The Prince and the Plunder

A book on how Britain took one boy and piles of treasures from Ethiopia

Category: Manuscripts

Scroll including a prayer against colic with a note mentioning Magdala

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: A scroll made of two pieces of parchment from the mid 19th century with drawings and two prayers against colic. A note mentioning Magdala 1868 is written in English across one of the pictures.

Where: Princeton University Library, Manuscripts Division, One Washington Road, Princeton, New Jersey 08544 USA

Listed as Princeton Ethiopic Magic Scroll No. 172 in the catalogue – https://library.princeton.edu/special-collections/sites/default/files/Ethiopic_Combined.pdf

Provenance: Written across the first drawing in a Western hand is “Madglla [sic] Abyssinia, April 13/1868” and on the reverse is a paper label reading “Presented by Rev. R Hackwell, member of the American Presbyter[ian] Mission, Rawal Pindi Northern India []0th July 1874,” over which is written in a different hand “Jan. 1899 Pres. by Alan Marquand.”

The university’s manuscript division as a whole has more than 600 Ethiopic works. There is also an illuminated manuscript, a diptych icon and a hand cross in the Princeton University Art Museum. But none mention Magdala in their provenance.

A manuscript of the Miracles of Jesus (OR 622)

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What: An Ethiopian manuscript dated 1715 of the Miracles of Jesus, with a note in the price of vellum or parchment in Amharic and a picture in outline at the end

Where: The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB

Ref: OR 622
Digital version – http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Or_622

Provenance:
Stamped inside the cover: “Presented by the Secretary of State for India Aug. 1868”
Listed as part of the “Magdala collection” in William Wright’s Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847

A manuscript of the Miracles of Jesus (OR 624)

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: An Ethiopian manuscript dated 1715 of the Miracles of Jesus, with a picture of the Crucifixion in outline at the start and lists of books and articles of furniture written in Amharic

Where: The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB

Ref: OR 624
Digital version – http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Or_624

Provenance:
Stamped inside the cover: “Presented by the Secretary of State for India Aug. 1868”
Listed as part of the “Magdala collection” in William Wright’s Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847

A manuscript of the Miracles of Jesus (OR 626)

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: An 18th century Ethiopian manuscript including the Miracles of Jesus. The name of the first owner has been erased and many other names have been inserted from time to time

Where: The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB

Ref: OR 626
Digital version – http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Or_626

Provenance:
Stamped indistinctly inside the cover: “Presented by the Secretary of State for India Aug. 1868”
Listed as part of the “Magdala collection” in William Wright’s Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847

A manuscript of the Miracles of Jesus (OR 629)

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: An 18th century Ethiopian manuscript including the Miracles of Jesus and an extract from John Chrysostom in praise of the blessed Virgin Mary

Where: The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB

Ref: OR 629
Digital version – http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Or_629

Provenance:
Listed as part of the “Magdala collection” in William Wright’s Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847

A manuscript of the Miracles of Jesus (OR 631)

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: An 18th century Ethiopian manuscript including the Miracles of Jesus with a pasted-in woodcut of the Crucifixion and a representation of the holy Trinity

Where: The British Library, 96 Euston Rd, London NW1 2DB

Ref: OR 631
Digital version – http://www.bl.uk/manuscripts/FullDisplay.aspx?ref=Or_631

Provenance:
Stamped on the first page: “Presented by the Secretary of State for India Aug. 1868”
Listed as part of the “Magdala collection” in William Wright’s Catalogue of the Ethiopic manuscripts in the British Museum acquired since the year 1847