James Bruce's ‘Fourth’ Manuscript: Solving the Mystery of the Provenance of the Roman Enoch Manuscript (Vat. et. 71)

Abstract

For four centuries the book of Enoch was lost to Western Christianity and Judaism. That was until 1773, when Scottish explorer James Bruce brought back from Ethiopia ‘three’ copies of it to France and England. Yet, by the end of the eighteenth century there was another copy of the book of Enoch in Rome, in the library of Cardinal Leonardo Antonelli. This was an Ethiopic manuscript that, around 1825, would be acquired by Angelo Mai for the Vatican Library, where it is currently preserved (Vat. et. 71). The provenance of the manuscript has remained until now unknown. Through the recovery of eighteenth-century neglected letters and documents, this article uncovers a forgotten chapter in James Bruce's biography, his adventurous journey to Rome immediately after his return from Ethiopia, his meeting with Pope Clement XIV, and the ‘fourth’ Enoch manuscript he donated to the Antonelli Library. Personal and political reasons led Bruce to suppress the memory of his precious gift.