Item Summary

Descriptive Information

Title
Miracles of Mary
Call Number
Middle 97, C0776 (Princeton Ethiopic Manuscripts, no. 65)
Identifier
http://arks.princeton.edu/ark:/88435/12579w78f
Publisher
[Ethiopia], [circa 1720]
Language
Geez
Date Created
1720
Format
Manuscript
Extent
1 item ; 340 x 285 mm
Source Acquisition
Purchase; 2012.
Rights Statement
Copyright Not Evaluated
Contents
1. Folio 1-2. Blank
2. Folio 3-6r. Introduction to the Miracles of Mary Beginning, "The angels worship Mary from within the veil, and they say to her 'Hail to thee, Mary, restorer of the Lamb.'" The section concludes [fols. 5v-6r] with a hymn of salutation [sälam] to the Virgin Mary.
3. Folio 6v. Blank
4. Folio 7r-97v. MIRACLES OF MARY Beginning, "In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. One God. A miracle of Our Lady, the Holy Twice Virgin, Mary, Mother of God."
5. Folio 7r-9v. MIRACLE 1 The story of Hildefonsus of Toledo [Däqseyos of T'elt'elya in the Ethiopian version], followed by two short hymns.
6. Folio 10r. PAINTING 1 Hildefonsus [Däqseyos] hands his book of the Miracles to the Virgin Mary. The text reads 'How Däqseyos wrote for her.'
7. Folio 10v. PAINTING 2 The Virgin offers a throne and a robe to Dexius. The text reads 'How she gave him a throne and a robe'.
8. Folio 11r. PAINTING 3 An angel strikes down the bishop who stole Hildefonsus' throne. The text reads 'How he fell and died'.
9. Folio 11v-12r. MIRACLE 2 The story of the craftsman who venerated the Virgin Mary constantly.
10. Folio 12v. PAINTING 4 The craftsman appears before the Virgin Mary. The text [incomplete] reads 'How she blessed this ...'.
11. Folio 13r-14r. MIRACLE 3 The story of the Jew from Akhmim
12. Folio 14v. PAINTING 5 The Virgin raises up the Jew of Akhmim, who also appears fallen at her feet. The text reads 'How she raised him up.'
13. Folio 15r. PAINTING 6 The Virgin blesses the Jew of Akhmim. The text reads 'How she made him stand at her right hand.'
14. Folio 15v-16v. MIRACLE 4 The story of the monk Damianus of Philippi
15. Folio 17r. Blank
16. Folio 17v. PAINTING 7 On the left Damianus is shown writing the Virgin's name, whilst on the right she restores his sight.
17. Folio 18r-19r. MIRACLE 5 The story of Pope Leon [Abbas of Romé in the Ethiopic] whose hand was restored after he had cut it off when a woman touched it as he was administering the Eucharist.
18. Folio 19v. PAINTING 8 In the centre Leon touches the woman, whilst on the right he cuts off his hand. The text reads 'those who receive the body and blood of Our Lord'.
19. Folio 20r. PAINTING 9 The Virgin restores Leon's hand. The text reads 'How she gave him life'.
20. Folio 20v. Blank
21. Folio 21r-22v. MIRACLE 6 The story of Isaac the monk who dedicated his prayers to the Virgin.
22. Folio 23r. PAINTING 10 The Virgin raises the fallen Isaac, as she had promised him in a dream. The text reads 'How he fell. How she raised him up'.
23. Folio 23v-25r. MIRACLE 7 The story of the daughter of the man of Defra to whom the Virgin appeared from out of her icon and whom she promised to take directly to Paradise.
24. Folio 25r. PAINTING 11 The Virgin leads the girl to Paradise. The text reads 'How she guided her'. The end of the hymn text following the miracle is included within the frame of the painting.
25. Folio 25v-27r. MIRACLE 8 The story of the painter who fell while decorating a church and was restored by the Virgin.
26. Folio 27v. PAINTING 12 The painter falls from the scaffolding, but is caught by the Virgin. He is also shown at the top painting the blessed in heaven. The text reads 'How he fell. How she raised him up'.
27. Folio 28r-29r. MIRACLE 9 The story of the sick pilgrim whom the Virgin transported to Jerusalem.
28. Folio 29r. PAINTING 13 [half-page] The Virgin appears to the sick man, whose head and shoulders appear in a cloud at her feet. The text reads 'How she appeared to the sick merchant'.
29. Folio 29v. PAINTING 14 The Virgin and three figures stand above the recumbent figure of the merchant-pilgrim.The texts above the painting read 'It is Jerusalem' and 'How she brought him'.
30. Folio 30r-32v. MIRACLE 10 The story of the young man Zacharias who crowned the head of a picture of the Virgin daily with roses.
31. Folio 33r. PAINTING 15 On the left Zacharias crowns the Virgin's image with roses, whilst on the right he stands before the image. The text reads simply 'How he crowned her'.
32. Folio 33v. PAINTING 16 The Virgin and angels appear to Zacharias.
