Collection Connections: An Introduction to Ethiopian Manuscripts and their Methods of Manufacture

Although early contact with foreign cultures and their book-making traditions influenced the choice of materials used in Ethiopia, scribes and illuminators developed their own unique methods for manuscript production that are still employed today. These include the parchment support, made primarily from goatskin, the inks and pigments sourced from locally available materials and used for writing and illumination, and the leather bindings and satchels that both protected and housed the manuscripts. Join Abigail Quandt, Senior Conservator and Head of Book and Paper Conservation, for this presentation on the different formats of Ethiopian manuscripts and the materials and techniques that were used to produce them from the thirteenth through the early twentieth centuries.