Stephen Bell says they went missing when he was away from his home in Newark, Nottinghamshire, in August and September. Many items were collected by his father Ian Bell (d.1998), a member of the Anglo-Ethiopian Society and a British diplomat in Addis Ababa from 1949-53.
One item lost is a parchment manuscript page of the Second Book of Kings from a 13th century Ge'ez bible which had been presented by the memhir (abbot in Amharic) of Imrahana Kristos to Mr Bell. He reached the then very remote medieval Ethiopian monastery after a long mule trek, and was believed to be the first foreigner to visit it since David Buxton - a pioneer in the study of ancient and medieval Ethiopian architecture - a decade earlier.
Also taken were a collection of crosses (many inherited from Ian Bell) and a number of old leather-bound books. Stephen Bell has still to properly assess exactly what books have been taken, but they include an original 1814 edition of Henry Salt's Account of a Voyage to Abyssinia, and Travels into the Interior of that country in the years 1809 and 1810; two original volumes of the 1844 three volume edition of W.C. Harris's The Highlands of Ethiopia; and another volume: a charming but obscure mid-19th century general book on Ethiopia (the precise title of which Mr BelI unfortunately has no record of).
"The thief, being ignorant of Ethiopiana, seems to have only taken books that appeared to be in good condition (and therefore presumably valuable, as well as easily disposable for cash)," said Mr Bell.
"In the case of the Salt book he would have been disappointed since, although seemingly in very good condition, in fact it had had all its illustrations removed (and presumably sold on separately) by a previous owner before it came into my hands.
"In the case of the two Harris volumes, these would also be of little value without the other missing volume (which I myself had never possessed in the first place). Unfortunately, prior to the burglary, I had not completed the gargantuan task of cataloguing my Ethiopian library, and it is therefore possible that others books, of which I am as yet unaware, have also gone."
If you have any information, contact Stephen Bell at stephenbell332@btinternet.com
