Intl. Inform. & Libr. Rev.

(1992) 24, 221-227

Printing, Publishing and Book

Development in Ethiopia up to the Era of
Emperor Menelik II
METIKOU OURGAY*

ABSTRACT

Printing, publishing and book development may be con-

sidered as the prerequisites for the development of any library
and information system in any society. This paper attempts
to cover publishing in Ethiopia from 1500-1900. During this
period numerous ecclesiastical and a few original works by
Ethiopians and foreigners had appeared in Ge'ez and in
other dialects. The role of the missionary societies in book
development was also significant. Most of the products ofthe
pnntmg presses were kept either in church archives or in
Royal Libraries. The establishment of any modern type
libraries was utterly neglected. Consequently, most of the
literate population of that time had no opportunity to find
out what was being published in their own country.

EARLY ETIIIOPIAN TEXTS

Ahhough printing of Ethiopic texts in Europe dates back to the 1500s,

printing technology was not introduced into Ethiopia until 1863. The
first Ethiopic book produced w a s J o h a n Patken's "Psalterium Chaldo-
icum siva potius Aethiopicum", printed by Maccellus Siber in 1513 in
Rome. ~Through the 17th and 18th centuries great European scholars,
namely Hiob Ludolf, Robert H a r t m a n and August Dillman studied
the history of Ethiopia and its church and coded Ge'ez, the ancient
semetic language of the country, z Much was published in the m a n y
Ethiopian languages by missionary groups in the early and late 19th
Century. O f these efforts, the contributions of the British and Foreign
Bible Society and the Church Missionary Society are notable.
The above two societies, after studying the possibilities of distributing
the Bible in Ethiopia, commenced the publication of the Holy Books in
Ge'ez and in other languages, Amharic, Tegre, Oromo, Kunama, etc.

* Dr Metikou Ourgay is Assistant Librarian I in Addis Ababa University Library, P.O. Box
15168, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

1057-2317J92/030221 + 07 $03.00/0 © 1992 Academic Press Limited

222 M. OURGAY

One of the missionaries, C. W. Isenberg, prepared a number of religious

and educational books in 1842. All books published by the Missionary
Societies were printed in Europe at the Chrischona Mission Printing
Press near Basle, Switzerland. 3

THE FIRST PRINTING PRESSES IN E T I I I O P I A

The first printing press with Ethiopian language type was founded at
tile Red Sea port of Massawa, Eritrea, in 1863 by an Italian Lazarist
Father, Lorenzo Biancheri. 4 Biancheri successfully produced some
Amharic books other than missionary texts. He was so proud of his
efforts that he used to call himself"The Printer to His Majesty Emperor
Theodros" (1855-1868).5 There is no evidence to show a relationship
of the printing press to Theodros. After the death of Biancheri, in
1864, the printing press was closed, although the Mission continued to
operate.
In 1879, a second printing press was established at Keren, Eritrea, by
an Egyptian, again under Lazarist Fathers. 5 Like the previous printing
press, this one also produced a considerable number of books in Ge'ez,
Amharic and Tegre. The Ge'ez--Arnharic Gramrner by Gebre-Mikael,
Christian Doctrine by Touvier and Amharic Prayer Book by Father Duflos,
were among the important achievements.
During the first Italian invasion, in 1896, the city of Keren fell under
the control of the invading troops and the press was compelled to print
military commands, proclamations, public notices and other propa-
ganda pamphlets. Some time in 1900, this printing press moved to the
Catholic Mission in Asmara. Since then it continued printing various
types of books in Amharic and Tegre. A periodical entitled "Nayhezb
Itopya Unatayna Fatawi" (The True Lover of The Ethiopian People)
appeared from 1916 to 1917. 6
The Italians founded a third printing press at Meenkulo, near
Massawa, in 1885. This was the first non-religious press in the Italian
colony and its production was entirely in Italian, mainly for regulation
orders and circulars of the military authorities.
Two other small commercial Italian printing presses, Topographic
Libreria Italiana (1890) and Coriere Eritreo (1891), functioned for a
few years and were known only for their weekly newspapers, L'Eritreo
and Coriere Eritreo. 5
Like the Italians, the Swedish Evangelical Mission also established
a printing press in 1895, at Meenkulo, and this is considered to be the
fourth printing press in the country. The Swedish Missionary con-
tributed much towards the development of Ethiopian literature through
 BOOK DEVELOPMENT IN ETHIOPIA 223
the production of books in various languages. To mention but few;
"Mclekete Selam" (Message of Peace), a newspaper ofgcneral interest,
used to be printed every 3 months between 1909 and 1913, and
bimonthly bctwccn 1914 to 1915. The first medical textbooks ever to
appear in one of the native languages, wcrc also published by this
printing press.
An enthusiast, Dr Karl Winquist, the Mission's pastor and medic
came to Ethiopia in 1883. Besides treating patients, he devoted his
spare time to translating a number of medical books into Tegre. Other
members of the Mission and Ethiopian converts were also active in
producing original or translated texts in various languages on various
studies. Among the Ethiopian converts, Onesimos Nesib wrote the first
Oromo spelling book in 1894 and translated the New Testament into
Oromo in 1893. His other translations include D. Barth's "Bible
Stories", J. Bunyan's "Man's Heart" and "Cathecism", all translated
in 1899. The Swedish Mission in Eritrea also published an Amharic
manual for schools by Gebre Kristos, a geography text book by Ulle
Erikson in Tegre, and later translated into Amharic, by Gebre Kristos,
was a history, 6f Ethiopia by Aleqa Taye.
In 1901, the Catholic Mission started operating the fifth printing
press in Harar, 562 km from the capital Addis Ababa. Under the auspices
of St. Anthony Lepro Sarium, the French Franciscan, Father Marie-
Bernard, opened a hostel for lepers at Harar, and in order to keep his
European supporters informed, he started the publication of "Bulletin
de La Leproserie de Harar" in French and Amharic. This paper was
later replaced by a weekly magazine entitled "Le Semeur d'Ethiopie"
in French and Amharic. 7
In 1905, Father Marie-Bernard purchased a small printing press and
began to produce visiting cards, business envelopes, notices, generally
for the European society. After importing new technologies from
France, the Catholic Father moved his printing press to Dire Dawa in
order to be right at the centre of business. It is through this city that
the French-buih Ethio-Djibouti railway passes, and at that time Dire
Dawa was considered to be a flourishing "French city". In Dire Dawa,
Father Marie-Bernard's printing press was given a new name, St.
Alazar Printing Press.

