ETHIOPIAN MANUSCRIPT IN GE'EZ ON VELLUM

PSALTER -

Ethiopic Psalter-manuscript in ge'ez on vellum.

(Ethiopia, presumably early 19th century).

8vo (205 x 125 mm). In a traditional later Ethiopian blind-tooled wooden board binding: wooden boards and no spine. Quires are with coptic stitches. Text in one colum in clear legible ge'ez in black and red ink on vellum. Leaves with miscololuring and stains in margins, primarily affecting first leaves. Tiny holes from strings in right margin. Hinges and quires a bit loose (as usual with this binding-technique) but still firmly attached. 97 ff. Housed in a accompanying majdär, a leather folding case, with a shoulder strap. With half page portrait of St. John the Evangelist.

Ethiopian manuscript on vellum, here preserved with its accompanying majdär. It is written in Ge'ez, the liturgical language of the Ethiopian church shaping Ethiopian civilization for centuries. One of the most significant distinct fields of Ethiopian culture is its literature, mainly religious texts in ancient Greek and Hebrew, translated into ancient Ge'ez.
Ethiopia has a very characteristic and unique style of binding which has essentially remained unchanged since the 12th century. (see Cockerell, Ethiopian Bindings, 1977)
The carrying case was essential for the daily use of the book, as it not only gave protection to the book, but also made it easily portable for the Ethiopian priest as he traveled between congregations.

Order-nr.: 63299