Rare and remarkable Bibles found their way to Australia in the past 216 years, and some outstanding examples are now on display at the Newcastle City Library.
The historic Bible Exhibition is sponsored by the Bible Society of NSW, commemorating the bicentenary of the British and Foreign Bible Society, founded in London in 1804.
“The significant unifying feature of these Bibles is that they are now Australian”, said the Bible Society’s Translation Consultant, the Rev Dr John Harris. “Some were brought here.Some originated here. Some were associated with important Australian events.  Some belonged to famous Australians.  But all are part of Australian history and part of our national heritage,” he said.
The Bibles cover the whole period of the printed book, spanning over 500 years from the 1400s to today.  They have been carefully selected from The Bible Society’s Arrowsmith Memorial Library of historic scriptures.
Many are very rare, several are unique and some have never been publicly exhibited before.
Dr Harris says the exhibition raises many questions about the history of the Bible, for example, how did a Bible which belonged to Shakespeare end up here?  Who brought a 1495 Latin Bible to these distant shores four hundred years after it was printed?  Why did Governor Lachlan Macquarie donate a Russian Bible to the Bible Society’s lending library in early Sydney? Who in Australia owned a first edition of the King James Version or something as rare as a William Tyndale New Testament?  How did a Dutch Bible come back to Australia with the troops from the Boer War?
“We know the stories of some of these Bibles but others remain a mystery,” he said.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Scriptures originated in Australia, and on exhibit are the first ever printings of texts in Aboriginal languages.  The oldest of them preserve languages no longer spoken. They too have their stories, Dr Harris said.
The first Scripture in any Aboriginal language was St Luke’s Gospel in Awabakal, the language of the Newcastle region, translated in 1831. However, it was not published until an edition was made for Aboriginal people by the combined churches of Newcastle in 1997 as a reconciliation gift.
“The Bible is the most influential book in human history.  It has always been an important part of Australia’s history,”  Dr Harris added. “This exhibition is a tribute to all who have owned and loved these Bibles and to all who have bequeathed them to the Bible Society so that their beauty or their significance is not lost to future generations.”