Summary

Copy of The Australian Sketcher, Adelaide edition, 16 October 1880 (pp 257-72), published by G.N. & W.H. Birks.

On page 260 of the edition are two illustrations of note. The upper image depicts Dr. (later Sir) James Hector (1834-1907), a Scottish geologist, naturalist and surgeon who was appointed Executive Commissioner for New Zealand at the Melbourne International Exhibition (MIE), while the lower illustration shows workmen constructing the Victorian Gold Trophy, a rhombic dodecahedron representing the amount of gold mined in Victoria since 1851. While the estimated weight, as recorded on the dodecahedron during the Exhibition, was 49,098,408 oz. or 1503 tons, these calculations were disputed the month after the Exhibition opened by a Mr. W. Birkmyre, 'a reliable authority':
'I make the gold exported in that period to be 49,964,314 ozs. troy, and it is most likely that the quantity raised would be more than that exported. Hence the true yield in these twenty-nine years must have been not less than 50,000,000 ozs. troy (in value 200 millions sterling), equal to 1,555,209 kilogram's, or 1560 tons avoirdupois; equal to 2892 cubic feet, being equal to a room 14 1/2 feet long, 14 1/2 feet broad, and 14 1/2 feet high; therefore much bigger than the gold crystal exhibited in the Victorian court.' (Launceston Examiner, Friday, 19 November 1880, p 3)

The International Exhibition ran from 1 October 1880 to 30 April 1881. Over 1.3 million people visited the exhibition at a time when Melbourne's population was around 282,000.

Physical Description

Page 257 is the front page of the newspaper and has a highly decorative masthead and depicts the word 'Australasian' in an unfurling banner, with side foliate motifs, an artist's palette and brushes, and an ornamented 'Sketcher' with a winged female form emerging from the 'S'. Page 260 depicts Dr. (later Sir) James Hector (1834-1907), while the lower shows workmen constructing the Victorian Gold Trophies for the exhibition. Pages 265-266 contain detailed descriptions of the new Exhibition Building in Carlton Gardens and the opening of the 1880 Melbourne International Exhibition.

More Information