Treasure Chest Thursday - Past Meets Present

I am very lucky to have so many family treasures. The one I'd like to share today isn't necessarily a treasure as far as genealogical information goes, but it is one I love nonetheless. It is a copy of The Odyssey of Homer that was owned by my great-aunt Viola Rose (Lempke) Dobstaff.

I'm not exactly sure when she owned it, but the date on the first page is 1923, and inside the front cover is written in her own handwriting:

Miss Viola Lempke
Technical High School
Buffalo, N.Y.

I've been reading Ulysses this week for Banned Books Week and since it echoes Homer's Odyssey, I've been thinking about this book. I do plan on reading Odyssey as well, but in a slightly different way than my great-aunt read it.

In case you've been wondering why I haven't been around, it's because I bought a Kindle a few weeks ago and have been madly in love ever since. (My husband approves. I have enough love for both of them.) Nothing will ever replace a "real" book, the feel of the pages, that old-book smell - but there's something to be said for being able to carry around your ENTIRE library in your pocket. And not having to get out of bed to fetch another book to read. And having access to thousands of free books, right from your couch. And... okay, I'll stop now.

Most of the treasures I have are because of my Auntie Vi (as we always called her). She kept everything. Because of her, I have books, photographs, scraps of papers with names and dates, funeral cards, funeral books, obituaries, old letters (English and German), bibles, and so much more. Long after her death, she is still helping me fill in the blanks on that branch of the family tree.

Treasure Chest Thursday - German Bible

This bible was given to my great-grandfather, John G. Lempke (23 February 1880 - 14 February 1961), on the day of his confirmation in 1895, at age 15, in Buffalo, New York. It is written entirely in German, and it has several names and dates written on the Family Chronicles pages at the front of the book.

For 115 years old, I'd say it's still in pretty good shape. The outer spine looks pretty bad, but no pages are missing or loose. I need to find a proper place to store it though. I'd like it to look as nice 115 years from now. DearMYRTLE has a wonderful post about caring for old family bibles here. I will definitely put that information to good use as this is one of three family bibles I am lucky enough to have.