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Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans
387 pages | 6 x 9 | 1915
Cloth edition is not available
ISBN 978-0-271-03644-1 | paper: $27
Paperback edition due in September
Since its publication in 1915, Beliefs and Superstitions of the Pennsylvania Germans has served as an important chapter in the catalog of American folklore and in the preservation of the linguistic culture of a group whose traditions have since faded from the forefront of the American consciousness. Edwin Miller Fogel’s years of oral research in both Pennsylvania and Germany led to this collection, the most complete of its time, of over two thousand Pennsylvania German aphorisms.
The superstitions collected herein display a panorama of beliefs that reflect every aspect of Pennsylvania German life, beginning with superstitions concerning childbirth and babies—such as “A child born on Sunday will become saucy”—and including concerns regarding marriage, farming, religion, medicine, death, and other facets of everyday existence. A section on sex was omitted from the original publication, and only mentioned as available to readers who requested it “for purely scientific use.” The section has been included as an appendix to the Metalmark edition.
Each entry in the collection is composed of a saying in the Pennsylvania German dialect and an English translation, followed, where applicable, by a correlated phrase recorded in Germany or the British Isles. In addition, entries for each listing include an indication of counties in which the phrase was recorded. A comprehensive introduction explores the historical origins of these superstitions and the intricacies of the author’s own methods for phonetic notation and translation into English.
Metalmark Books
Metalmark Books is a joint imprint of the Penn State University Press and the Office of Digital Scholarly Publishing at the University Libraries at Penn State. Books published under this imprint are selected from the Libraries' extensive Pennsylvania holdings. They may be viewed online or ordered as paperbacks. Over time, the scope will broaden to include other significant out-of-print titles.