Events

Eyob Derillo gives his lecture to a full room with the stacks of the Fisher Library stretching up behind him. Poster for "Celebrating Ethiopic Book Heritage" event, with detail of an angelic figure from an amulet scroll.

Eyob Derillo (British Library; SOAS, University of London) delivers a lecture on Ethiopian magic and divination surrounded by Ethiopian books and scrolls at the September 2023 Ethiopic Book Heritage event held at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto.

This project area launched with an Ethiopic Book Heritage event in September 2023 at the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library (“Fisher Library”, University of Toronto), which brought together Ethiopian and Eritrean community members from across the Greater Toronto Area, book scholars, librarians, and members of the general public. The event began with an all-day open house, where visitors could view and handle the Ethiopian manuscripts and scrolls. Gelila Tilahun presented briefly on the Ge’ez transcription tool (more on the tool here), developed by a team that included many Hidden Stories collaborators including her and Eyob Derillo (SOAS, University of London), the guest lecturer for the event.

Derillo’s lecture on “Text and Image: Divination, Handbooks, Scrolls & Magic in the Ethiopic Tradition” traced the history of production and use of amulet scrolls and featured a number of these healing scrolls that are part of the Fisher Library collection. The scrolls were acquired along with 26 codex manuscripts to support the Ge’ez language program at the University of Toronto, and a large selection of these were out for viewing and handling during the event. The lecture was followed by a reception at the Centre for Medieval Studies, generously hosted by the Bikila Award and organised by President Tessema Mulugeta and other community members now living in the Toronto area, complete with a spread of Ethiopian foods and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

A central goal of the Hidden Stories project is to increase access to book heritage for communities of origin, and the event was the catalyst for the digitisation of the amulet scrolls now in the Fisher collection. The ten amulet scrolls are viewable here.

  • Eyob Derillo, standing, opening a book on a traditional bookstand.

    Eyob Derillo opening an Ethiopian psalter on a book stand. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, Toronto.

  • Eyob Derillo, Hagos Abrha Abay, and Gelila Tilahun with David Fernandez and the Hidden Stories core team, with Ethiopic manuscripts in front.

    Hidden Stories team members gather around scrolls and books at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event. LT to RT: Eyob Derillo (British Library), Hagos Abhra Abay (U. Toronto), Jessica Lockhart (U. Toronto), Sian Meikle (U. Toronto Libraries/ UTL), Suzanne Conklin Akbari (IAS, Princeton), David Fernández (Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, UTL), Gelila Tilahun (Toronto), Melissa Moreton (IAS, Princeton), and Rachel Di Cresce (UTL).

  • Tessema Mulugeta and Eyob Derillo at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event, giving a thumbs up to the photographer.

    Tessema Mulugeta (President, Bikila Award) and Eyob Derillo at the reception following the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event in September.

  • Visitors view manuscripts at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

    Visitors view manuscripts at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • Two visitors at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event smiling for the camera with one holding an image of a manuscript.

    Visitors view manuscripts at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event.

  • Hand holding the corner of a page showing a detail of an Ethiopian manuscript in Ge’ez language and script, with a red textiles bookmark sewn into the corner of the page.

    Detail of an Ethiopian manuscript in Ge’ez language and script, with a red textiles bookmark sewn into the corner of the page. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • Hagos Abhra Abay, Eyob Derillo, and Gelila Tilahun standing in a circle talking to each other at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event.

    Hagos Abhra Abay (U. Toronto), Eyob Derillo (British Library), and Gelila Tilahun (Toronto) at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event, Toronto.

  • An 18th-c. Ethiopian Synaxarium manuscript with colourful painting and a cloth pastedown lining the inner board.

    An 18th-c. Ethiopian Synaxarium (collection of saints’ lives used in liturgy) with painting and a cloth pastedown lining the inner board. Tafari Codex 3, Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library.

  • Suzanne Conklin Akbari examines a printed book containing early modern maps of Ethiopia while standing behind a table.

    Hidden Stories team member examines a printed book containing early modern maps of Ethiopia.

  • Early modern map of Africa in colour from a printed book from 1741, depicting ‘Aethiopica’ and including a Ge’ez syllabary.

    Early modern map of Africa in a printed book from 1741, depicting ‘Aethiopica’ and including a Ge’ez syllabary. Gottfried Hensel, Synopsis universae philologiae. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • Close-up of a red and white textile overcover and foredge wrap on a 19th-c. Ethiopian copy of the Meditation on the Crucifixion

    Textile overcover and foredge wrap on a 19th-c. Ethiopian copy of the Meditation on the Crucifixion. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • Visitors at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event standing behind a table of five manuscripts open for display

    Visitors view manuscripts at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event.

  • A hand holding a small Ethiopian book with wooden covers and folk mends to show its binding.

    A binding of a small Ethiopian book with wooden covers and folk mends. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • Ethiopic Book Heritage Event attendees in the Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library sitting in rows in front of the speaker.

    Ethiopic Book Heritage Event at Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • David Fernandez giving opening remarks at a podium, at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event

    Head of Special Collections, David Fernandez, delivers the introduction to the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event. Thomas Fisher Rare Book Library, University of Toronto.

  • Eyob Derillo delivering his lecture at the podium of the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event, pointing to his slides on the projector.

    Eyob Derillo delivering his lecture at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event.

  • Eyob Derillo delivering his lecture from a podium at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event at the Fisher Library in front of a projector.

    Eyob Derillo delivering his lecture at the Ethiopic Book Heritage Event.

  • Attendees enjoying the reception hosted by the Bikila Award and organised by President Tessema Mulugeta and other community members in a large room talking and eating.

    Attendees enjoying the reception hosted by the Bikila Award and organised by President Tessema Mulugeta and other community members now living in the Toronto area.

  • Spread of Ethiopian foods and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony on a white tray surrounded by green plants.

    Event reception at the Centre for Medieval Studies, University of Toronto, complete with a spread of Ethiopian foods and an Ethiopian coffee ceremony.

‹›