What: A manuscript dated 1694 of Haymanota abaw ‘Faith of the fathers’

Where: Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris

This is one of two manuscripts donated to the Bibliothèque nationale de France in 1868 by Major Gally-Passebosc, an officer from the French Navy who followed the expedition.

It is listed as No. 112 in the Catalogue des manuscrits éthiopiens (gheez et amharique) de la Bibliothèque nationale by H. Zotenberg.

Digital version in the library’s database – https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b525068816

Another manuscript from Gally-Passebosc – a 17th century discourse on the festivals of the angels Michael and Raphael – ended up in the collection of U.S. bibliographer, bibliophile and librarian Wilberforce Eames. There was a note in that manuscript that said the French officer had seized it after the defeat of Emperor Theodore.