palm leaf book (2 Ergebnisse)

Oblong, 81 ff. Sinhalese script on palm leaf. Illustrated with 7 leaves of geometric and figural designs, recto and verso. Sinhalese manuscript (likely Sinhalese script in the Pali language) etched and inked on palm leaves. Blue-black Sinhalese rounded script. Contemporary painted, bevelled wood boards in orange and yellow, bound with soft twine. Illustrated with seven leaves of diagrams and figures: a palm leaf manuscript penned in the Sri Lankan Sinhalese script. The manuscript itself, along with each of its illustrations, is painstakingly inscribed by hand into dried and treated palm leaves. After inscription, ink is rubbed into the grooves left by the scribe's stylus. - In Sri Lanka, Sinhalese is both a spoken language of the Sinhalese people and a writing system in which one may also write in Sanskrit and Pali; indeed, Pali is a common language found in Sinhalese manuscripts. While palm leaf manuscripts are used for all sorts of works, from the Pali-Sinhalese medical treatise Yogaratnakara to the Ramayana, Sinhalese palm leaf manuscripts are particularly famous for their importance in preserving texts of Theravada Buddhism, including sutras and histories. - Palm leaf manuscripts are hardier than paper or vellum in humid, tropic environments, and resist rotting and insect damage. For this reason, they were developed over two millennia ago in Southeast Asia, and have continued as a traditional and practical manuscript tradition ever since. - Gentle edgewear, light soiling.

Oblong, cord-bound palm leaf book (355 x 40 x 170). 249 ff. Tamil script inscribed on palm leaf. Wooden covers, bound with cord. An impressively lengthy palm leaf manuscript, painstakingly inscribed on nearly 250 individual pressed palm leaves. Palm leaf manuscript traditions are found throughout Southeast Asia, written in languages like Pali (itself written in various scripts, including Sinhala), Burmese, Tamil, and more. This manuscript is likely Tamil and from Sri Lanka; a similar collection of 30 digitized Tamil palm leaf manuscripts can be found at the Digital Tamil Palm-Leaf Manuscripts Collection at the University of Toronto's UTSC Library. - Despite the extra skill required to write on them, palm leaves are more durable than vellum or paper, especially in hot or humid environments; as such they are one of the most ancient writing surfaces in the world, with a manuscript tradition in Southeast Asia and India stretching back millennia. The texts of palm leaf manuscripts are first etched into dried and treated palm frond strips by a trained scribe armed with a small sharp stylus. The scribe then rubs ink into the etched lines of the letter-forms; this labour-intensive process can be seen in the pages of this manuscript. - Minor chipping and some toning to edges of leaves; retains both a pin and a (later) cord binding. In good condition. - Reportedly from the personal collection of bibliophile Colin Ellis Franklin (1923-2020), Culham.