Oldest surviving Ethiopian Gospels now being studied

Garima Gospels

Radiocarbon testing has revealed that a pair of illustrated gospels kept in a remote monastery in Ethiopia may have been made as early as the 4th century and are perhaps the oldest surviving illustrated Christian works in existence. The Garima Gospels were first reported on in the 1950s, but it has only been within the last couple of years that scholars have been able to examine the work and help conserve it.

In 2006 the British-based Ethiopian Heritage Fund began a project to examine the Garima Gospels, which have been kept at the Monastery of Abba Garima in northern Ethiopia for hundreds of years. Scholars were allowed to take two parchment fragments from the manuscripts, and testing at Oxford University revealed that they date back to somewhere between 330 and 650 AD. It had previously been believed that the texts were no older than the twelfth century. According to legend, the manuscripts were brought to Ethiopia from Constantinople by Abba Garima in the year 494.

Jacques Mercier, a French specialist in Ethiopian art, believes that the manuscripts may have been created around 600. Both of them contain several pages of vivid illustrations typical of early Byzantine style, which include a depiction of the Jewish Temple in Jerusalem, a portrait of Saint Luke, and images of over twenty different birds.

Michelle Brown, a former British Library curator, tells the Art Newspaper that, “the Garima Gospels case vital light upon early Christian illuminated manuscript production and upon the role of sub-Saharan Africa…It is the sort of model the inspired such vibrant later Ethiopic art and is an important witness to the way in which the churches of the Christian Orient both absorbed the courtly Christian culture of Constantinople and developed their own voices and styles.”

The texts also received some conservation work, which was done in the monastery, as the texts were not allowed to leave its premises. Blair Priday of the Ethiopian Heritage Fund explained to the Daily Mail, “all the work on the texts was done in situ and everything is reversible, so if in future they can be taken away for further conservation we won’t have hindered that. The pages had been crudely stitched together in a restoration in the 1960s and some of the pages wouldn’t even turn. And they were falling to pieces. The Garima Gospels have been kept high and dry which has helped preserve them all these years and they are kept in the dark so the colours look fresh.”

The Ethiopian Heritage Fund was established in 2005 to undertake conservation of manuscripts and paintings in churches. They have worked on other medieval treasures, including two 15th century paintings of St. Mary. Priday added: ‘Ethiopia has been overlooked as a source of these fantastic things. Many of these old Christian relics can only be reached by hiking and climbing to remote monasteries as roads are limited in these mountainous regions.”

Discovery of Earliest Illuminated Manuscript - June 2010

Extreme Bookbinding - A Fascinating Preservation Project in Ethiopia - 2008

Various Old and Ancient Books - Part 6

The Comedies of Terence 1765










Treasure of Traffick 1641








Institutions of Christian Religion by John Calvin 1536










Lady Elizabeth Carew
The Tragedie of Mariam, The Faire Queene of Jewry. 1613
Written by that learned, vertuous, and truly noble Ladie, E. C.
London: Printed by Thomas Creede, for Richard Hawkins,

Elizabeth Carew, viscountess of Falkland, wrote The Tragedie of Mariam not for public performance, but for reading or private presentation. It was printed in this first edition by Thomas Creede, who printed the second “Newly corrected” quarto edition of Romeo and Juliet in 1599 and other Shakespeare plays. This is the first published play by an Englishwoman.

Banned Books Exihibition

And now for something a little different....

This is a new Banned Books Exihibition that has been put online.

It comes from the University of Otago.

Otago is a province in the South Island of New Zealand.

This is the PDF Poster

Enjoy.

Various Old and Ancient Books - Part 5

A Set of Fifty New and Correct Maps of England and Wales by Herman Moll, 1724
Herman Moll (c1654-1732) was a German emigre (though some references say Dutch) who came to London about in or before 1678 and worked as an engraver. He later set up his own firm and became, around 1700, the foremost map publisher in London. He often complained that other publishers copied his work.



An authentic 14th century church book of early music








Metamorphoses by Ovid
French edition published 1702
English edition published 1632 by John Lichfield at Oxford
Read Metamorphoses




The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a narrative poem in fifteen books that describes the creation and history of the world. Completed in 8 AD, it has remained one of the most popular works of mythology, being the Classical work best known to medieval writers and thus having a great deal of influence on medieval poetry.


Manual of Agriculture, Paris 1764










Leaf from a Manichaean Book
Manichaean priests, writing at their desks, with panel inscription in Uighur (Language)
Manuscript from Khocho, Tarim Basin, Western China
8th/9th century AD.
SOURCE

Various Old and Ancient Books - Part 4

Anglican Liturgie in French 1764










Leonardo Da Vinci's original notebook - he wrote in mirror writing.







Leo Africanus 1632







La Graunde Abridgement 1565

September 21, 2006
The oldest book in South Texas College of Law’s Fred Parks Library now dates back to the year 1565. The new acquisition is La Graunde Abridgement by Sir Anthony Fitzherbert.


The massive book, written in Latin, is a compilation of over 14,000 decisions that are the foundation for early English law. English law is grounded in common law, meaning that precedent guided judicial decisions, and this tome was the first thorough attempt made in the 1500's to create a summary of law providing attorneys with a resource for researching past rulings.

This edition of La Graunde Abridgement is from the second printing of the book in 1565. The first edition was printed in 1516. The author, Fitzherbert, was a Judge of Common Pleas in England.

SOURCE


Index to King James Bible 1615










King James New Testament 1611