Henry Fisher’s book

The Pennsylvania Dutch loved to add decorations all over. An old Bible in the Tuliptree Collection has a curious decoration on the tail edge of the textblock.

Decoration on the textblock

It’s a simple punch-type decoration with a sweet heart. We’re familiar with the common bookplate decorations of the Pennsylvania Dutch, but page edge decoration is more of an English practice. The Swem Library at William & Mary has a large collection of such fore-edge painted books. This book is certainly not English — it’s a 1782 Luther translation of the Bible printed at Halle, Germany.

Title page, Luther Bible, printed in Halle 1782

An inscription inside tells us who owned it.

Henry Fisher’s book 1784

Henry Fisher was born in 1758 in Lower Heidelberg (Berks County), the son of Johann Peter and Maria Appolonia (Heckert) Fisher, and moved to the Oley Valley, eventually buying a property there. Between 1798 and 1801, Henry and his wife Susanna Ruth had their beautiful limestone home built. It is an example of the growing popularity of Georgian house architecture among the Pennsylvania Dutch.

Fisher House, Historical American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress

Although it has classic Georgian characteristics, it was still built in the Oley Valley and so the carvings around the door, for example, are hallmarks of Pennsylvania Dutch craftsmanship. 

Front door carving on the Fisher House, Historical American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress

Susanna Fisher died in 1821 and was the first burial in the new section of the Oley Union Cemetery in Spangsville. Henry, however, doesn’t rest next to his wife — in fact, he isn’t buried in Oley at all. In 1823, he visited his daughter Mary who had since moved 175 miles west. Henry died on that trip to Huntington County and so there he remains. Certainly, there was more than one Henry Fisher, but we can be more certain that Henry Fisher of Oley was the owner of Bible, because of a letter tucked inside. The letter was written to Mary’s grandson Norman by the daughter of Mary’s brother David who then occupied the Fisher home in the Oley Valley.

The Fisher home is still in the family and is located along 662 in Oley. They run a produce business, so stop by for some fruits and vegetables when you’re in the area.

Mieleta (19 September 2025), The Bullfrog Inn