Early in 2020, Winterthur received the gift of an extraordinary leather-bound manuscript made in the 1780s by Ludwig Denig (1755-1830), a shoemaker and apothecary who live in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The Denig illuminated manuscript combines intricate ink and watercolor drawings, personal and devotional text, and sheet music hymns, forming a compelling record of art and life in the borderlands of early 18th-century America. Now more than 200 years old, the manuscript is too fragile to display.
An interdisciplinary team of scholars and advisors has been working on a project, funded by the Getty Foundation and the Schwartz Foundation, which will allow Winterthur to develop a digital platform for publication and interpretation of the Denig manuscript. For this study day, scholars and advisors will share their work and perspectives on the manuscript and how it helps them better understand life and art in an early American borderland: the town of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Free