Himmelsbriefe. Ein Brief. So von Gott selbsten geschrieben und zu Magdeburg niedergelassen worden ist. Er war mit goldenen Buchstaben geschrieben und von Gott durch einen Engel gesandt worden. Dieses ist geschehen in Magdeburg, im Jahr 1783

N.p., 1820. Broadside. 4to. 230 x 210 mm., [9 x 8 ½ inches]. Six-line title and thirty-line text set within a decorative typographical border. Folded, with old paper repairs to body of the sheet and recent expert tissue repairs to the center fold and edges. No watermark discernable. Rare edition of an example of a German language Himmelsbriefe which is a letter from God to his people about keeping the sabbath and commandments. Although the imprint of Magdeburg, 1783 is apocryphal, this text has its origins in the late Middle Ages and the earliest known printed example appeared in Munich around 1500. The earliest known example from Pennsylvania was printed by George Hohmann in 1802. Some of the known copies of these "heaven-letters" have information on the printer, but this example has no imprint information. "Letters from Heaven are among the most common Pennsylvania German broadsides. Probably more than one hundred editions were printed in America... These broadsides admonish against working on Sunday and wearing wigs and other signs of vanity." This broadside is difficult to date. An examination of a number of examples using the typographical borders as a guide, suggest that the printer was probably from Harrisburg, Reading or Allentown, centers of German language broadside printing, and it was probably printed before 1825. The paper quality also suggest an early date as it matches with a number of 'birth certificates' that were printed in these communities in second decade of the 19th century. OCLC only cites a copy at University of Pennsylvania, with the same title and without imprint information as above. Earnest, Flying Leaves and One-Sheets, pp.232-245. Yoder, Pennsylvania German Broadsides, pp. 215. Henrich Wellenreuther, Citizens in a Strange Land, p. 72. See examples of the typographical border in Yoder, pp. 146, 246, 268.