33. Folio 34r-35r. MIRACLE 11 The story of Juliana and Barbara who were robbed of their bread whilst on pilgrimage to Jerusalem.
34. Folio 35r. PAINTING 17 [half-page] The thieves rob Juliana and Barbara. the texts above the figures simply read 'the thieves' and 'the girls'.
35. Folio 35v. PAINTING 18 The now repentant thieves stand before the Virgin who appears from within her church. The text reads 'How those thieves became monks'.
36. Folio 36r-37v. MIRACLE 12 The story of three Arabs who were shipwrecked, two of whom were saved when they prayed to the Virgin.
37. Folio 37v. PAINTING 19 [three-quarter page]: On the left all three Arabs appear in the sea, whilst one is swallowed by the whale, whilst on the right the two Arabs who have been saved look on. The text simply reads 'the Arabs'.
38. Folio 38r. PAINTING 20 The Arabs make their offerings at the church. The text describes the two gifts, 'some wool' and 'this camel'.
39. Folio 38v. blank
40. Folio 39r-40r. MIRACLE 13 The story of the church of 'Eqona that was removed to the edge of the Mediterranean Sea [called Iyariko = Jericho) in the Ethiopian version].
41. Folio 40v. PAINTING 21 The Virgin appears to the priest and his congregation in a dream.
42. Folio 41r. PAINTING 22 The church and its congregation is transported to the sea shore. The text above simply gives the name of the church 'Eqona.
43. Folio 41v-43v. MIRACLE 14 The story of the blind priest, Yohannes Bäkänsi, whose sight was restored with milk from the breast of the Virgin.
44. Folio 43v. PAINTING 23 [three-quarter page] The blind priest stands before the image of the Virgin.
45. Folio 44r. PAINTING 24 The Virgin restores his sight with milk from her breast. The text reads 'Yohannes the old man whom she cured'.
46. Folio 44v-46r. MIRACLE 15 the story of the rich man from Qwälasyes who was healed by the Virgin of an arrow wound in the eye, sustained whilst fighting the Turks.
47. Folio 46r. PAINTING 25 [half-page] The rich man and his companions in their boat. The texts read (in the top margin) 'the rich man of the island of Qwälasyes', and (just above the picture) 'the boat; the sail' [SIC].
48. Folio 46v. PAINTING 26 The rich man is wounded in the ye, and (below) his image is healed by the Virgin.
49. Folio 47r-49r. MIRACLE 16 The story of Elisabeth, daughter of Abraham of Bäderman, whose sight was restored by the Virgin by sprinkling her eyes with milk from her breast.
50. Folio 49v. PAINTING 27 Her mother brings the blind girl before the Virgin's image. The text in the top margin reads 'How she healed her'.
51. Folio 50r. PAINTING 28 The Virgin appears to the girl and restores her sight with milk from her breast. The incomplete text above the painting reads 'this is ...'.
52. Folio 50v-52v. MIRACLE 17 The story of the poor widow, the marriage of whose daughters was arranged by the Virgin.
53. Folio 52v. PAINTING 29 The widow stands before the Virgin's image whilst her daughters are shown seated in the background. The text in the top margin reads 'How she relieved the old woman of her wretchedness'.
54. Folio 53r. PAINTING 30 The widow is buried whilst her daughters look on.
55. Folio 53v-55r. MIRACLE 18 The story of the two brother scribes, one of whom had been writing a copy of the Miracles of Mary and whose soul was rescued by the Virgin.
56. Folio 55r. PAINTING 31 The two scribes, described in the text as 'the two brothers'.
57. Folio 55v. PAINTING 32 The Virgin rescues the scribe's soul from devils.
58. Folio 56r-57r. MIRACLE 19 The story of St. George the Younger whom the Virgin rescued from prison.
59. Folio 57v. PAINTING 33 St. George in prison on his iron griddle; the Virgin appears to him in the form here of a green dove. The text reads 'How she appeared to him'.
60. Folio 58r-59v. MIRACLE 20 The story of the old priest called Kät'ir, whom the Virgin defended when he was banished from his church.
61. Folio 59v. PAINTING 34 [half-page] The Virgin addresses the guardian of the church.
62. Folio 60r. PAINTING 35 The Virgin blesses the old priest, whilst in the top left-hand corner the church guardian is shown expelling him.
63. Folio 60v. blank
64. Folio 61r-63r. MIRACLE 21 The story of the dyer called Näzib who was rescued at the Virgin's behest by St. George from prison where he was falsely detained.
65. Folio 63v. PAINTING 36 On the left, Näzib and his brother receive the pieces of cloth for dying; top-right, St. George attacks the judge who condemned Näzib falsely; bottom-right, he is shown in prison.
