• News
    • News & Views
    • Reviews
    • Highlights
  • Blogs
    • Manuscript Studies
      • Manuscript Studies: Contents List
    • International Congress on Medieval Studies
      • Abstracts of Congress Papers
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Author
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Year
  • About
    • Mission
    • People
      • Mildred Budny — Her Page
      • Adelaide Bennett Hagens
    • Activities
      • Events
      • Congress Activities
        • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
          • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
        • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • History
      • Seals, Matrices & Documents
      • Genealogies & Archives
    • Contact Us
    • RGME Privacy Policy Statement
  • Bembino
    • Multi-Lingual Bembino
  • Congress
    • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
    • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • Abstracts of Congress Papers
      • Abstracts Listed by Author
      • Abstracts Listed by Year
    • Kalamazoo Archive
    • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
      • Abstracts of Papers for the M-MLA Convention
  • Events
    • The Research Group Speaks: The Series
    • Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989–)
      • Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Symposia on ‘The Transmission of the Bible’
      • The New Series
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Program: The Roads Taken
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration Open
    • Abstracts of Papers for Events
      • Abstracts of Papers for Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Abstracts of Papers for Symposia, Workshops & Colloquia
    • Receptions & Parties
    • Business Meetings
    • Photographic Exhibitions & Master Classes
    • Events Archive
  • ShelfLife
    • Journal Description
    • ShelfMarks: The RGME-Newsletter
    • Publications
      • “Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge” (1997)
        • Mildred Budny, ‘Catalogue’
        • The Illustrated Catalogue (1997)
      • The Illustrated Handlist
      • Semi-Official Counterfeiting in France 1380-1422
      • No Snap Decisions: Challenges of Manuscript Photography
    • History and Design of Our Website
  • Galleries
    • Watermarks & the History of Paper
    • Galleries: Contents List
    • Scripts on Parade
    • Texts on Parade
      • Latin Documents & Cartularies
      • New Testament Leaves in Old Armenian
    • Posters on Display
    • Layout Designs
  • Donations and Contributions
    • 2019 Anniversary Appeal
    • Orders
  • Links
    • Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases: A Handlist of Links
    • Manuscripts & Rare Books
    • Maps, Plans & Drawings
    • Seals, Seal-Matrices & Documents

  • News
    • News & Views
    • Reviews
    • Highlights
  • Blogs
    • Manuscript Studies
      • Manuscript Studies: Contents List
    • International Congress on Medieval Studies
      • Abstracts of Congress Papers
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Author
        • Abstracts of Papers Listed by Year
  • About
    • Mission
    • People
      • Mildred Budny — Her Page
      • Adelaide Bennett Hagens
    • Activities
      • Events
      • Congress Activities
        • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
          • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
        • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • History
      • Seals, Matrices & Documents
      • Genealogies & Archives
    • Contact Us
    • RGME Privacy Policy Statement
  • Bembino
    • Multi-Lingual Bembino
  • Congress
    • Sponsored Conference Sessions (1993‒)
    • Co-sponsored Conference Sessions (2006‒)
    • Abstracts of Congress Papers
      • Abstracts Listed by Author
      • Abstracts Listed by Year
    • Kalamazoo Archive
    • Panels at the M-MLA Convention
      • Abstracts of Papers for the M-MLA Convention
  • Events
    • The Research Group Speaks: The Series
    • Seminars, Workshops, Colloquia & Symposia (1989–)
      • Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Symposia on ‘The Transmission of the Bible’
      • The New Series
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Program: The Roads Taken
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration
        • 2019 Anniversary Symposium Registration Open
    • Abstracts of Papers for Events
      • Abstracts of Papers for Seminars on ‘The Evidence of Manuscripts’
      • Abstracts of Papers for Symposia, Workshops & Colloquia
    • Receptions & Parties
    • Business Meetings
    • Photographic Exhibitions & Master Classes
    • Events Archive
  • ShelfLife
    • Journal Description
    • ShelfMarks: The RGME-Newsletter
    • Publications
      • “Insular, Anglo-Saxon, and Early Anglo-Norman Manuscript Art at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge” (1997)
        • Mildred Budny, ‘Catalogue’
        • The Illustrated Catalogue (1997)
      • The Illustrated Handlist
      • Semi-Official Counterfeiting in France 1380-1422
      • No Snap Decisions: Challenges of Manuscript Photography
    • History and Design of Our Website
  • Galleries
    • Watermarks & the History of Paper
    • Galleries: Contents List
    • Scripts on Parade
    • Texts on Parade
      • Latin Documents & Cartularies
      • New Testament Leaves in Old Armenian
    • Posters on Display
    • Layout Designs
  • Donations and Contributions
    • 2019 Anniversary Appeal
    • Orders
  • Links
    • Catalogs, Metadata, and Databases: A Handlist of Links
    • Manuscripts & Rare Books
    • Maps, Plans & Drawings
    • Seals, Seal-Matrices & Documents

