Beschreibung:

MIRACLES OF MARY, in Ge'ez, ILLUMINATED MANUSCRIPT ON VELLUM [Ethiopia, first half of 18th century] 350 x 310mm. 194 leaves: 1 2 , 2 3 , 3-9 8 , 10 6 , 11-19 8 , 20 6 , 21-26 8 (with tipped-in flyleaf now detached), 3 columns of 33-34 lines in an early räqiq hand with some gwelh influence written in black ink between 33-34 horizontal and 6 vertical scored lines, rubrics and titles in red, justification: c.245 x 240mm, THREE FULL-PAGE MINIATURES, one with its original protective curtain of cotton (margins of first few folios darkened, folio facing the miniature of the Virgin and Child spotted with candle-wax, some small losses to green pigment). Brown blind-stamped leather over wooden boards (corners rubbed, lacking spine). PROVENANCE: At various points in the manuscript the name Diyosqiros appears, although the names of Gäbrä Sellase and his wife Rahel have been inserted over it. From f.164 on Wäldä Libanos is named in some of the blessings that close each miracle; some variations in the hand suggest that the end of the manuscript may have been written by another scribe, although of a similar date. CONTENT: Prologue to the Miracles of Mary (known as Mäs'hafä Ser'at ) ff.3-5; The Miracles of Mary (numbered 1-261 but skipping 214, 220 and 252) ff.6-195v The book of the Miracles of Mary reached Ethiopia from Egypt at the end of the 14th century when it was translated into Ethiopic. Originally it comprised only 33 miracles but with the rise of the cult of the Virgin, especially during the reign of Zär'a a Ya'eqob (1434-68), the canon expanded and it became the most popular book for private devotion. The largest collection known (BL, Or. 643) contains no fewer than 316 miracles, although much smaller collections are more customary. Some of the so-called miracles are in fact excerpts from the Life of the Virgin and Homilies to the Virgin. Each miracle opens with a formulaic invocation calling for the prayers and blessings of the Virgin and the mercy of her Son: E. Cerulli, Il libro etiopico dei Miracoli di Maria (Rome,1943), and E.A. Wallis Budge, The Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Life of Hanna (London, 1900), and One Hundred and Ten Miracles of Our Lady Mary (London, 1923). ILLUMINATION: The three large miniatures are bold and colourful images in a fine late Gondarine style, where forms and features are delineated with a firm black contour and the restrained somewhat autumnal palette is enlivened with a variety of decorative surface patterning. The subjects of the miniatures are as follows: f.2 St George on a white horse tramples and spears the dragon, while he looks up at the princess taking refuge in a tree, a group of spear-carrying warriors, the foremost wearing a leopardskin, stand looking on from the background f.2v The Virgin and Child enthroned with two angels holding a cloth of honour behind and above them f.5v God the Father blessing, the symbols of the four evangelists in the corners