66. Folio 64r. PAINTING 37 Näzib is acquitted and receives his pardon from the qadi.
67. Folio 64v-66v. MIRACLE 22 The story of the man with a club foot who was healed by the Virgin.
68. Folio 67r. PAINTING 38 On the left, the man tells the bishop of his ailment, whilst on the right, he is cured of his club foot and gives thanks to the image of the Virgin. The text reads 'she cured the Frank ['afrengawi].
69. Folio 67v. PAINTING 39 The man shows the bishop his healed foot.
70. Folio 68r-69r. MIRACLE 23 The story of Bishop Mercurius whom the Virgin cured of leprosy.
71. Folio 69v. PAINTING 40 Top, the archbishop tells Mercurius he cannot serve as a priest whilst he has leprosy; bottom, Mercurius takes his leave of his congregation (?). The text at the top of the painting simply names Mercurius, who seems to be shown twice with his robe pulled off his shoulders to expose his leprosy.
72. Folio 70r. PAINTING 41 On the right, Mercurius stands before the Virgin, who heals him, whilst on the left, he shows the archbishop that he is now cured.
73. Folio 70v-72r. MIRACLE 24 the story of the woman of Haarlem (Hartälrom in the text here) with a lame foot who was healed by the Virgin Mary.
74. Folio 72v. PAINTING 42 The woman is born on a litter by her relatives and placed before the image of the Virgin. The text reads 'the lame woman'.
75. Folio 73r. PAINTING 43 The Virgin cures the woman, who is then shown standing before the Virgin's image.
76. Folio 73v-77v. MIRACLE 25 The story of Abbess Sophia who conceived a child, and whose reputation was saved by the Virgin.
77. Folio 78r. PAINTING 44 The Virgin supervises the delivery of Sophia's child by angels, who then hand the child to Felix [Filkes in the text here].
78. Folio 78v. PAINTING 45 the bishop addresses the nuns
79. Folio 79r. PAINTING 46 Sophia tells her story to the bishop, and Felix [Filkes] verifies it, producing the child.
80. Folio 79v-81r. MIRACLE 26 The story of the rich and dissolute man, Barok of Finqi, who was saved by the Virgin Mary because of his devotion to her.
81. Folio 81v. PAINTING 47 Barok gives a banquet.
82. Folio 82r. PAINTING 48 A composite picture showing variously Barok being attacked by his enemies; Barok being nursed; Barok telling his sins to the priest; and the Virgin Mary who oversees all these events.
83. Folio 82v-84r. MIRACLE 27 The story of the deacon Anastasius.
84. Folio 84v. PAINTING 49 Anastasius stands before the Virgin's image, and (right) she appears to him in a dream in which she tells him he will join her in Paradise. The text simply identifies Anastasius [Anest'asyos].
85. Folio 85r-88v. MIRACLE 28 The story of the monk of the monastery of Abba Samu'el in Qälmon.
86. Folio 89r. blank
87. Folio 89v. PAINTING 50 The man is attacked by his fellow monks and seized by them. The text reads 'how they seized him'.
88. Folio 90r. PAINTING 51 The monk stands in prayer before the Virgin's image, having now lost his cap with which he miraculously made a breach in the wall to escape. The text reads 'how threw off the cap from his head'.
89. Folio 90v-92v. MIRACLE 29 [numbered as 30] The story of the cannibal of Qemer whose soul was saved by the Virgin Mary.
90. Folio 92v. PAINTING 52 A composite picture showing the cannibal dismembering his relatives; giving water to a leper; the farmers who set out to catch him. the two brief texts simply identify 'the cannibal' and 'the farmers'.
91. Folio 93r. PAINTING 53 A composite picture showing Christ commanding the devil to surrender the cannibal's soul; St. Michael weighing the cannibal's soul in the balance; the Virgin Mary with Christ's blessing retrieving the cannibal's soul.
92. Folio 93v-94v. MIRACLE 30 [numbered as 31] The story of the widow's son who was a thief, whom the Virgin saved at his mother's request.
93. Folio 94v. PAINTING 54 The thief steals from the Virgin's church.
94. Folio 95r. PAINTING 55 Top, the thief's mother prays before the Virgin's image; bottom, the thief is rescued by St. Michael from his bonds.
95. Folio 95v-96v. MIRACLE 31 [numbered as 32] The story of the woman who gave birth in a storm at sea with the Virgin's protection.
96. Folio 96v. PAINTING 56 [three-quarter page] The Virgin shields the woman and her child with her cloak, while the congregation look on from the shore. The text reads 'How she saved her'.
97. Folio 97r. PAINTING 57 The woman and her child amongst the congregation of her church. The text simply reads 'the faithful'.
