Flad, Bibliography

(1) Published Sources

1. Amharic (and Ge’ez)

Flad, Johann Martin, tr. [with the help of debtera Birru]. Dr. Barth’s Bible-Stories / ሁለት ጊዜ አምሳ ሁለት ታሪክ ከብሉይና ካዲስ [= አዲስ] ኪዳን [Twice 52 stories from the Old and New Testaments]. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1867. [Google Books]

  • 4th, enlarged edition. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1892. [View online]

Flad, Johann Martin, ed. Psalterium Davidis: Aethiopice et Amharice / መጽሐፍ መዝሙረት ዘዳዊት. Basel (Switzerland): C.F. Spittler, 1872. [Google Books; reprinted in 1902, 1904, 1913]

—. The Amharic geography / ጌዎግራፊያ ማለት የምድር ትምህርት [geography, meaning the science of the earth]. Ed. by J.M. Flad. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1872. [Google Books]

  • Shortened edition of Isenberg’s ጌዎግራፊያ ማለት የምድር ትምህርት. London: R. Watts, 1841. [Digitale Sammlungen]

—. The Messianic prophecies in Ethiopic and Amharic, with some additional passages from the ancient prophets / የብሉይ ኪዳን ትንቢቶች ስለ መሢሑ. 2nd, revised edition. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1875. [View online] 

Flad, Johann Martin, tr. Proofs from the Old Testament that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is the Son of God / መገለጣ ከብሉይ ኪደን። የሱስ ክርስቶስ የእግዚአብሔር ልጅ ፍጹም ሰውና ፍጹም አምላክ ነው. 3rd, revised edition. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1875. [View online]

—. Helps to self-examination and prayers on different subjects, for the use of humble-minded and inquiring Jews / ትንሽ መጽሐፍ ልብን ለመመርመር ከጸሉት ጋራ. 3rd, revised edition. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1875. [View online]

Flad, Johann Martin, ed. Scripture with Scripture compared / _ _ _. 4th, revised edition by J.M. Flad. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1876. [View online]

Flad, Johann Martin, tr. The God of Abraham, Isac and Jacob is the God of salvation / የእሥራኤል አምላክ የማያድን አምላክ ነው [The God of Israel is the God who saves]. 3rd, revised edition. St. Chriscona: Mission Press, 1878. [View online]

Mayer, Johannes, tr. Short Stories for Young Abyssinians / ትንሽ ታሪኮች ለሐበሻ ልጆች. Ed. by J.M. Flad. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1883. [View online]

Flad, Johann Martin, ed. The Coloured Picture Bible for Abyssinian Children: In the Amharic Language. London: Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge, 1886. [View online]

—. The New Testament of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, in Amharic /_ _ _. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1886. [Printed at the expenses of the BFBS; view online at HathiTrust]

—. The New Bible containing the Old and New Testaments [in Amharic] /_ _ _. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1886 [according to the Amharic text: 1887]. [Printed at the expenses of the BFBS; view online at Hamburg Univ. Library]

—. Man’s Heart either God’s Temple or Satan’s Abode: Represented in 10 Figures; For Awaking and Promoting Christian Faith and Life / የሰው ልብ የእግዚአብሔር መቅደስ ወይም የሰይጣን ማደርያ. 3rd, revised ed. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1889. [View online]

—. The Amharic Spelling-Book / የትምህርት ምጀምርያ እርሱም የማንበብ ማስትማርያ ባምኅርኛ [The beginning of education, namely the mastery of reading, in Amharic]. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1889 [A.M.?]. [View online]

  • Earlier edition: Isenberg, Carl Wilhelm. የትምህርት፡ መጀመርያ […; The beginning of education]. London: R. Watts, 1840. [Digitale Sammlungen]

Lundahl, Bengt Peter, tr. Otto von Gerlach‘s Förklaring öfver Johannes’ evangelium /_ _ _. Ed. by J.M. Flad. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1889. [Printed for EFS]

Bunyan, John. Pilgrim’s Progress / የክርስቲያን መንገድ ከዚህ ዓለም ወደ ዘላላም ሕይወት የማወስድ. Transl. by Gebra Georgis Terfe. Carried through press by J.M. Flad. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1892. [View online]

Flad, Johann Martin, ed. Regni Dei in terris historia amharicè / የእግዚአቢሔር፡ መንግሥት፡ ታሪክ. 2nd, revised ed. St. Chrischona: Mission Press, 1893. [View online]

