Antique Prayer Book “Gott sei mein Beschützer” 1888, Leather with Mother-of-Pearl Cross & Clasp, Gilt Edges – Prague/Vienna

A small, deeply atmospheric Catholic prayer book titled “Gott sei mein Beschützer” (“God Be My Protector”), published by A. J. Cellerin & Sohn in Prague and Vienna, with ecclesiastical approval dated 11 June 1888.

Design

Dark leather binding with blind tooling, metal corners, a working brass clasp and an inlaid mother-of-pearl cross on the front cover. The text block has gilt edges all round, and inside are colored devotional plates (chromolithographs).

Details & Condition

• Publisher: A. J. Cellerin & Sohn, Prague and Vienna
• Date: 1888 (approbation 11 June 1888)
• Language: German
• Size: approx. 13 × 9.5 × 2.5 cm / 5.1 × 3.7 × 1.0 in
• Material: leather, paper, gilt edges, metal clasp, mother-of-pearl
• Condition: antique with character; age-related wear to the leather edges, one plate inside with a vertical tear (see photos)

Who It's For

For collectors of religious books and old bindings, friends of the Habsburg era or as a keepsake for a baptism, confirmation or Christmas.

Care

Store dry and away from light; treat the leather occasionally with a little leather balm, open the clasp gently.

At the flea market in Waidhofen an der Thaya the prayer book lay in a shoebox full of holy cards – its clasp still closed, as if guarding something personal.

Prayers from the age of the Emperor — Things with Soul · VintageAustriaShop