The Ethiopian manuscripts preserved in the USA are far from being thoroughly identified and described herein.
It should be noted that the resources are highly scattered and are mostly collections that are quantitatively small and comprising donations of private collections that present little scientific interest. Very few of them have catalogues. Let us give the archetypal example of the ‘Ethiopian collection’ of the University of St Lawrence, Canton, NY, originating from a private donation and composed of 8 scrolls and a small Psalter ornamented with illustrations destined to add its market value to the eyes of the tourist.
In contrast to this type of resource, Princeton’s resource mainly set up by Enno Littmann in 1905-6, shall be pointed out as the only collection constituted in a manner that is comparable to European collections’.
Furthermore, museums that have significant budget for acquisitions, like the Walters Art Museum or the MET, have been building up over the last years small collections of Ethiopian manuscripts and icons of great value, mainly bought from the art dealer Sam Fogg.