Mid-15th-century Ethiopian amuletic prayerbook in original binding

[Ge'ez amuletic prayerbook]. Prayers to the Virgin Mary.

€ 85.000,00

A rare medieval prayerbook from fifteenth-century Ethiopia, still with its original boards. Part of a small group of manuscripts produced around this time, whose most famous examples are in the British Library and the Berlin Staatsbibliothek, it is intended for private devotion and protection. The fine miniatures, depicting Ethiopian saints, place the grandeur of one of the world's most venerable Christian traditions on a personal scale.

The volume begins with a magical prayer against the Evil Eye: "You, O eye, come forth by the black and the red of Joseph as he came forth from evil!" The subsequent material are prayers to the Blessed Virgin, keyed to events in her life, and interspersed with the portraits of Ethiopian saints, including Abba Kiros, Yeshaq, and S'éwa Läs'edq. There are two further magical charms, against serpents and for healing.

The small, portable size reinforces the characteristic of this volume as a personal item, concentrating the majesty and protection of divine power in the hands of the devotee. With prayers attuned to the dangers and challenges of life, it offers a focus of help and consolation, while the portraits of holy men place centuries of Ethiopian Christian tradition behind the volume.

The Ethiopian Orthodox Church is one of the oldest Christian denominations in the world, dating back to the Christianisation of the Kingdom of Aksum in 330 CE. Its venerable history has given it a unique tradition of theology, saints and worship, as well as an incredibly rich vein of devotional art.

From the beginnings of the era of colonialism, doctrinal differences between Ethiopian Orthodoxy and western Christianity played a role in the conflicts with the European imperial powers, with the Portuguese in the sixteenth century being the first to try and fail to bring the ancient African kingdom under their dominion.

Extremely rare: Ethiopian manuscripts of this age, particularly ones this fine, appear very seldomly on the private market, while similar examples are among the treasures of the British Library and the Berlin Staatsbibliothek.

A jewel, placing the protection and beauty of centuries of tradition in the palm of the hand.