Royal Melbourne Show Exhibit 2025: Museum of Alphabets
The Alphabet Makers: A Personal Display
My thanks to The Publishers, The Museum of the Alphabet, Waxhaw, North Carolina, for permission to use information from their book in this display. The artifacts in this exhibition come from my personal collection of trinkets and items related to books, paper, and writing. The opinions and interpretations expressed here are my own. I am grateful to the Melbourne Royal Show and Bookbinding Victoria for allowing me to share this collection in this forum.
I love to explore the origins of things, and language is one of humanity’s greatest enigmas. Where did it come from? Why are there so many languages? And what are the stories attached to each of these pieces? I know only a fraction of those stories, but I find joy in walking through my home, looking at these items, and pondering their origins and meanings. I value the strength and delicacy of the stories they carry.
I love to explore the origins of things, and language is one of humanity’s greatest enigmas. Where did it come from? Why are there so many languages? And what are the stories attached to each of these pieces? I know only a fraction of those stories, but I find joy in walking through my home, looking at these items, and pondering their origins and meanings. I value the strength and delicacy of the stories they carry.
Among the many books on language on my shelves, The Alphabet Makers inspired me to prepare this display for the Royal Melbourne Show. I hope you will enjoy it, and that it encourages you to seek more about the feature that makes us uniquely human: language.
Copies of The Alphabet Makers are available in various conditions from ADDALL.com or ABE.com (search: Alphabet Makers).
James Finger
President, Bookbinding Victoria (Victorian Bookbinders' Guild)
President, Bookbinding Victoria (Victorian Bookbinders' Guild)
2. Cuneiform Tablet
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| Cuneiform Tablet in The Alphabet Markers and replica on display. |
Replica made with a mould of a tablet held by the Institute of Archaeology, Melbourne. The original dates to around 4000 BC. Students created replicas as part of their language training.
3. Oracle Bones
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| Oracle Bones in The Alphabet Markers and tortoise shell on display. |
These genuine tortoise shell bones date to around 2000 BC. They are engraved with some of the oldest known Chinese characters. A person with a problem would purchase a bone, and their question was engraved on it—sometimes on tortoise shell, sometimes on the scapula of sheep or cattle. A priest would then press a hot iron onto the bone until it cracked, and “read the cracks” to interpret the answer. A question might have been as simple as: Will it be a girl? Yes or no?
The used bones were discarded in pits. When locals later discovered them, they called them “dragon bones,” often grinding them for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Only in the early 20th century did researchers recognise them as significant records of divination practices and language, dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.
The used bones were discarded in pits. When locals later discovered them, they called them “dragon bones,” often grinding them for use in traditional Chinese medicine. Only in the early 20th century did researchers recognise them as significant records of divination practices and language, dating back to the 2nd millennium BC.
3b. Scapula Bones
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The Scapula is said to have come from the same Chinese location. However, I cannot verify their authenticity, as some modern characters appear on them. Genuine oracle bones were sometimes altered—more characters meant a higher value on the antique market.
4. Roman Wax Tablet and Stylus
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| Roman wax tablet in The Alphabet Makers and structure sample |
An early example of commercial documents in codex-like form. A stylus was used to record sales or temporary messages, often sealed with a signet ring. Once payment was received, the wax impressions were smoothed away, completing the transaction. Some consider this the predecessor of the codex, as these tablets could have two or three leaves bound with leather thongs. This protected the contents of the tablet which could be held in the hand and carried.
5. Nag Hammadi Codex
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This replica represents one of the oldest complete codices (folded-sheet books, as distinct from scrolls). The originals, dating to around 200–400 AD, were found in a sealed ceramic jar in Upper Egypt by farmers collecting fertiliser. The texts are significant for revealing mystical offshoots of early Christianity. They are equally important as the earliest complete examples of the codex form. This replica was made in the workshops of Bookbinding Victoria, using Nile papyrus and goatskin leather.
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| Rylands Library Papyrus P52 |
6. Sun Tzu's The Art of War
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This bamboo book is a modern replica of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, originally from the 5th century BC. Written on bamboo slips bound together, this format preserves one of history’s most influential works still applied today.
7. Chinese Scholar Figurines
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Even today these models of scholars reading and writing are common in dioramas and gardens of Chinese homes. The importance of learning is at the heart of Chinese culture.
9. Japanese Wood Carvings – Chickens
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These Japanese carvings are made with a knife from a single piece of wood in the Sasano area around Yonezawa, in north-central Japan. The region is called Sasano, and the word bori means “wood carvings.” The sculptures created with a single large knife are known as Sasanobori. Birds, especially chickens, feature prominently in this craft.
