Under the Southern Cross. History of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Australia
Adelaide, Lutheran Publishing House, 1956.
Octavo, xii, 456 pages with numerous illustrations (mainly from photographs).
Cloth; flyleaves offset, with slight surface loss to the foot of the front flyleaf (where a bookseller's label has been removed); an excellent copy with the dustwrapper a little rubbed, chipped and torn.
The editor's preface is instructive. Dr Brauer completed his manuscript in 1947, having spent over 25 years on it, but it remained unpublished on his death in 1949. Pastor Strelan was tasked with reducing the manuscript to one-third of its length; the complete original work is retained in the Lutheran Archives. Not least, there are five chapters (about 60 pages) on Aboriginal missions. Although a paperback facsimile edition was published in 1985, it is uncommon in our experience, and this first edition is scarce. Provenance: Pastor Gordon John Gerhardy (1933-2023), a Lutheran missionary in PNG, with his signature on the front flyleaf.
Item #134708
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