Beleuchtung der in dem gedruckten Synodalausschreiben des Pastors Herrn August Kavel, vom 16ten Juni, enthaltenen Protestationen, gegen etliche Stellen in den symbolischen Buechern der evangelisch-lutherischen Kirche [Illumination of the Protestations contained in the Printed Synodal Announcements of Pastor Mr August Kavel, dated June 16, against Several Passages in the Symbolic Books of the Evangelical Lutheran Church]
Adelaide, A. Murray, 1847.
Octavo, 144, [2] (contents, errata) pages.
Early quarter leather and marbled boards, all edges speckled; leather a little stained, with slight loss at each end of the spine and minor conservation to the joints; light wear to the extremities; edges and endpapers a little marked; trifling signs of use and age; a very good copy with the later ownership name-stamp of F.F.O. Schulz at the foot of the title page.
The first book printed in German in South Australia. The shared entry in the 'Australian Dictionary of Biography' between the Lutheran pastors and South Australian pioneers, Gotthard Daniel Fritzsche (1797-1863) and August Ludwig Christian Kavel (1798-1860), gives a concise account of the events leading up to the Bethany synod in 1846, when they 'quarrelled irreconcilably and severed organizational connexions. The split between Kavel and Fritzsche resulted in two separate synods, which, after gathering in Lutheran bodies elsewhere in Australia, later became the United Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia and Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Australia. But in spite of their divisions, the German settlements led by Kavel and Fritzsche retained some national distinctions, and their industry and culture contributed richly to South Australia's development'. Ferguson 4506 has the following note: 'A copy was exhibited before the Library Association of Australasia - Adelaide Meeting, October, 1900 by J.G.O. Tepper. See "Loan Exhibition Catalogue" (Adelaide: Government Printer, 1900), p. 50, No. 351. A note in the Catalogue states that it is the first German book published in South Australia'. Ferguson recorded just one copy, in the Public (now State) Library of SA; Trove adds two more, both in Adelaide institutional libraries. The book is clearly a rarity: it is not mentioned in Hebart's centenary history of the UELCA (1938), or Graetz ('The Open Book. The Story of the Distribution and Production of Christian Literature by Lutherans in Australia', 1988, which contains a lengthy chapter on Kavel and Fritzsche). Brauer ('Under the Southern Cross. History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia', 1956) discusses the men and the matter at great length, not least in his chapter 'Controversial Writings'. He refers specifically to the book, which came out in response to Kavel's 'Protestations' listed in the agenda paper for the 1846 Bethany synod: 'To these "Protestations" Fritzsche replied in a book of 144 pages, entitled "Review of the Protestations of Pastor Kavel against Certain Passages in the Symbolical Books of the Lutheran Church". It was issued on July 22, 1847, and was printed by A. Murray, Rundle St., Adelaide. It cost Fritzsche over £80 to have it printed. He had to borrow this amount from friends' (page 118). Brauer gives no indication that this book is in German, with the title 'Beleuchtung der in dem gedruckten Synodalausschreiben des Pastors Herrn August Kavel ...'. It is worth noting that, for want of any German type in the colony, Fritzsche had to rely on the printer's stock of English type, and was accordingly forced to modify his spelling. This item is offered for sale with a second copy, uncut and retaining the original plain blue front wrapper and spine, but lacking the last leaf, the rear wrapper, and pages [iii]-14. Traces of the original wrappers remain on the inside margin of the title page of the rebound copy. [2 items].
Item #115326
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