During an annual midwinter festival, the old sculptures are burned so that the past is released, and new ones are purchased to adorn the home for the coming year. Each different chicken—and, in more recent times, some modern bird motifs as well—carries symbolic meaning in the prayers of the fire-walking ceremony where they are consumed by the flames. This tradition is also a personal tribute to my past profession in chickens.
10. English Runes
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| From The Alphabet Makers book. |
Among the early written forms that evolved into modern English language.
11. Jewish Scrolls
Traditional Jewish reading is still on scrolls, both large and small. One example is the scroll of Esther, recounting the courage of a woman who risked her life to save her people, which is read each year during the Feast of Purim.
12. Yad - Tradition Reading Aid
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The scroll reader uses a yod, or pointer, to keep their place during the reading so that no words are missed or read out of order. The scrolls themselves must not be touched, lest a finger leave a mark or smudge the text and cause a misreading. For the Jewish people, the scrolls of the Law are very precious and must never be damaged. If a scroll is damaged, it is set aside and no longer used, as the text could be misinterpreted. Such scrolls are placed in the Genizah (a storage room for sacred texts) to await a proper burial, since they can never simply be thrown away.
13. Pressed Book Covers
The preservation and protection of sacred scriptures and prayers has resulted in many creative forms of bookbindings. In Jewish tradition, modern printed prayer books, often gifted at a boy’s bar mitzvah (today also for girls), are bound in pressed metal covers decorated with engraved designs. These examples date to around 1970.
14. Papua New Guinea Books
Some of the first printed books in indigenous Papua New Guinean languages. Before missionaries arrived, these languages had no written form; Roman characters were adapted to record them.
15. Arabic Calligraphy
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| Arabic flowing script carved in timber |
16. Arabic Calligraphy (cont.)
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This plate bears the saying: “Contentment is a treasure.” Date unknown, though modern.
17. Palm Leaf Writing
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| Exmples of Palm leaves in The Alphabet Museum |
Palm leaves were used as writing strata in many Asian cultures. The flat leaf is an ideal surface, receptive to ink and in some cases to gold paint. This Indonesian tourist example 9on display) is designed as a wall hanging, but historically, larger palm leaves were inscribed in similar ways as seen in The Alphabet Museum.
19. Aboriginal Artefacts
A smoking pipe and fire sticks from Gove Peninsula, 1950. While I am uncertain of their specific ritual uses, such items are integral to Aboriginal cultural storytelling.
8. Aboriginal Painting
Purchased from a cooperative store in Arnhem Land. It depicts cultural teachings portrayed in the extensive cave art galleries of the Arnhem Escarpment. I used a photo of this painting for the binding and slipcase of The Little Black Princess in a creative binding competition.
20. Japanese Papercut – Butterfly
At the Perth Royal show some years ago I became acquainted with the artist Kazu. Kazu spoke no English, but a translator helped us converse. Kazu was a chef and used his large cooking knives to carve paper cutouts. I asked to buy one, but they were for display only and not for sale. I visited several times and suggested after the show I would like to buy the Tuna Fish Paper cut. When I returned after the show, Kazu had rewarded my perseverance and conversations not only with the willingness to sell the large paper cut now the exhibition had finished, but also with a special gift of a butterfly he made just for me. A great privilege. I kept in touch with Kazu and hoped one day to visit his home in the north of Japan. Unfortunately his home and farm were destroyed in the tsunami in 2011, which we all watched on TV. Afterwards we lost track of him. Stories in stories.
21. Kina Shells – Papua New Guinea
Used as currency in early Papua New Guinea, Kina shells were rare, originating from the northern seas. Their value increased the further they were traded from the source.
Are they artworks? Perhaps not— but they represent the funding that supported their lifestyle, and therefore their crafts. As they say, money makes the world go round!
Are they artworks? Perhaps not— but they represent the funding that supported their lifestyle, and therefore their crafts. As they say, money makes the world go round!
22. Tapa Placemats
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Tourist tapa placemats of unknown origin, but created using the same techniques and methods as elsewhere in the Pacific.
23. Indonesian Dolls
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Indonesia has a rich heritage of story telling using Puppets, both shadow and regular. Numerous designs and numerous stories. These two I purchased at an Indonesian Cultural display. I was able to visit the display a number of times and watch the artist doing the batik work on the clothing for these two dolls. After some negotiation I was also able to not only purchase the pair but was also given the batik pen used in the making of the batik. Each doll tells a traditional story, as well as a story of how they came to me.