posted on June 8, 2001 08:39:07 PM
Does anybody know what this book is or where I can find information about it? I have already talked to antique people, professors at universities and some bookstores. Nobody knows what it is. They just say don’t sell for $5.00.
The pages of the book are made from some kind of animal skin, the pictures don’t show but you can see the pores from fur. Some of the pages have been repaired by sewing the pages together with some kind of thread.
I hope link works.
Oh well, I still can't figure out how to do the link. I thought I had it figured out.
[ edited by connorscorner on Jun 10, 2001 08:09 PM ]
posted on June 8, 2001 08:52:46 PM
I'm sorry Joice, I really not sure what your telling me. At the moment it all is confusing.
Thanks
When your at the end of your rope:
Tie a knot and hang on!
posted on June 8, 2001 08:53:29 PM
Maybe it's a self bound diary---what you need to find out First is what language it is written in. Forget about the book experts---you need a linguistics expert
posted on June 8, 2001 08:56:15 PM
How do you do that.
I have already spoke with a few. One professor thought it might be Ethiopian.
When your at the end of your rope:
Tie a knot and hang on!
posted on June 8, 2001 08:59:06 PM
Thank you so much. Where can I go to learn how to do a link on this board?
When your at the end of your rope:
Tie a knot and hang on!
posted on June 8, 2001 10:43:51 PM
Hi connorsconner
If the language is Ethiopian I found a reference to a type of binding/writing that sounds similar to your book – the geocities address below, of which I copied part of the page
"Their own literature consists of religious writings: narrative and didactic texts, and prayers. The narrative and didactic texts are mostly also found in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. The prayer-texts are closely connected to the Ethiopian Jewish oral liturgical tradition. The language is Ge`ez (an Ethiopian Semitic religious/liturgical language, used also by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. ...
Their literature was copied by hand onto parchment pages made of sheep- or goat-skin, which were then bound between wooden board covers. Sometimes the boards were covered with leather, decorated with incised patterns. If parchment was unavailable or too expensive, paper was occasionally used. Some manuscripts contain more than one work. Some manuscripts were kept in leather carrying-cases with a strap, so that they could be worn and carried around by the owner.
The copyists were sometimes monks or Qessotch , sometimes professional scribes who copied for payment. They used reed-pens and black and red ink. The texts were copied mainly in black ink; red was used (if at all) for opening words of sections, names of God, other important names or words. Most manuscripts contain no other decoration; a few have simple linear or entwined designs in red, black and sometimes yellow, drawn at tops of opening pages or between columns"
What I was trying to tell you yesterday was just to copy and paste the code I posted up above, just deleting the $ signs and changing the image name each time, of course.
Good luck with your very interesting book!
Joice
[email protected]
*typo
[ edited by joice on Jun 9, 2001 11:02 AM ]
posted on June 9, 2001 12:56:17 PM
I'm not familiar with the Ethiopian language, but I have spent quite a bit of time studying languages, and the symbols in your book look very much like those on the page of Ethiopian symbols that bunnyplanet found and posted a link to. Some are identical, and some are very similar -- close enough that I'd guess they're just slight variations in handwriting.
My "gut feeling" is that this book is worth quite a bit of money. If it were mine, I probably wouldn't try to sell it on eBay until I knew *exactly* what it was worth. You might do really well with it there, but it would undoubtably depend on how much you knew about it.
I'd try a museum, or a good apraisal service for more information. I know there are some places that will do appraisals online, but I can't remember where they are at the moment.
Where on earth did you find this book? It's fascinating!
posted on June 9, 2001 08:54:41 PM
Thank you everybody for all the information you have given me.
I have had the book for about 10 years now. I have taken it to a number of places looking for someone who might have an idea of what it was. My dad is a collector of many things and was very fascinated with it when I showed it to him. He kidnapped it and took it to Indiana so he could take it to some universities there. So far nobody has had any real clue on what it is, and makes a suggestion where else we could go for help.
Where did I find it? I used to clean new construction and some rentals for builders in town. I was hired to go in and completely clean out a house for a realty co. that the owner had been evicted and the allotted time given to clear out all belongings had passed.
I was told to get rid of everything and they didn't care where or how.
The place looked like a storage building; there was so much stuff. Floor to ceiling bookshelves. Many, many, books, jewelry. What a shame I was very young and had never heard of Ebay. Didn't even have a computer. (Sniffle, sniffle)
So I have been dragging this book around for about 10 years, sure it must be something.
I would love to sell it on Ebay, but not until I know exactly what it is.
Thank you so much for all the input. If anyone has any more ideas, please post.
or email at [email protected]
When your at the end of your rope:
Tie a knot and hang on!
posted on June 10, 2001 08:12:38 PM
Can you suggest a rare book librarian or where I might find one.
I did post on ebay boards one time, but the way their board run your post dissappears real fast. Not much help there.
When your at the end of your rope:
Tie a knot and hang on!
posted on June 10, 2001 08:29:44 PM
Why not try a University??---but go to one that has an "African Studies faculty" and ask for someone who specializes in Ethiopia
posted on June 10, 2001 09:52:41 PM
I stumbled across your message and am intrigued as well - I agree that it looks Ethiopian in origin. I would love to hear what the final pronouncement is on the provenance of this piece. It is beautiful!
Here are some suggestions for further research:
The Ethiopian Embassy in Washington DC
Smithsonian Institution - National Museum of African Art
Scholars:
1. University College of London's Institute of Archaeology.
2. Harvard University
---W.E.B DuBois Institute
---Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
---Dr. K. Anthony Appiah
---Dr. Roderick Grierson
It may seem intimidating to contact some of the folks at the great universities and museums, but I have had nothing but pleasant experiences when e-mailing curators and staff about items I am researching. And a great librarian can often start you out with other great leads if your own research gets you nowhere. Many folks love being in on solving a mystery, and are happy to share their knowledge and expertise.
If you can attach a picture with your e-mails, I'm sure that you'll get some good, reliable/scholarly information or at least pointed in the appropriate direction. And let us know how it turns out!
posted on June 11, 2001 08:13:35 AM
Thanks for new information
Bunnyplanet: I sent an email to the person that wrote the article that you sent me, here is her response.
From the first page, it's an Ethiopian Christian book called "qeddase Maryam" (sanctification/anaphora of the Virgin Mary).
The language is Ge`ez (classical Ethiopic).
The text is not rare - I have it in a printed version appended to the "mizmura Dawit" (Psalms of David).
The back page appears to be magical divine names.
I'm not expert on Ethiopian Christian texts or epigraphy, but from the photos it doesn't appear to be very old - maybe less than a hundred years? (but I can't be sure!)
I suggest you show the book to an Ethiopic scholar or Ethiopian Orthodox priest for more information.
Regards,
Margaret
I find everybody's ideas fascinating and looking into each of them.
In the meantime I may have another question about something somebody else has suggested, I figure they could know something that I don't know, and they give me new ideas in searching.
I think it is really exciting.
There have many times I have wanted to post a question on the board, but was intimidated that someone who really didn't have anything useful to add would have to add their opinion anyway.
I don't understand why some of the people who don't have anything nice to say, feel like they must say it anyway.
Thanks for thoughts and ideas everyone.
When your at the end of your rope:
Tie a knot and hang on!
[ edited by connorscorner on Jun 11, 2001 08:23 AM ]
posted on June 11, 2001 12:20:34 PM
You might also try the antiquarian bookseller association at www.abaa.org. They also have a listing of members who deal in ancient manuscripts and illuminations. You could email some of those folks since their email addresses available.
