By James M. Beidler • Photographs Courtesy James M. Beidler
When you’ve been doing genealogy for forty-something years, no matter how ordinary your family seems, you’ll likely run into some artifacts that take your breath away. Sadly, since a lot of times those items are one of a kind, finding them—let alone possessing them—can seem like pursuing a will-o’-the-wisp.
Such was the case about a dozen years ago when I received an email from Corinne Earnest, the now-late expert on the illuminated certificates known as fraktur. I was editor of Der Kurier, the Mid-Atlantic Germanic Society journal, and every issue Earnest submitted at least a couple of articles, many of them culled from her trips to auctions where historical items were sold.
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