The Prince and the Plunder

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

Tag: Leiden University Libraries

Fragment of Bible ‘found’ near Senafe (Or. 2273)

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: A fragment of a Bible “found” near the British mssion’s camp of Senafe by a Mr. J.T.C. Prince and presented to Baron van Heemstra van Froma en Eibersburen

Where: Leiden University Libraries

Listed in Inventory of the oriental manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden – part 3: manuscripts Or. 2001-Or. 3000

Or. 2273
Ethiopian, ff.
Fragment of the Bible in Ethiopian.
Provenance: Purchased by auction from the collection of Baron van Heemstra van Froma en Eibersburen, who had been presented with the manuscript by Mr. J.T.C. Prince, who had found the manuscript near the camp of Sanafé, during the English expedition to Ethiopia. Another manuscript found by Mr. Prince from Gouda is Or. 1924, above. (Initials of Mr. Prince must still be established??)
(Hebr. 124)

Arabic manuscript ‘found’ in Maqdala (Or. 1924)

Published / by Andrew Heavens / Leave a Comment

What: An Arabic manuscript found by a Mr. J.F.E. Prince “in the camp of the emperor Theodorus II in Magdala”

Where: Leiden University Libraries

Listed in the Inventory of the oriental manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden – part 2: manuscripts Or. 1001-Or. 2000

Or. 1924
Arabic, paper, 104 ff., dated 1257 AH (1841 AD), copied from the autograph.
The part on al-muhlikat from an ethical work by Ibrahim b. al-Husayn b. `Ali al-Faradi al-Qadiri (718/1318), GAL S II, 147. CCO V, p. 256 (No. 2660) gives a survey of the contents. CCO 2660 (V, pp. 256-257). See Voorhoeve, Handlist, p. 448.

Provenance: Gift received in 1869, or shortly after, from Mr. J.F.E. Prince from Gouda, who had found the manuscript in the camp of the emperor Theodorus II of Abessynia (reigned 1855-1868) in Magdala. Mr. Prince had participated in the British punitive expedition to Magdala in 1868. The fragments of a printed work in Ethiopic (6 ff.), which according to CCO V, p. 225, were kept with this MS have been removed in the meantime. Their present whereabouts are unknown. Another manuscript found by Mr. Prince is Or. 2273, below. (Ar. 1216)