1

This note was hidden in a set of books I recently bought (Kosmos by Alexander von Humboldt, 1st edition 1845). I recognise dates (April 1839, 1840) and sums, so this might be some note about costs or accounting. But I can't make out most of the text. Can anyone help?

enter image description here

1
  • If the answer below solved your query satisfactorily, please mark it as "accepted" (the green checkmark right beside the beginning of the answer). This way, everybody knows that it was solved
    – marquinho
    Mar 8 at 10:03

1 Answer 1

7

I had some fun with it.

No guarantees, and I didn't get everything. Thanks to @ccprog and @marquinho for their additions.

Nota von Zimmermeist[er] ???d Fuhr
für Mauermeist[er] Bell(?) in Kehmel über
gefertigte Arbeit an dem Herrn Gasthalter
Lang dahier seynen Saalbau.
1837 Juni 5t. habe ich die hintere Grund Mauer=
  werk gestreckt mit zwey Hebgescher  
  und fünf Mann[,] betr[agend]      6 Th 
"    "    6t. habe ich dito das Gübelmauer=
  werk gestreckt mit einem Gescher  3 Th 30
                                    ------
              S.[umma] s.[ummarum]  9 Th 30
    
L.[angen] Schwalbach den 27ten April 1839   
bezahlt d. 5ten Feb 1840 mit 3 Th 30
weil es strittig wahr

The village "Kehmel" is now written Kemel. A "Gasthalter" is an innkeeper. The name of the "Maurermeister" could be Bell, Boll or Bull, not sure.

There are some grammatical incongruencies, I just left them how I read them, as well as the spelling.

I also don't really know what "Mauerwerk mit einem Hebgescher strecken" means. I understand that a Hebgescher is what would be written Hebgeschirr today, which means 'lifting gear', but I have no knowledge about this craft.

One could speculate about what the purpose of this "nota" (note) was, could be a receipt if Bell ordered these works. "Th" probably means Thaler, see the comment about the "Kronenthaler".

They did pay late in those days already...

Edit: more speculation: maybe this Andreas Fuhr or his son?

11
  • 1
    @ccprog A letter "u" in Haug would need a Kringel above the letter. I'm not sure about the H. Definitely not "weiß gestreicht", which doesn't fit the letters at all imo and also wouldn't make sense for a "Zimmermann".
    – HalvarF
    Mar 1 at 23:27
  • 1
    Identifying the Gasthof won't be easy: "Die Straßenanlagen Kemels brachten es mit sich, dass es weiterhin eine bekannten Raststätte blieb... 1788 waren am Ort neun Gasthöfe vorhanden..."
    – ccprog
    Mar 1 at 23:35
  • 1
    @HalvarF Exactly: There is little doubt that both those lines read "werk gestreckt", and in both cases the previous line ends with "Mauer=", giving "Mauerwerk". The "H"s in the sums actually read "th", which ought to stand for "Thaler".
    – marquinho
    Mar 1 at 23:36
  • 1
    The words up to "betr.", right before the first payable sum, I interpret as follows: "und fünf Mann[,] betr[ägt] 6 th."
    – marquinho
    Mar 1 at 23:41
  • 4
    Now I have it: L. Schwalbach is the neighbouring town to Heidenrod, today Bad Schwalbach, but at the time called Langenschwalbach.
    – ccprog
    Mar 2 at 0:03

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge that you have read and understand our privacy policy and code of conduct.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.