  • 1st edition in 2 vols. by Carl Wilhelm Isenberg. London: R. Watts, 1841. [Digitale Sammlungen]
2. Other languages

Flad, Johannes Martin. Notes from the Journal of F [= J.] M. Flad, one of Bishop Gobat’s Pilgrim Missionaries in Abyssinia. Edited and with a brief sketch of the Abyssinian Church by W. Douglas Veitch. London: James Nisbet, 1860. [Digitale Sammlungen]

—. A Short Description of the Falasha and Kamants in Abyssinia together with an Outline of the Elements and a Vocabulary of the Falasha-Language, composed by Martin Flad, Missionary of the Society for Promoting Christianity among the Jews, ed. by J.L. Krapf. St. Chrischona (Switzerland): Mission Press, 1866. [Digitale Sammlungen]

—. Kurze Schilderung der bisher fast unbekannten abessinischen Juden (Falasha). Ihr Ursprung, Wohnort, Körperbau, Priester, Propheten, Schwarzkünstler, Feste, Reinigungsgesetze, Bäder, Verlobung, Hochzeit, Ehe, Tod und Begräbnis etc. Nebst einem Anhang über die heidnischen Kamanten in Abessinien. Preface by L. Krapf. Korntal: self-published / Basel: C.F. Spittler; Stuttgart: Ev. Bücherstiftung (commission), 1869. [Google Books]

  • English version: The Falashas (Jews) of Abyssinia. With a preface by Dr Krapf. Transl. by S.P. Goodhart. London: William Macintosh, 1869. [Google Books]

—. Zwölf Jahre in Abessinien oder Geschichte des Königs Theodoros II. und der Mission unter seiner Regierung […], Basel, 1869. [Download from Halle Univ. Library]

—. 60 Jahre in der Mission unter den Falaschas in Abessinien: Selbstbiographie des Missionars Johann Martin Flad. Mit Einleitung und Schlusswort von seinem Sohn Pastor Friedrich Flad. Giessen and Basel, 1922. [Archive.org]

  • Swedish edition: Ett liv i tro, kärlek och utgivande för Abessinien: Missionär Johan Martin Flads självbiografi. Translated and edited by Elsie Winqvist. Stockholm: EFS, 1927. [SEM Archives]

Flad, Pauline. Eine braune Perle: Erinnerungen aus dem Missionsleben in Abessinien. Neukirchen: Missionsbuchhandlung Stursberg, 1908. [Download; Scholars’ Archive (BYU)]

  • 2nd edition: Giessen and Basel: Brunnen, 1929.

(2) Secondary Literature

1. Encyclopedic articles

Heintze-Flad, Wilfred. “Flad, Johannes Martin” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 2, ed. S. Uhlig, p. 552‒53. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005.

—. “Flad, Pauline Keller” in Encyclopaedia Aethiopica, vol. 2, ed. S. Uhlig, p. 552‒53. Wiesbaden: Harrassowitz, 2005.

2. Other literature

Arén, Gustav. Evangelical Pioneers in Ethiopia: Origins of the Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus. Stockholm: EFS förlaget; Addis Ababa: Evangelical Church Mekane Yesus, 1978. [See esp. p. 88‒91, 94‒96, 99‒104; view online]

Crummey, Donald. Priests and Politicians: Protestant & Catholic Mission in Orthodox Ethiopia (1830–1868). 2nd ed. Hollywood, CA: Tsehai, 2001. [1st ed.: Oxford: Clarendon, 1972.]

Dege-Müller, Sophia. “The Manuscript Tradition of the Betä Ǝsraʾel
(Ethiopian Jews): Form and Content. A Preliminary Analysis”, Comparative Oriental Manuscript Studies Bulletin 6, no. 1 (2020), 5–40. [Academia.edu]

Flad, Friedrich. “Johann Martin Flad, Missionar in Abessinien”, Evangelisches Mission-Magazin 59 (1915), 417 ff.

—. Der Gefangene von Magdala: Johann Martin Flad’s Leben und Arbeit für Abessinien. Stuttgart and Basel: Evangelischer Missionsverlag, 1935.

Flad, Julius. Johann Martin Flad: ein Leben für Äthiopien. Giessen and Basel: Brunnen, 1968.

