[Moravian Missions]. SCHNEIDER, Helmut Günther

Missionsarbeit der Brüdergemeine in Australien [Missionary Work of the Brotherhood in Australia]

Gnadau, Unitäts-Buchhandlung, 1882.

Octavo, viii, 207 pages.

Modern red binder's cloth retaining the original overlapping printed wrappers (slightly marked, creased and chipped, with minimal loss to the corners); leading and bottom edges uncut; a marginal note in pencil on one page, plus underlining of a few words or phrases in pencil (40 pages) and red ink (14 pages); notwithstanding, an excellent copy of a rare book. The front wrapper repeats the full title page details within a decorative border; the outside rear wrapper carries an advertisement for the publisher.

A history of the Moravian Missions in Australia, including sections on the exploration, settlement and natural history of Australia; Papua and the Papuans; Aboriginal Australians and their relations with white settlers ('Die gegenseitige Berührung zweier Rassen'); and a survey of the various existing Aboriginal missions (Poonindie, Killalpaninna, Point McLeay, Hermannsburg and Finke River missions are mentioned). The chapters on the Moravian Missions are similarly rich. They chart the history of the Moravian Brotherhood in Australia, from the encouragement of emigration by Charles LaTrobe, first Lieutenant Governor of Victoria and himself a Moravian, through to the establishment of missions at Lake Boga and Ebenezer (western Victoria), and Ramahyuck (Gippsland).

Trove lists only two copies (the National Library of Australia and the State Library of New South Wales), with the following brief and inaccurate description: 'History of the Moravian missionary work in Australia including missions to the Aborigines'.

Not in Ferguson; Greenway 8339.

Item #115378

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