[CPProt.net] Museum Finds Its Rare Book in Merkato

[MSN CPPnet (Ton Cremers)]

Museum Finds Its Rare Book in Merkato 

The Daily Monitor (Addis Ababa) 
NEWS
August 24, 2005 
Posted to the web August 24, 2005 

By Bahru Temesgen
Addis Ababa 

The Institute of Ethiopian Studies (IES) of Addis Ababa University (AAU)
recently discovered that a rare and unique pictorial book was missing from
its archives after it was tipped that the book was seen elsewhere, sources
disclosed. 

The Institute was able to recover Goglia Luigi's Storia Fotografica Dell
Impero Fascista through a member who accidentally came across the book as it
was put on sale in Merkato --the country's largest open market. 

The exact date of theft is not known. Sources within IES confirmed that the
last time it displayed during an exhibition staged in the institute under
the theme "Ethiopian History in Black and White." 

The member according to sources who spoke with The Daily Monitor is said to
have bought the book and handed it back to IES. 

The book contains a collection of well over 400 original photographs and
explanatory notes depicting pictorial facts during the Italian occupation of
Ethiopia. 

Among the rare photographs of the collection for the period between 1935 to
1941, are the demolished Menelik II statue and a replica of the Axum Obelisk
erected around the present day Arat Kilo. 

Some archival experts say that while theft is a common criminal act
affecting libraries, IES however is full of collections that are either
unpublished or published with one or two original copies suggesting that
loss of any kind would be tantamount to losing history itself. 

They are of the opinion that the museum ought to consider installing modern
security systems rather than "relying on a single guard and the good
conscience of its employees." 

Currently IES boasts over 100,000 texts, unpublished journals and articles
and is said to be the largest Ethiopian collection ever in the globe. 

Wrt. Elsabet W.Giorgis, Director of the Institute declined to comment on the
issue, she however is said to have ordered an immediate inventory of the
collection of the library. 

    
  
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