Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts 1600-1909

Summary

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Overview

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Abstract

Consists of 113 bound manuscripts with texts in Ge’ez and occasionally Amharic, forming part of the Robert Garrett Collection (C0744).

Description

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Description

The Robert Garrett Collection contains 113 Ethiopic codices (bound manuscripts), which are chiefly written in Ge’ez, the sacred and liturgical Afro-Asiatic language of Ethiopian Orthodox Christians. Some texts are in Amharic. Included among Ethiopic manuscripts at Princeton are Bibles, Gospels, Psalters, homilies, liturgy, saints’ lives and miracles, theology, law, compilations on magic and divination, and other texts. Pseudepigraphic manuscripts include the Book of Enoch, which was used in R. H. Charles, ed., The Book of Enoch, Translated from Professor Dillmann’s Ethiopic Text… (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1893). A modest number of the manuscripts are illuminated. The two earliest manuscripts date from the 17th century: Garrett Ethiopic no. 1 (Bible) and no. 2 (Dersana Mika’el), both from the library of the Emperor Theodore (r. 1855-1868) of Ethiopia. However, most of the manuscripts at Princeton date from the 18th and 19th centuries. Texts are written in black ink on parchment. The quires are bound in a traditional style reminiscent of early Christian codices. The manuscripts are sewn with unsupported link-stitch and then laced into rough-hewn wooden boards or sometimes covered in blind-tooled leather. A number of manuscripts are in leather carrying cases, which allowed them to be worn over the shoulder or hung up on pegs in walls.

Collection Creator Biography

Robert Garrett (1875-1961) of Baltimore, Maryland, a member of the Princeton Class of 1897, was an American banker and philanthropist. Garrett was also an Olympic athlete (the first modern Olympic champion in shot put and discus throw), a Princeton Charter Trustee, and a collector of manuscripts.

Collection History

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Acquisition

The manuscripts were given to Princeton University Library by Robert Garrett (1875-1961) in 1942. Garrett acquired 101 Ethiopic codices and 147 magic scrolls from Enno Littmann (1875-1958), who lead a Princeton expedition to Tigray, Ethiopia, in the autumn of 1905 (with Garrett’s financial backing) and a German expedition to Aksum (Deutsche Aksum-Expedition) in the first few months of 1906. Littmann was an eminent German scholar who, during his long academic career, taught at Princeton, Strassburg, Göttingen, Bonn, and Tübingen. Most of the bound manuscripts and magic scrolls that Littmann collected in northern Ethiopia are at Princeton, but other manuscripts are in Germany (Berlin; Halle-an-der-Salle). Garrett acquired a dozen more codices from other sources.

Custodial History

Garrett acquired 101 Ethiopic codices from Enno Littmann (1875-1958). Garrett acquired a dozen more codices from other sources. Many of the original owners' names appear on the manuscripts, occasionally in the form of specialized prayers.

Processing Information

The Library has recently cataloged or recataloged its Ethiopic manuscript collections with generous support from the David A. Gardner ’69 Magic Project, Princeton University, coordinated by the Council of the Humanities. This collection was cataloged by Professor David L. Appleyard, School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University of London.

Bibliography

Ephraim Isaac, "Princeton Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts," Princeton University Library Chronicle 42:1 (Autumn 1980), pp. 33-52.

Richard Pankhurst, "Secular Themes in Ethiopian Ecclesiastical Manuscripts: V.: A Catalogue of Illustrations of Historical and Ethnographic Interest in Princeton University Library and Art Gallery," Journal of Ethiopian Studies 22 (November 1989), pp. 31-64.

Don C. Skemer, "Princeton’s Ethiopic Manuscript Collections at 100," Princeton University Library Chronicle 71:3 (Spring 2010), pp. 461-466.

Access and Use

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Access Restrictions

Collection is open for research use. Researchers may be required to use surrogates of collection items stored in special vault facilities.

Use Restrictions

Single photocopies may be made for research purposes. Permission to publish material from the collection must be requested from the Associate University Librarian for Rare Books and Special Collections.

Physical Characteristics and Technical Requirements

Texts are written in black ink on parchment. The quires are bound in a traditional style reminiscent of early Christian codices. The manuscripts are sewn with unsupported link-stitch and then laced into rough-hewn wooden boards or sometimes covered in blind-tooled leather. A number of manuscripts are in leather carrying cases, which allowed them to be worn over the shoulder or hung up on pegs in walls. The wooden covers of some codices are broken, and the stitching on some of the spines is deteriorating.

Preferred Citation

Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts; 1600s-1900s, Manuscripts Division, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Find More

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Topics

• Africa

Subject Terms

• Ethiopia
• Liturgical books
• Liturgy
• Manuscripts, Ethiopic
• Orthodox Eastern Church
• Texts

Related Material

In addition to the 113 Garrett Ethiopic codices, the Library also has an open collection called Princeton Ethiopic Manuscripts (C0776), acquired individually by gift or purchase. Since the 1990s, Bruce C. Willsie, Princeton Class of 1986, has been the principal donor. There is one Ethiopic manuscript in The Scheide Library (Manuscript 119).

The Library also has three substantial collections of Ethiopic magic scrolls. Professor David Appleyard, School of Oriental and African Studies, London, compiled the online checklist of these scrolls, with support from the David A. Gardner ’69 Magic Project, Princeton University.

Contents and Arrangement

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Arrangement

Organized into one series by shelf number:

Series 1: Robert Garrett Collection of Ethiopic Manuscripts (C0744.03), 1600s-1900s