Gidney, William Thomas. The History of the London Society for Promoting Christianity Amongst the Jews: From 1809 to 1908. London: London Society for Promoting Christianity amongst the Jews, 1908. [Missiology.org]

Kaplan, Steven. “The Beta Israel (Falasha) Encounter with Protestant Missionaries, 1860‒1905″, Jewish Social Studies 49 no. 1 (1987), 27‒42. [JSTOR; subscription barrier]

Pankhurst, Rita. “Observations on a Letter from Emperor Yohannes IV to the Protestant Missionary Martin Flad”, in Proceedings of the Eleventh International Conference of Ethiopian Studies: Addis Ababa, April 1‒6 1991, vol. 1, p. 233 ff. Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University, 1994.

Payne, Eric. Ethiopian Jews: The Story of a Mission. Forword by John W.R. Stott. London: Olive Press, 1972. [UB TÜ: 14 A 3986-6]

Quirin, James. The Evolution of the Ethiopian Jews: A History of the Beta Israel to 1920. Philadelphia, PA: Univ. of Pennsylvania Press, 1992. [Archive.org; reprint: Tsehai Publishers, 2010.]

Scheffbuch, Rolf. Menschen, die Ungewohntes wagten: Aus der geistlichen Geschichte Korntals. Ed. by A. Messner. Holzgerlingen: SCM Hänssler. [On Flad, see p. 180‒199]

Shelemay, Kay Kaufmann. Music, Ritual, and Falasha History. Reprint. East Lansing, MI: Michigan State Univ. Press, 1989. [Archive.org; 1st ed. 1986]

Summerfield, Daniel P. From Falashas to Ethiopian Jews: The External Influences of Change c. 1860‒1960. London and New York: RoutledgeCurzon, 2003. [GoogleBooks]

Trevisan Semi, Emanuela. “Protestant Missions in Ethiopia: From Jewish Falashas (Beta Israel) to Christian Falashas and Falas Mura, and Back: A Blurred Status (1858–1960)”, in Mission and Preaching: Connected and Decompartmentalised Perspectives from the Middle East and North Africa (19th–21st Century), ed. by N. Neveu, K. Sanchez Summerer and A. Turiano, p. 67–91. Leiden: Brill, 2022. [Download (Brill.com)]

(3) Unpublished Sources

Staatsarchiv Basel-Stadt (Switzerland):
  • “Beschluss über nach Abessinien bestimmte Zöglinge”. Decision on students destined for Abyssinia, 1854. Ref. PA 653a B. 9.3
  • “Landbeschreibung nach M. Flad und Dr. Krapf”. Description of Abyssinia by Flad and Krapf during their journey in 1855. Ref. PA 653a D. 2.1
  • “Joh. Martin Flad”. Letters, etc., 1857‒61. Ref. PA 653a D. 3.2
  • “Briefe betreffend Station Cairo”. Letter by Flad w/re mission station in Cairo, 1858. Ref. PA 653a E. 3.4
  • “Flad, M. J., Djenna”. Letter to Bishop Gobat (Jerusalem), 1862. Ref. PA 653a XXX 3.63
  • “(Flad), Pauline, Kairo, Genda, Gaffat”. Letters by Mrs Flad to Mrs Gobat (Jerusalem), 1858‒64. Ref. PA 653a XXXI 1.84
  • “J. M. Flad”. Letters from Korntal, 1869‒73. Ref. PA 653a Q. 1.1
  • “Korrespondenz von Missionar J.M. Flad mit C.F. Spittler über den Amharischen Bibeldruck (Abessinien)”. Letters on printing Amharic Bibles, 1883‒84. Ref. PA 773a 02.02.08
  • “[fehlt] / Flad. G. [= J.] M., Kornthal”. Letters to Spittler, 1869‒84. Ref. PA 653a V. 312 [The letters seem to be lost]
The National Archives, Kew (London, UK):
  • Letters by Joh. Martin and Pauline Flad. Abyssinia 1866. Memo. by Col. Merewether. (British Captives. Bound: Abyssinia 4. Ref. FO 881/1466)
Papers of The Church’s Ministry among the Jews (Weston Library, Oxford, UK):
Bible Society Archive and Library (Cambridge Univ., UK):
Archives in Germany:
  • Search the Kalliope database for “Flad, Johann Martin”
SEM Archives (Sweden):
Österreichische Nationalbibliothek (Vienna, Austria):