Log in

Archives

Featured Posts

“Bridges” for our 2024 Anniversary Year, with a Call for Papers for the 2024 IMC at Leeds
Episode 13: Bridget Whearty on “Digital Codicology”
Berlin, Gemäldegalerie. Hans Holbein the Younger (1497/1498 - 1543), oil on oak wood. Portrait of the merchant George Gisze, 1532. Image via Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain.
2024 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Call for Papers
2024 International Medieval Congress at Leeds: Call for Papers
Martin, Slovakia, Slovak National Library, Fragment of the Picatrix, circa 1400 CE. Image Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.
Episode 12: Vajra Regan on Engraved Magic and Astrological Images
Rhythmomachy Simulation (Player 1's turn). Image © 2023 Michael A. Conrad.
Episode 11: Michael Allman Conrad on “Gamified Numbers”
Façade of the Celsus library, in Ephesus, near Selçuk, west Turkey. Photograph (1910): Benh LIEU SONG, via Creative Commons.
2023 International Congress on Medieval Studies: Program
Photograph of the stems and white blooms of Snowdrops emerging from a patch of bare ground in the sunlight. Photograph Ⓒ Mildred Budny.
2023 Spring Symposium: “From the Ground Up”
2023 Pre-Symposium on “Intrepid Borders” before the Spring Symposium
Barbara Heritage on Charlotte Brontë’s Fair Copy of “Shirley”
ShelfMarks Issue 2 (Volume 2, Number 1 for Winter 2022–2023)
Two Pages from a Roman Breviary in Gothic Script
Donncha MacGabhann at work on his close study of letter forms in the Book of Kells. Photograph via his publisher, Sidestone Press (Leiden 2022)
Donncha MacGabhann on the Making of “The Book of Kells”
2022 Autumn Symposium Program Booklet
The Weber Leaf from “The Warburg Missal” (Otto Ege Manuscript 22)
Folio 4 with Latin Blessings for Holy Water and an Exorcism for Salt
Portfolio 93 of Ege’s “Famous Books in Eight Centuries” in the Collection of Richard Weber
Two Ege Leaves and Two Ege Labels in the Collection of Birgitt G. Lopez

You are browsing the Blog for Palm-Leaf Manuscripts

More Leaves from a Deconstructed Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript

April 10, 2021 in Manuscript Studies

More Leaves of a Deconstructed
Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript

with Stringing Holes

Part 2

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Leaf ’31’, Side 1, Detail: Left-hand Side. Reproduced by Permission.

[Posted on 10 April, with updates, as Mildred Budny continues the quest, and the owner supplies the full series of images.]

Following Part 1, we continue the display of the leaves — or rather bisected half-leaves — in a Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript now in a private collection. The fragment apparently presents a single Buddhist text, albeit in a disordered sequence with some gaps.  The text is not yet identified.

The manuscript is written, from left to right, in Sinhalese script (see Sinhala_script) upon palm-leaves.  The language is mostly likely Pali (a guide: Pali).  At present, the 33 half-leaves are strung on string or cord through a single stringing hole, ending in a simple beveled rectangular cover.  The text is written in single columns of 5 to 8 lines per column.

A match for the specimen in terms of script appears here, with transliteration of its text:

  • www.ancient-buddhist-texts.net/Buddhist-Texts/XX-Dhammacakka/Dhammacakka.htm.

Some half-leaves have Letter/Number Marks in the left-hand margin.  They correspond with one of the systems for Sinhala Numerals.

The Kaṭapayādi or Katapayadi System uses Sinhala consonants to depict Numbers 1 to 9 and 0, “for easy remembrance of numbers as words or verses”.  The numeration “is known as Katapayadiya since number one is allocated with the Sinhala letters ‘Ka’ (ක), ‘Ta’ (ට), ‘Pa’ (ප ) and ‘Ya’ (ය)”.

Some archaic Sinhala Numerals are shown in A Comprehensive Grammar of Sinhalese Language by Mendis Gunasekera (1891), Plate III.

Mendia Gunesekera (1891), Plate III. Image via Creative Commons.

By such guides, as well as other material and textual features of the half-leaves, a conjectured reconstruction might be assembled.

A Full Leaf Reconstructed

An example, showing the full leaf on one of its sides, combines its fragmentary half-leaves photographically.  Part 1 already showed one side. Now in Part 2 we show both.

