Manuscript, late 19th century. Manuscript on parchment, blind-ruled, written in black ink and rubricated. First three and last two leaves blank, used mostly for pen trials containing snatches of phrases in Ethiopic or names. Signatures: i4, 18. 1-610. Rubrics mostly mark off the sections of Weddāsē Māryām to be read on different days of the week. Text in Amharic in modern Western (Arabic) characters, and not in the indigenous Ethiopian system, in blue ink on leaves 3-4 specifies the date 1978 (=1985/6 in the Western calendar) and the time 4:38 (=10:38) on the 16th day of the 3rd month, that is 25 November 1985; recto of leaf 68 refers to "our king Haylä Sellase" in a brief prayer in red, crossed out in blue pen and replaced with that... Frontispiece on verso of leaf 4 representing the Virgin and the Child with two angels in the upper corners. The colors in the miniature indicate a date no earlier than the late 19th century, when European chemical pigments were introduced in Ethiopia. Bought by Curtis Runnels form Bruce Gventer in western Masachusetts approximately 20 years before its donation to Wellesley College; note in pencil on recto of last leaf in the hand of Curtis Runnels: "Weddase Maryam Purchased by Curtis Runnels from Bruce Gventer."
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