I have listened to the first seven section of Washington Irving’s The History of New York’ and I am amazed! After booking a flight to New York, I considered hopping over to Holland to find the Rosemont cote of arms on the back of one of the chairs in the House of the Swan Brethren.

Washington Irving finds himself in the library of John Cook, who may be a fictional character, or, he may be Henry Brevoort who had a rare library, much of it about Dutch history. Cook gives Washington two books to read that are the foundation of his history; ‘The Heidelberg Catechism, and, the Dutch history compiled by Adriaen Cornelissen van der Donck.

Above is the title pages of two books on the Confessionals, by my ancestor, Gottschalk Rosemondt, and the other, the…