Bibles for the Pacific Islands
Although Jesuit missionaries prepared a Japanese New Testament in 1613, official suppression of Christianity in Japan made further evangelization impossible until the early nineteenth century. Beginning in the 1830s, the first vernacular Bible translations were produced for use by missionaries in other Pacific Islands.
Also exhibited in the galleries:
[Maori New Testament]. Ko te Kawenata Hou o to tatou ariki te kai wakaora a Ihu Karaiti, He mea wakamaori i te reo kariki. Ranana [London]: T. R. Harihona, 1844.
[Tahitian New Testament]. Te Faufaa Apî, a to tatou fatu e te ora a Iesu Mesia ra, iritihia ei parau Tahiti. Lonedona [London]: Gilbert & Rivington, 1875.
[Sangir (Siau) Gospels of Luke and John]. Indjil ko susi, ko niwohe i Lukas: nisalin su bahasang Sangihe. London: British and Foreign Bible Society, [1880].