A Baptist pulpit Bible that’s more than two centuries old is the big ticket item at this weekend’s Lifeline Big Book Fair.
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Priced at $400, the 1813 Self-Interpreting Bible by the Reverend John Brown is in great shape for its age – with Lifeline’s volunteer experts concluding it was professionally rebound in the 1920s.
Lifeline South Coast executive director Grahame Gould said he was confident the impressive tome – which measures 30cm by 60cm – would find a new home.
Lifeline doesn’t have the previous owner’s details for the rare find, which includes over 30 illustrations.
‘’One of the great things about the book fair is the fact that we often find rare or out-of-print books, and can again make them available for purchase,’’ Mr Gould said.
‘’This bible is a special buy for someone, but it’s also great for any visitor to the book fair to be able to look at a book that was made over 200 years ago and is such an important part of our culture and our history.’’
It’s one of around 75,000 books which will be up for grabs at the event which kicked off on Friday at the Illawarra Sports Stadium at Berkeley, and will continue across the weekend.
Bookworms can browse through over 50 categories including fiction, non-fiction, travel, art and science as well as children’s books.
All proceeds from the popular event go towards Lifeline South Coast services, including its 24-hour telephone crisis support service (13 11 14).
‘’We are aiming to raise $125,000 at this event, and those funds will all be used in our local community,’’ Mr Gould said.
‘’These services are more important than ever, as we know that more people are dying from suicide now than anytime in the last 20 years.
‘’We also know that suicide is the leading cause of potential years of life lost – because people that die from suicide are on average younger than those that die from other causes such as heart disease and cancer.’’
Mr Gould said last year Lifeline South Coast volunteers took 18,500 calls.
‘’We will use the funds from the book fair to continue with our crisis work and also to help fully develop the capacity of our community to let everyone know what role they can play in preventing suicide,’’ he said.