Pistoia, Martini Et. 4

Shelfmark

Martini Et. 4 (olim Zanutto 4)

Owning institution

Biblioteca Forteguerriana of Pistoia

Typology

Codex

Copying date

18th century, dated on a paleographic basis

Title

The Faith of the Fathers

Subject

Theology, Patristics

Language

Gǝʿǝz

Short description of the content

Ff. 2ra–209r: Haymanotä abäw (“The Faith of the Fathers”), CAe 1586.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … ንወጥን፡ በረድኤተ፡ እግዚእነ፡ ዘቦቱ፡ መድኃኒትነ፡፡ጽሒፈ፡ ሃይማኖተ፡ አበ፡ መምህራነ፡ ቅድስት፡ ቤተ፡ ክርስቲያን፡ አሐቲ፡ ጉባኤ፡ እንተ፡ ሐዋርያት። ወነጊረ፡ ሃይማኖተ፡ ኵሉ፡ ለለ፡ አሐዱ፡ አሐዱ፡ እምኔሆሙ፡ በእንተ፡ ሃይማኖት፡ ቅድስት፡

Ff. 209r–212va: Mäṣḥafä ṭomar (“Book of the epistle”), CAe 1978.

Incipit: በስመ፡ አብ፡ … መጽሐፈ፡ ጦማር፡ ዘወረደት፡ እምሰማይ፡ ላዕለ፡ እፀ፡ አትናቴዎስ፡ በዕለተ፡ እኁድ፡ በሮምያ፡ በ፲፻ወ፵ዓመት፡ እምዓመተ፡ እስክንድሮስ። ወእምድኅረ፡ ኃለፈ፡ ፳ወ፭እምከኑን፡ ቀዳማት፡ ወረደት።

Writing material

Sheep parchment

Outer size (included the binding)

334 x 296 x 86 mm

Outer size of the textblock

323 x 305 x 52 mm

Number of folia

212

Blank folia

F. 1v

Binding

Two wooden boards covered with reddish-brown leather. Both boards have textile inlays.
The front, back and spine cover are decorated with blind-tooled ornament. Six sewing stations

Sewing

Two Z-twisted threads (each thread is S-twisted) of animal origin

Sewing pattern

Bozzacchi A1

Slip case (maḫdär)

–

Quires

23 (A + 22)

Quire marks

–

Text area

223 x 66/68 mm (margins: top 42, bottom 62, left 18, right 57, intercolumns 19, 19 mm). Data from f. 8r

Layout

3

Number of lines per column

30

Ruling

Blind ruling, from the flesh side to the hair side. Lines are written above the ruling (pattern Nosnitsin 1)

Ruling pattern

Muzerelle 1-1-1-11/0/0/C

Scribe

–

Rubrication

Groups of lines in the incipit page of the “Faith of the Fathers”; two incipit lines of the sections of the same text; two incipit lines of the “Book of the epistle”, alternating with a black line; the name of Mary; the word ክፍል፡; elements of the punctuation signs and numerals, in full or in part

Colophon

–

Additional notes

F. 1r: transaction note written in Amharic in black ink. The name of king Zär˒a Yaʿqob is mentioned. Incipit: አቤቶ፡ አደይ፡ የሸጡት፡ የዚኅ፡ መድኑ፡ የወለተ፡ አቢብ፡ ልጅ፡ መቻ፡ አድጎ፡ የተጻፈው፡ በአፄ፡ ዘርአ፡ ያዕቆብ፡ በመንፈቀ፡ ዘመኑ፡

F. 1r: transaction note, written in Amharic in the same hand as the previous note, concerning certain properties in the Muslim quarter of an unspecified Ethiopian city. Incipit: አቤቶ፡ እዝራ፡ የሸጡት፡ የስላምጌ፡ ቦታ፡ አድግመት፡ እፃውን፡ የዚኅ፡ ዋጋው፡ ወቄታ፡ ድሪም፡ መድኑ፡

F. 1r: transaction note written in Amharic in black ink, in the same hand as the previous notes. The text is partly erased. Incipit: ያቤቶ፡ ወልደ፡ ኢየሱስ፡ ልጁች፡ ወለተ፡ ሥሉስና፡ አበኔር፡ የሸጡት፡ ያማጋው፡ ዕፃቸውን፡

F. 1v: “27.4.1931 IX. Questo codice consta di 212 carte delle quali soltanto la 1b è bianca. Q. Santoli”. The note was written in Italian in pencil by Quinto Santoli (1875–1959), librarian of the Forteguerriana; it is dated 27 April 1931

Decoration

–

State of preservation of the binding

Discrete

State of preservation of the textblock

Discrete

Provenance and history

The manuscript can be palaeographically dated to the 18th century. The manuscript came into possession of governor Ferdinardo Martini between 1897 and 1907 and was later acquired by the Biblioteca Forteguerriana between 1930 and 1931. It is mentioned in Zanutto S., Bibliografia etiopica, in continuazione alla «Bibliografia etiopica» di G. Fumagalli, II: Manoscritti etiopici (Roma, 1932), pp. 81–84. It was first catalogued in Lusini G., 2002. ‘I Codici Etiopici del Fondo Martini nella Biblioteca Forteguerriana di Pistoia’. Aethiopica 5 (2002), pp. 156–176.

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