Papers of Thomas Pell Platt

These papers consist of two items presented to the Society by Thomas Pell Platt. They are:

• Fasti Sacri Ecclesiae AEthiopicae
• Computus Temporum Ecclesiae Aethiopicae

Thomas Pell Platt was born in London, attended school in Norfolk, before entering Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1815. He became a scholar there in 1818, graduating in 1820 and gaining his Masters in 1823. Whilst at Cambridge he became involved in with the British and Foreign Bible Society and for some years acted as its Librarian. In 1823 Platt published a catalogue of Ethiopian biblical manuscripts in the Royal Library of Paris and in the library of the British and Foreign Bible Society; and in succeeding years collated and edited for the Society, texts of the New Testament. In 1829 he prepared an edition of the Syriac Gospels, and in 1844 edited an Amharic version of the Bible.

He became a Fellow of the Royal Asiatic Society in 1825 and served on the Committee of the Oriental Translation Fund. He was also a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries in London. He died at Dulwich Hill, Surrey, in 1852

The Papers were catalogued as two files.

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In the Transactions of the Royal Asiatic Society it is recorded that T.P. Platt Esq., presented five items to the Society, including these, on 17 June 1826.

These Papers were catalogued by Nancy Charley, RAS Archivist, in 2019.

Platt's donation consisted of five items. It appears that only these two remain within the Collections. The other items were:

• A Catalogue of Ethiopic Biblical MSS. London, 1823, 4to.
• The Ethiopic Originals of the Fasti and Computus temporum. MS.
• Translation of the Ethiopic Mode of ascertaining the Hour by the Length of a Person's Shadow. MS.

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These Papers were written by Thomas Pell Platt and donated to the Society.

There are some of Platt's published works within our Library Collection . These are:

• Novum Testamentum Domini nostri et Servatoris Jesu Christi Aethiopice, published London, 1830
• Psalterium Davidis Amharice, published London, 1833.