Spiritual Labyrinth, With Four Fountains Of Grace Anonymous Printer Art

Approximately 14 1/2 x 18 1/2", A mid-19th century example of an English language spiritual labryinth, or Geistlicher Irrgarten. Trevor Carl Brandt, in his thesis Perplexion and Pleasure: The Geistlicher Irrgarten Broadsides in the German-American Printshop, Home, and Mind, dates this example of the genre to c. 1850, and notes that "this broadside is unusual in that its Four Springs have been left blank, perhaps for purchasers to illuminate themselves or, more likely, for a simpler aesthetic or printing process. The broadside's border is not seen in any other Geistlicher Irrgarten, making it difficult to attempt even tentative attributions as to the printer or his location." Brandt 10.1. This is a poor example, split in half, with extensive foxing, chipping, and separation along fold lines, but with no loss of text that we can see - most of the loss is to margins and border.