page_title: Ethiopian manuscript collections
section_title: UCLA, Los Angeles
hierarchical_section_title: Ethiopian manuscript collections / American Collections of Ethiopian Manuscripts / UCLA, Los Angeles
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Ms. 3 Weddasé Māryām, Anqaṣa Berhān, Yewédeswā Malā’ekt, Mālk’ā Māryām, Malek’ā Eyasus Page 128 Project&#160;: Ethiopic Manuscripts Content Type&#160;: Manuscript
context_page_description: Ethiopian manuscripts are known to have reached Europe as early as the fifteenth century, perhaps even earlier, through Egypt, Ethiopian pilgrims to the Holy Land and through members of the Ethiopian monastery of St Stephen of the Abyssinians in Rome. Subsequently, travellers, missionaries, military personnel and scholars contributed to the development of collections outside Ethiopia. In Europe, the three biggest collections of Ethiopian manuscripts are in Rome, in Paris and in London. These three organisations together hold about 2,700 manuscripts. Oriental collections of nearly all significant European libraries also have Ethiopian material, with some still pursuing a policy of acquisition. The five largest collections in North America are at Catholic University, the Library of Congress, UCLA, Princeton, and Howard University.
  Monasteries and modern institutions in Ethiopia have, meanwhile, maintained extensive collections and in some cases are still centres of manuscript production. Parchment was used for Ethiopian manuscripts from the time of the Four Gospels books of Abbā Garimā. Apart from Islamic manuscripts, paper only came into general use twentieth century.
context_section_description: The Charles E. Young Research Library at the University of California, Los Angeles had a core collection 64 Ethiopian manuscripts in Ge'ez, Agaw and Amharic. Many were purchased by Wolf Leslau on the library's behalf during his research expeditions to Ethiopia in the 1960s. Subsequently, the library has acquired the extensive collection of Gerald and Barbara Weiner; this consists of 139 manuscripts and 110 scrolls. The Library has made over 50 of their manuscripts visible online in digital format.
caption: UCLA, Charles E. Young Research Library, Weddasé Maryam, late 19th century, Ms. 3.
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