Book From the American Revolution in a Display Case

Ready for a lesson folks? Well, class is now in session.

We at Better Display Cases love when customers send us photos of how they are choosing to display their items in our display cases. Take John Reusing for example, who recently sent us an image of a prayer book he uncovered and put in one of our Acrylic Book Display Cases!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now, on this matter, we felt no one could tell the story of this prayer book then John himself, so here is what he told us about it.

"In the recesses of my family's attic was a large steamer trunk owned by my maternal grandfather who was born in Cincinnati in 1857. He was a lawyer by trade and his boyhood friend was now a client. His name was President William Howard Taft. The trunk had been on the Grand Tour in 1905 and inside was a treasure trove of family history. One item was wrapped in layers of old tissue paper and my mother gave me permission to unwrap it. It was a very old prayer book and looking at the page numbers, several hundred were missing including the title page. My mother related that family history dictated that this book had belonged to a Hessian ancestor who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War and then returned to Germany. The missing pages were used as gun wadding for the muskets. They were the perfect size and consistency needed for the guns. She also said however that there was no date of publication to even ascertain the age of the book. Sometime later I started to examine the prayer book again and while looking at each page, I found a separate title page toward the back of the book. In German was reference to a 'Prayer Book for Pregnant Woman'. At the bottom was the city of publication, Stuttgart and also the printing date of 1776. It was an amazing moment to make this discovery. This was owned by a Richter ancestor who may have travelled to the colonies to support the British in their losing effort. Now it is housed in a Better Display Case for future generations to enjoy."

The history behind this is absolutely incredible! And an incredible item like this needs to be displayed in a display case of similar caliber. Our book display cases are able to do just the job. They are designed to protect your special books from dirt, dust, and grime, as well as prevent any fading. There is no better way to properly display your priceless antique book then with an Acrylic Book Display Case from Better Display Cases.