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To cite this article: Metikou Ourgay Assistant Librarian I (1992) Printing, Publishing
and Book Development in Ethiopia up to the Era of Emperor Menelik II, The
International Information & Library Review, 24:3, 221-227
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Intl. Inform. & Libr. Rev. (1992) 24, 221-227
ABSTRACT
* Dr Metikou Ourgay is Assistant Librarian I in Addis Ababa University Library, P.O. Box
15168, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
mya" (Ethiopian Government Printing Press), and during the last years
of his reign, Emperor Menelik named it "Merha Tebeb" (The
Beginning of Knowlcdge).
It is to be noted that following the introduction of printing technology
into tile country in 1863, more than 43 years elapsed before the Govern-
ment installed a printing press of its own. Various reasons could be
forwarded for this delay, such as tile internal and external conflicts that
devastated the country for years, the isolation of Ethiopia and her
peolSle from the outside world, the non-existence ofmodcrn education,
etc. During the reign of Emperor Menelik, howcvcr, there were favour-
able conditions for the importation of technology: the unity of the
country was more stable than in any other period ofits history and this
gave the-Emperor a good opportunity to establish diplomatic ties with
tile great powcrs of Europe. A significant number of notable European
advisors assisted him in building tile Empire, by setting up postal and
telecommunication services, constructing roads, railways, schools and
a well equipped hospital, and by supplying water to the city. Menelik
totally changed the age-old traditional ways of living and thinking. In
order to run his Government efficiently, the Emperor regularly issued
orders, announcements, proclamations, but these could not reach all his
subjects through mere handwritten papers. Tile need for newspapers,
vouchers, receipts, cards and books was much felt.
Menelik was inspired to modernize the country by his intercst in new
technologies. Nothing, in fact, fascinated him more than engines and
machines, his mechanical mind enabled him to operate almost all
machines at hand. It was this yearning for mechanics that induced the
Emperor to start a government printing press.
M. Dervage's Commercial Printing Press should also be mentioned.
The French businessman started publishing in 1913 "Le (~ourrier
d'Ethiopie", a French weekly journal, and an Amharic bulletin "Yetor
Ware" (War News), an allied bulletin which circulated from 1916 to
1918. 5 Some pamphlets and a number of Frcnch text books were also
published before this printing press closed down.
BOOK D E V E L O P M E N T IN E T I I I O P I A 225
TABLE I
Biblia 15 42.8
Canones 1 2-8
Liturgia 4 l I-0
Acta Sanctorum 5 14.1
Historia 7 20.0
Philogla 3 8-5
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BOOK DEVELOPMENT
During the period under discussion,published writings were largely of
an evangelical nature. According to early research into traditional
Ethiopian literature, by R. Pankhurst, the writings of native authors,
in their methods of thought and statement were dependent on scripture
models. 5 Apart from the versions of Old and New Testaments in dialect,
quite a g o 0 d - n u m b e r of theological and liturgical works had also
appeared. However, these publications, together with other traditional
writings, were looted from the ancient libraries by foreign forces, and
a considerable number of publications found their way to the great
libraries ofEurope, s It is regrettable that the sources for early Ethiopian
publications are in the British Museum, the BibliothSque Nationale,
and the Bodleian Library at Oxford rather than in the Libraries of
Ethiopia. Based on the Ethiopian collections ofthese European libraries,
the development of publishing during the 16th to the 19th centuries
can be followed.
The Bodleian collection, containing 101 items, was catalogued by C.
Dillmann in 1848 and is classified as in Table I. 5
The British Museum collection which was catalogued by W. Wright,
in 1877, contains 408 items and is classified in Table II. 5
The BibliothSque Nationale's collection is m u c h larger than either
of the above and was acquired in the first and second half of the 19th
century. The holdings are classified as shown in Table III. 5
Libraries in Alexandria, Vienna, St. Petersburg and Warsaw also
have a significant collection of Ethiopiana on which thorough research
has not yet been carried out.
SUMMARY AND R E C O M M E N D A T I O N
TABLE II
TABLE I I I
REFERENCES
1 Gaselee, Stephen. The beginning of printing in Abyssinia. London, Unpublished
work.
2 Lockot, H.'~,~,('(1967) German literature in the libraries of Addis Ababa. Ethiopia
Observer 11(1), pp. 68-71.
3 Wright, Stephen (1964) Book and manuscript collection in Ethiopia. Journal of
Ethiopian Studies 2(1), p. 15.
4 Roberts, A. D. (1946) Documentation on Ethiopia and Eritrea. Journal of Docu-
mentation 1(4), p. 186.
5 Pankhurst, Richard (1962) The foundation ofeducation, printing, newspapers, book
production, libraries and literacy in Ethiopia. Ethiopia Observer 6(3), pp. 241-290.
6 Shale, Amanual (1982) Tigrigna, a recent history and development. Proceedings of
the Seventh International Conference of Ethiopian Studies. p. 79.
7 Eshete, Aleme (1972) The Swedish .~lission in Ethiopia 1866--1889. Unpublished paper.
p. 57.
80urgay, Metikou (1991) Libraries in Ethiopia before 1900. International Library
Review 23, pp. 391-399.