THE ETIIIOPIAN G O V E R N M E N T PRINTING PRESS

From the above study one realizes that printing thrived in Massawa,
Keren, Asmara, Harar and it was as late as 1906 that the first govern-
ment printing press was founded in Addis Ababa during the reign of
224 M. OUROAY
Emperor Menelik II (1865-1913). A few years earlier, in 1902, a Greek
named Kavadia, began producing a weekly Amharic newspaper named
"Aimro" (knowledge). The earliest issues of only 24 copies were written
by hand and distributed to the Emperor and his dignitaries. After a
copying machine was obtained, the circulation rose to 200. The
Emperor was so pleased with the paper that he decided on a modern
printing press. As a result "Ye Itopya Matemya", the Ethiopian Print-
ing Press, began pubIishing the reputable Aimro as a four-page weekly
of 500 copies.5
"Ye Itopya Matemya" was later named "Ye Itopya Mengest Mate-
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

Type of work Number % of Total

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

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

Although the glorious past of Ethiopia was well documented and

secured in m a n y monasteries and Royal Libraries, the numerous dev-
226 M. O U R G A Y

TABLE II

Type ofwork Number % of Total

Biblical manuscripts 110 26"9

Service books 96 23-5
Special services and homilies 23 5-6
Lives of saints 78 19-1
Biblical commentaries 12 2-9
Theology 39 9.5
Ecclesiastical and civil law 16 3"9
History and chromography 24 5"9
Medicine 3 0-7
Miscellaneous 7 1-7

TABLE I I I

Type of Work Number % of Total

Old and New Testament 48 28.2

Apocryphal 15 8-8
Commentaries 3 1-7
Liturgies 11 6.4
Rituals 3 1-7
Service books 28 16.4
Theology 12 7-0
Canons 4 2-3
Lives of saints 16 9-4
History 6 3-5
Grammar, dictionaries 10 5.8
Miscellaneous 14 8-2

astating wars destroyed m a n y of the printed and handwritten manu-

scripts. T h e invading armies, notably the expansionist Muslims, mer-
cilessly burnt the church archives in the 16th century. Similarly, ttle
Royal Library of Emperor Tewdros was plundered in 1868 and that of
Emperor Yohannes in 1889, the former by tile British Army and the
latter by the Turks. 8 Some of the publications mentioned in this text
were entirely safe in the Emperor Menelik's archives until they met the
same fate as the previous treasures of the country. During World War
II, the Italians occupied ttle country and, in no time, they shipped to
Rome all their plunder, including innumerable manuscripts believed
now to be mostly in private hands.
Ethiopian documentary materials are a rich source of information
not only on Ethiopia, but also on the adjacent countries, on the Sudan,
 BOOK DEVELOPMENT IN ETIIIOPIA 227
Somalia, Egypt and the Gulf States. It is thought that original works
of historical character, published by missionaries or Ethiopians, are
kept as rare materials in several European libraries. A few of these
libraries may not be willing to inform the public of their Ethiopiana
holdings, let alone grant access to them. The struggle to trace these rare
publications in personal collections must not be left to the Ethiopians
only. Librarians and documentalists, historians and Library Associ-
ations and, most importantly, individuals must assist by disseminating
information on private or public Ethiopiana holdings. This awareness
may ultimately promote the compilation of a bibliography on " R a r e
Ethiopian Materials in Foreign Countries" (assumption) which, if suc-
cessfully completed, will benefit African researchers in general and
Ethiopians in particular.

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.