Object Record
| Object Name | Bible |
| Object ID # | 2004.9.1 |
| Title | Preacher George Bechtel's 1720 Basel Bible |
| Place of Origin | Basel, Switzerland; Hereford Township, Berks County |
| Date | 1720 |
| Material | Paper, leather |
| Description | 1720 Basel Bible, owned by the Mennonite immigrant, Preacher George Bechtel (d. 1759), who settled in Hereford Township, Berks County. Was rebound in 1874 in what was then (and still is) a nice gilded victorian binding. Between the Testaments, is a two-page calligraphy record by scrivener Christian G. Hirsch, signed and dated 1895, of the Andreas B. & Deborah Longacre Bauer family, Hereford Twp. On the front flyleaf (of the 1874 rebinding) is an account, in German script, written and signed by Andreas B. Bauer in 1897, of the history & ownership of the Bible (this may have been copied from from a flyleaf in the original binding). |
| Provenance | First owned by Mennonite Preacher George Bechtel (d.1759) of Hereford Township, Berks Co., then passed down to his son Gerhart Bechtel (1737-1796); then passed down in the Bechtel-Bauer family to Andrew (Andreas) B. Bauer of Hereford Township, who owned it in the late 19th century; then passed down in the Bauer-Lutz family to Walter B. Lutz (the donor) of near Bechtelsville. They were all members of the Hereford Mennonite Congregation. |
| Source | Gift of Walter & Elsie Gabel Lutz |
| People |
Bechtel, George, d. 1759 (immigrant) Bechtel, Gerhart, 1737-1796 Bauer, Andrew B., 1817-1904 Bauer, Deborah R. Longacre, 1821-1896 Schantz, Catharine L. Bauer, 1843-1907 Bauer, John L., 1846-1917 Bauer, Andrew L., 1850-1871 Bauer, Jacob L., 1852-1912 Bauer, Aaron L., 1859-1942 Hirsch, Christian G., scrivener |
| Collection | Family Bible Collection |