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Gros & Delettrez
34 - BIS
-
ETHIOPIAN MANUSCRIPT . Illustrated liturgical manuscript wri…
See original version (French)
34 - BIS
-
ETHIOPIAN MANUSCRIPT . Illustrated liturgical manuscript wri…
See original version (French)
Estimate
€300 - €400
Voluntary lot
Description
ETHIOPIAN MANUSCRIPT .
Illustrated liturgical manuscript written in Ge'ez.
(Ethiopia), (ca. 18th or 19th century).
Small in-4 (17 x 19 cm), (157) ff. of text on ca 18-20 lines per page, wooden boards split and sewn to facilitate reading (tarnished edges, sometimes lateral perforations without affecting the text rather due to the defect of the skin, some shrinkage and scratches, soiling stains, perforations ff. 35, some minor lateral soiling, ff. 54 sewn back in lower margin, an addition in violet ink ff. 52).
Early Ethiopian manuscript, with marginalia and graffiti.
Text written in black ink, rubricated in columns with titles and names of saints in red ink. Copy ruled in drypoint. On vellum, written in Ge'ez, or Guèze, the Semitic liturgical language of the Ethiopian church. A significant artefact of their centuries-old Christian culture is the production of illuminated texts in one of the oldest languages in the world, still used by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church.
With sketches of figures, an ornamental band painted at the head of the text on ff 152-153, a crowned figure, a horseman, perhaps the Archangel Saint Michael, and later graffiti in pencil.
See original version (French)
Auto-translation. Refer to original language for legal validity.
Pictures modified on 05/26/2026 at 6:03 PM
Pictures credits: Contact the Auction House
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