Ethiopian records of the Menilek era

Book excerpt: The quality of a scholarly presentation at least in the humanities and social sciences depends entirely on the availability of documentation. Though Menilek's era is one of the fortunate periods in this respect, some aspects are nonetheless more thinly substantiated than others and, hence, fresh documents can certainly enrich our knowledge. Most of the ministerial papers of Menilek's government were lost in the decades that followed his fatal illness. But some have survived, thank State Councillor Alfred Ilg. During his 28-years' uninterrupted service to the Ethiopian government, Bitwaddad Ilg collected and preserved papers of all kinds - letters, contracts, concession papers, proclamations, certificates of merit and appointments as well as receipts and notes - from which the 312 documents contained in the present volume have been culled. The facsimiles are accompanied by an English translation, introduction, annotation and index.