Ballarat Display

Ballarat is one of Australia’s largest inland cities, with a population of 88,000. It is located about 110km northwest of Melbourne. The area was first settled by farmers in 1837, but the discovery of gold in 1851 caused an influx of miners. By 1853 there were 20,000 miners! In 1854 some of the miners rebelled against the State Government officials over unjust treatment and the Eureka Stockade was built, which is now a tourist site. The flag created by the rebels (a white cross on a blue background) is still used by trade unionists in Australia. The city prospered and by 1870 there were 60,000 residents. However the gold trade declined and the city went into recession. Like other cities that were founded on farming and mining, the passing years have seen many peaks and troughs in the economy. Ballarat in 2008 is a handsome city and there are still many attractive buildings that were erected during the gold rush.

During the Ballarat Heritage Weekend we had about 80 of our oldest Bibles on display, dating from 1602 to 1900, to co-ordinate with the ‘heritage’ theme. The display was in the “Mining Exchange” building where the goldminers used to sell their gold to dealers in small rooms around the hall. The organizers had advertised the biennial weekend widely throughout the State, and there were many visitors from country towns. Staff at the Exchange wore period costume, and there was a very friendly atmosphere, with classical music being played in the background.

The display next to ours was a local bookbinder who restores books, and a highlight on the Sunday was when he pulled apart an old Bible in preparation for restoring it.

We estimate that about 150 people visited our display over the two days. Three Jews, including a young Israeli man, were among the visitors, all of whom were surprised to see the Hebrew scrolls section. We also had a folder with some of our Israel stamp “First Day Covers” which showed the history of Israel in stamps, from the very first issue in 1948. Another folder had modern Israel coins. There was a small display on the Dead Sea Scrolls, and their significance.

There was a display of Illuminated Manuscripts, including Bibles, in the State Library in Melbourne recently, and some people who had seen that display were interested in our illuminated manuscript facsimiles.

We have a facsimile of the Lorsch Gospels, the original of which was prepared and presented to Emperor Charlemagne in 810 AD. It was such a fine book that 1000 copies were made in the USA in 1967. This book is in Latin, but the names in the genealogy of Jesus in Luke 3 are identical with the English names in the Bibles through the next 1200 years. The Bible display also includes Bagster’s “Hexapla” Bible which has a Greek version of the New Testament across the top of pages, and then 6 columns below with translations in English across the bottom. They start with Wycliffe 1385, and end with the KJV 1611. The visitors were able to see names like David, Jesse, Nathan, and Adam, that read the same in Latin and English. Twelve hundred years unchanged, showing that basic facts in modern versions have remained the same.

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