MERCIER (Jacques) ETHIOPIAN MAGICAL SCROLLS. - Lot 228

Lot 228
Go to lot
Estimation :
30 - 50 EUR
Bid on drouot.com
MERCIER (Jacques) ETHIOPIAN MAGICAL SCROLLS. - Lot 228
MERCIER (Jacques) ETHIOPIAN MAGICAL SCROLLS. Paris, Éditions du Seuil, 1979. Quarto (approx. 28 × 20.5 cm), 38 pp. followed by 40 sheets of plates, paperback, color-illustrated cover. 18 black-and-white illustrations in the text and 40 color plates as inserts, each accompanied by a commentary. Bibliography. ISBN 2-02-004926-0. Bibliographies also give a total page count of 120/122 pages depending on the collation method. ORIGINAL FRENCH EDITION, published by Seuil in 1979, the same year as the American edition published by George Braziller. The review published in *L'Homme* in 1980 specifically states the collation as 37 pages and 40 color plates. A remarkable study by ethnologist Jacques Mercier, then a research fellow at the CNRS, devoted to the talismanic scrolls of Christian Ethiopia—objects at the intersection of religious art, traditional medicine, and magical-therapeutic practices. Crafted on parchment for a specific recipient, these scrolls combined prayers, protective texts, and talismanic representations. Mercier examines, in particular, the role of the cross, angels, eyes, interlacing patterns, and geometric compositions, as well as the connections between illness, possession, and protection. The 40 plates reproduce some thirty scrolls that are rarely accessible or exhibited, lending the book significant documentary value. The book has become a standard reference on Ethiopian talismanic art: it continues to be cited, in particular, in auction catalogs devoted to ancient magical scrolls. A fine copy, complete with its original illustrated cover. Very slight signs of wear and rubbing on the cover; interior is fresh and well-preserved.
My orders
Sale information
Sales conditions
Return to catalogue