More Gertrude - 1

The recent series of articles on Gertrude Seibert (which you can read 2-3 posts down this blog) provoked some interest, and as a result I have been sent extra materials which I am able to publish here. This first post is a collecton of images sent from the Mike Castro archive collection, and reproduced here with permission and with thanks. The second is a wedding photograph of Gertrude with a lesson for researchers.

So first, let’s have a look at a number of materials from the Mike Castro collection. Probably the most important one is the publication of The Heavenly Bridegroom, with a handwritten inscription from Gertrude on the page.

It reads: Written expressly for "The Finished Mystery."

This is a key document because as the main series of articles on her has established, she was a moving force behind the controversial 7^th volume. This poem was specially written for it, and can be found, dated 25 June 1917 at the end of the middle section on the Song of Solomon. Ultimately, the actual work of compiliing The Finished Mystery was credited to Clayton J Woodworth and George Fisher, pictured below in an imagine taken from a postcard.

Gertrude’s main work for the Watch Tower Society involved editing and compiling, and she produced the Berean Topic Index that can be found in Bible Student Manual.

This can be found in the Bible Students Manual, and here are several printings of this volume.

The Bible Sudents Manual was first advertised in the January 15, 1909, Watch Tower, although the first edition had already been printed and sent out in December 1908. In the picture are the various editions and printings. Starting from the left ther is the original 1908 version in leather binding. Next come four versions from 1909. Two have different fonts on the spine and the two that look the same were made with radically different types of leather – one smooth nd subtle and the other a large pebble grain leather. Next along is a leather binding from 1921 and an undated version. Finally there is the Lamp on Book hardback edition.

Getrude was also the compiler of the 1912 (and thereafter) edition of Poems of Dawn. Here are several printings of this volume.

From left to right we have the 1912 leather edition, then leatherette, then the 1915 edition in leather and leatherette and finally the 1919 leatherette version.

There was also a hardback edition. Here is an inscription in Gertrude’s hand from inside the front cover of a hardback copy of Poems of Dawn.

She also produced several booklets of her own poetry. Here is an example. In the Garden of the Lord was profusely illustrated and published by the Watch Tower Society for several years. (It was advertised in the Watch Tower magazine from 1913).

Another that went through several editions was Sweet Briar Rose. Here are a few of them, First from 1909.

It became the title of a collection of poems. Here is the 1920 edition and also the original large envelope that held it. The booklet was 9 by 6 inches in size.

Here is the 1926 version.

The title poem was also featured in the Golden Age magazine for March 25, 1925.

Some of her poems also were produced on post cards. Here is one example.

Several photographs of Gertrude exist. One that was published in a poetry volume is in the article on The Finished Mystery. Another, apparently from the day of her wedding, is in the following article.