98. Folio 97v-98v. MIRACLE 32 [numbered as 33] The story of the Virgin and the thirsty dog.
99. Folio 99r. PAINTING 58 The Virgin gives water to the dog from her slipper, whilst below, her companions attempt to drive the dog away from the water jars.
100. Folio 99v. blank
101. Folio 100r. PAINTING 59 The Virgin and Child with the archangels and below, the prostrate figure of the donor or commissioner of the manuscript.
102. Folio 100v. blank
103. Folio 101r. blank except for two lines of pen trials
104. Folio 101v-104v. A hymn to the Virgin Mary Beginning, "O Virgin, call to mind before the Keeper of Records who forgets nothing, call to mind, o Virgin, for my sake the birth through you of Him who was born in Bethlehem ...' Followed by a hymn of salutation [sälam] to the Virgin."
105. Folio 105r-150v. [different, larger hand] a collection of hymns or songs to the Virgin Mary known as the Hymn or Canticle of the Flower [Mahlétä S'egé], beginning, "A flower appeared, shooting forth from the bone of him who greeted thee, the flower of Gabriel…".
106. Folio 151r. blank leaf with a smaller [190 x 200mm] painted leaf sewn on containing a painting of an equestrian saint attacking a centaur. Two equestrian saints, Claudius [Gälawdéwos] and Victor [Fiqt'or] are shown in Ethiopian tradition spearing a centaur. There is no text to identify which saint is portrayed here. The painting is in the Second Gondarene style and can be dated to the 18th century.
107. Folio 151v-154v. blank
Notes
Manuscript on parchment, mostly in gatherings of 10 leaves. The main body of the text is written in 2 columns of 15 lines, in black with the usual rubrics (opening lines of individual texts, the name of Mary, the original owner's names, partially erased, and major punctuation.), in a moderately large hand (7-9 mm in height) in a cursive gwelh or räqiq script. The leaves towards the end of the MS [fols. 105-150] are written in a somewhat larger gwelh hand [10-12mm] in 2 columns of 11 lines. Original pricking and ruling is visible throughout. There are 59 paintings, 52 of which are full-page and the others part or half-page, most of which are protected by muslin panels sewn on to the leaves. There is also a small detached painted leaf sewn to a blank leaf at the back of the MS [fol. 151]. All the paintings are executed in the Second Gondarene style. The MS is bound between wooden boards covered in tooled red-brown leather. Illumination: There are 59 full-page paintings illustrating 32 miracles, all painted in the classic court style that developed in Gondar during Dawit's reign. The style is initially dependent on European engravings but is here fully refashioned in a narrow range of figure types and brilliant colours. It can be closely compared with a painting in a manuscript of the Legends of Mary made for King Bäkaffa around 1721 and now in the British Library (British Library, Or. 603). The style of the paintings, which is a particularly fine example of the Second Gondarene period of painting, conforms with a date in the first half of the eighteenth century. This style with its heavily modelled features, rich colouring and solid backgrounds, is normally associated with the reign of Iyasu II [1730-55], though its roots must go further back to the earlier part of the century. The manuscript is discussed in C. Griffith Mann, Art of Ethiopia (London: Sam Fogg Rare Books, 2005), pp. 116-17. The Princeton University Library purchased it from Sam Fogg Rare Books, London, in 2012. Acc. 2012-71 Paintings: The style of the paintings belongs to the full Second or Late Gondarene style, which flourished from about 1730 onwards. Typical is the heavy modelling of the flesh and the folds of garments and draperies, the latter often with simple linear or dot decoration. Occasionally, richer patterning is shown, imitating brocade [see for example painting 29, fol. 52v]. The figures are all set against coloured backgrounds, which usually shade from green through yellow to red. Most of the pictures are also enclosed with a simple coloured frame, and sometimes elements of the picture extend into or outside the frame. A few paintings also show what look like uncoloured linear drawings of figures or architectural details that extend outside the frame. The palette is predominately dark red, vermilion, green, yellow, dark blue, purple and brown.
Non-ALA-LC romanization used in record.
