum. These Lancaster County scriveners filled out numerous Bible records in a decorative writing style. McGlauphlin listed his works in a lengthy register he kept for that purpose. He apparently recorded family information in hundreds of Bibles, yet few of these have appeared on the market. McGlauphlin worked well into this century. It is likely that families for whom he made Bible records are reluctant to give up their Bibles because their own grandparents are mentioned in these colorfully decorated records.

Cory Amsler spoke of discoveries in Bucks County fraktur. The curator of the Mercer Museum/Bucks County Historical Society in Doylestown is leading a project that will include a fall symposium and a book on Bucks County fraktur, to be published in 1998 by the Pennsylvania German Society. Giant strides are being made in identifying Bucks County artists. Mercer Museum is planning a related exhibit, "From Heart to Hand," from September 13 to January 4. Additionally, the Pennsylvania German Society will soon publish on the Schwenkfelder fraktur collection at Pennsburg.

Russell Earnest, Paul Flack, Dick Machmer and Susan Kleckner, vice president of Americana at Christie's, participated in a panel discussion. Flack, a student of Bucks County folk art and a noted collector of fraktur, will have Christie's auction his collection this September. This June, Sotheby's sold fraktur from the collection of Dick and Rosemarie Machmer, respected dealers and scholars from Hamburg, Penn.

Discussion focused on the marketplace. Participants agreed that the fraktur must be artistically pleasing and in good condition. As with other art forms, collectors must want it because it appeals to them, not because it is a hot item.

Machmer pointed out that when numerous fraktur come to market all at once, prices may be depressed. He used the Garbisch collection at Sotheby's in 1974. However, everyone seemed to agree that it had been a good investment to buy fraktur in 1974. Overall prices have steadily increased, coincident with the market for American folk art in general. Even prices on the humble printed forms have steadily gained, largely due to increasing awareness about the rarity of these prints.

Klaus Stopp had a lot to do with the growth spurt. He has invested heavily in this area, and with good reason: many of these prints are extremely rare. The statistics provided by Stopp in his lecture were surprising. Only 32 copies of Gutenberg's Bible are known. Bibles, said Stopp, were so respected that few were discarded. They are thus more common than fraktur. While 1,200 printed variants of American fraktur birth and baptism certificates have been identified, only one copy exists for each of 300 variants. Stopp added that he knows of only a few variants for which more than 20 copies exist.

Stopp believes that only about three percent of printed American fraktur has survived. Unlike books, which have always been perceived as having value, American birth and baptism certificates until recent decades enjoyed no such reputation, even though these personal records, in Stopp's words, "delighted the eyes."

"The Prints and the Penmen," at the Heritage Center Museum in Lancaster through January 3, displays a variety of freehand and printed fraktur, especially birth and baptismal certificates. There is considerable overlap in freehand fraktur made by major fraktur artists and the scriveners who filled out printed forms. By the mid-1780s, major artists were using printed forms, and many itinerant scriveners began filling out printed forms far earlier than was at first believed.

Distinctions between early, major artists and later scriveners on printed forms are becoming blurred. Increasingly, the handwriting of major artists such as Christian Strenge (1757-1818); Samuel Bentz (1792-1850), formerly known as the Mount Pleasant Artist; Henry Young (1792-1861); Daniel Otto (active circa 1792-1822), formerly known as the Flat Tulip Artist; and others are seen on printed forms.

Also, Friederich Speyer (active circa 1774-1802) and Henrich Dulheuer (active circa 1780-1786), considered to be major fraktur artists, almost always used printed forms. Speyer liked to decorate his prints, but Dulheuer seemed to prefer to have decoration printed on, or to have Henrich Otto decorate for him. Henrich Otto (circa 1733-1799) ranks among the greatest and most influential of the early fraktur artists, yet 50 percent of his production was in printed forms. The most prolific of all major fraktur artists, Friederich Krebs (circa 1749-1815), bought nearly 7,000 forms from a printer in Reading.

"The Prints and the Penman" takes visitors through the evolution of American fraktur from about 1750 into this century, ending with contemporary examples. It demonstrates that fraktur evolved and tastes changed over time. For comparison, the display includes scrivener-made Bible records and a range of other fraktur.

Fraktur is rich with genealogical data, some of which can be found nowhere else. Someone at the symposium asked why auction catalogues don't pass on more of the details; others noted that fraktur collecting is on the upswing among genealogists and family historians.

In the "Year of The Fraktur" we continue sorting out the complexities of these American documents. The Heritage Center Museum exhibit and symposium build on Donald Shelley's important study. We have recently completed the second edition of our book, Papers for Birth Dayes: Guide to The Fraktur Artists and Scriveners, published in conjunction with the Heritage Center Museum show. We dedicated the two-volume book to Klaus Stopp.

The Heritage Center Museum is open 10 am to 5 pm, Tuesday through Saturday. It is next to central market on historic Penn Square in downtown Lancaster. Many of the fraktur publications mentioned in this article are for sale in the museum's bookshop.

The Heritage Center Museum will host another symposium on fraktur on October 18. The keynote speaker will be Frederick Weiser. Clarke Hess and David Johnson will offer new information on Lancaster County fraktur and artists. Focusing on Bible records, the symposium will also include a demonstration on fraktur conservation and care. Contact the Heritage Center Museum, 13 West King Street, Lancaster, Penn., 17603-3813, telephone 717/299-6440.

(Russell D. and Corinne P. Earnest are scholars of fraktur and other genealogical subjects. Guest curators of "The Prints and the Penmen," they co-own Russell D. Earnest Associates, P.O. Box 1007, East Berlin, Penn. 17316; fax 717/259-0744.)