Date and Provenance: Probably commissioned by the King Dawit III (reigned 1716-21). Though partially erased, the name Dawit appears throughout the text. The form of words does not include the formula "for our king," most often used though this is not always present in royal manuscripts. Dawit appears prostrate in one of the paintings wearing a luxurious Indian dress. Dawit's elder brother, who preceded him as king from 1706 to 1708 following the death of their father Iyasu I (Iyasu the Great) was Täklä Haymanot I and this name seems occasionally to accompany that of Dawit in the partially erased dedications.
As is usual, there is no colophon giving details of provenance. Each of the texts in the main body of the MS [fols. 3-100] closes with an invocation for blessings upon the owners. The names of the original owners, which were written in red, have been erased throughout, though at times somewhat imperfectly. The preceding text makes it clear that the original owner was a man, and the dedication also occasionally mentions a female as well, perhaps his wife or sister. The man's name is in several places recoverable as Dawit, though the space left for it in the black text is too large and the name is usually preceded or followed by decorative punctuation marks (säräz .).
In a few places there are traces of a second name, [Täklä] Haymanot accompanying that of Dawit. The woman's name is in places recoverable as Hadä[fä] Maryam, though elsewhere another name, Awdokseya (?), appears. The names inserted over these erasures are Arkälédes (m.) and Rébén (f.). The script is in keeping with a date during the first half of the eighteenth century, showing many gwelh-like features: large size, regularity of form, a tendency to a top-heavy structure with short letter heads (especially in ò, å), a pronounced hook in the vowel mark of ¶. The modern letter •Á appears in its older form which was still in use until the second half of the eighteenth century. The manuscript appears to have been in western Europe since the 19th century. On the back flyleaf pf the manuscript is a European dealer's or owner's ticket (handwritten on a blue printed label); the number appears to be in a German hand. The manuscript later passed through the hands of the dealer Merton D. Simpson, ca. 1970; the collector Alen Revier, 1971-1997; the dealer Milos Simovic, 1997-2004; and Sam Fogg Rare Books, London, 2004-2012.
Text: The principal text of the manuscript [fols. 7-99] is a collection of 32 miracles of the Virgin Mary. The basic canon of the Miracles, as described by Cerulli, comprised 32 miracles, but Ethiopian collections sometimes include others. The basic collection was subject to addition even before the translation of the Arabic Vorlage into Ethiopic in the fifteenth century, and some Ethiopian collections run to an enormous size. The largest collection known to date (BL Or. 643, dated 1717) contains no less than 316 miracles, though smaller collections are the more usual. Examples of the Ethiopian Miracles of Mary are to be found in all the major collections of Ethiopian manuscripts, such as the Biblioteca Vaticana, the British Library, the Bibliothèque Nationale, the Fonds Conti Rossini of the Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei, the Cambridge University Library, etc. The basic work dealing with the Ethiopian Book of the Miracles of Mary is Cerulli's Il libro etiopico dei Miracoli di Maria, Rome 1943; see also E.A. Wallis Budge, The Miracles of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the Life of Hanna, London 1900, and by the same author, Legends of Our Lady Mary, the Perpetual Virgin, and Her Mother Hannâ, London 1922, and One Hundred and Ten Miracles of Our Lady Mary, London, 1923.
In the present manuscript each Miracle is numbered. Miracle 29 is incorrectly numbered as 30, and those following are consequently incorrectly numbered. The miracles here follow the traditional sequence. Each miracle text closes with a brief hymn to the Virgin Mary. The Miracles are preceded by the short text [fols. 3r-6r].
The manuscript closes [fols. 100v-150v] with a collection of hymns or litanies to the Virgin Mary, including the Hymn of the Flower [Mahlétä S'egé].

Discovery Information

Subject
Manuscripts, Ethiopic—New Jersey—Princeton
Mary Blessed Virgin, Saint—Apparitions and miracles

Physical Characteristics

File Count
314

Institutional Information

Collection
Ethiopic Manuscripts
IIIF Manifest URL

https://figgy.princeton.edu/concern/scanned_resources/db3654ca-8e69-4000-93ab-e44b602cd160/manifest