One Side (30A + 26A Upright)

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Reconstructed View of Former Leaf ('30A' + 26A').

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Reconstructed View of Former Leaf (’30A’ + 26A’).

The Other Side (30 + 26 Upright)

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Book. Reconstructed View of Former Leaf (’30’ + 26′ upright). Reproduced by Permission.

A Case Study

The goal here is both:

  • to show the book as a case study, or cautionary tale, for materials from foreign lands and languages, and
  • to gather feedback and suggestions for reconstructing its original order, recognizing its text, and identifying its probable date and place of production.

You can join the quest even if you do not (yet) know the language, because material features and pattern recognition offer useful guides for solving the puzzle.

Part 1 considered:

  • A Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Book in Deconstructed and Reconstructed Order.
Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, End-Leaf 01, Left, with Letter/Number Ka..

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, End-Leaf 01, Left.

That first Post presented, with the owner’s permission, images of some leaves out of the full set in the book at present.  The full set of images encompasses Sides 1–30A, plus the cover.

The numbering was adopted by the collector for photographing the half-leaves in their current series within the book. Numbers 1–30 for the leaves, and suffix A for their second sides:  1, 1A, 2, 2A, and so on.  Let’s call them “Sides”.  Note that the current assembly of the leaves, and the photographs made in consecutive sequence turning its leaves one by one, sometimes show the text on them upside-down.

The first post displayed images in several groups:

  • Beveled Rectangular Cover

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Cover.

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Cover.

  • Numbers 1–8A

    To Start the Show

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, End Leaf '01a' =Side 1.

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, End Leaf ’01a’ =Side 1.

  • Numbers 9–11A and 23–24A

    To Exhibit the Half-Leaves which have Doubled (or Repierced) Sets of Stringing Holes

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Leaf 9A.

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Leaf 9A.

  • Numbers 30A + 26A:

    To Demonstrate the Virtual Reconstruction of the Originally Conjoined Halves of one Full Side (front or back) of a Single Leaf

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Reconstructed View of Former Leaf ('30A' + 26A').

    Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, Reconstructed View of Former Leaf (’30A’ + 26A’).

That virtual reconstruction of 1 former side of 1 full leaf vividly demonstrates the reshuffling of the half-leaves in producing a newly reconstructed ‘deck’ for the sequence.

Now we show more of the manuscript.

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Buddhist Texts, Deconstructed Manuscripts for the Market, Fragmentology, manuscript fragments, Palm-Leaf Manuscripts, Reconstructing Manuscripts Virtually, Sinhalese Manuscripts
2 Comments »

A Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Book in Deconstructed and Reconstructed Order

April 8, 2021 in Manuscript Studies

A Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Book
with Chopped and Disordered Leaves

A Cautionary Tale

Recently, we were contacted by a private collector, reading our blogposts and wondering about a book which had come through inheritance, without any identification to speak of.  The bare bones of information relayed got the object indicated “that it is a Buddhist book, with handwritten pages of about 33 leaves written on both sides”.  But what language?  Is it manuscript or print?  Etc.?

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, End-Leaf 01, Left.

Private Collection, Sinhalese Palm-Leaf Manuscript, End-Leaf 01, Left.

A few photographs gave some first glimpses.  (See below.)  With them, we conferred among ourselves, and offered a preliminary description.  It includes a brief guide about how to proceed, if wished, to examine the artefact more closely.

Mind you, we are talking in a time of pandemic and Bibliographical Lockdown.  (See, with some observations about escape routes, Selbold Cartulary Fragments, including some resourceful tips. Summed up as: “When all else fails, read the text.”)

Images are an amazing resource, of course, but what photographs might we seek to take, and how to look at them?  That question might come to the fore if, perchance, you don’t know what sort of book it is, let alone what language?  What if you can’t read the text?  And which way is up?

I phrase the questions this way because, in part, I can’t (yet) read every language (Can Dream!), decipher every script, etc., etc.

Perhaps you too?

Willing to learn?  At least some rudiments appropriate for the particular artefact?  Yes?

Read On!

Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Buddhist Texts, Deconstructed Manuscripts for the Market, Fragmentology, Manuscript studies, Palm-Leaf Manuscripts, Reconstructing Manuscripts, Sinhalese Manuscripts
2 Comments »

Sanskrit and Prakrit Manuscripts

April 18, 2018 in Manuscript Studies, Uncategorized

Palm-Leaf and Paper Manuscripts

[Posted on 18 April 2018, with updates and corrections.  Among the updates are new images, showing more specimens in the collection.  We thank John Stavrellis, who works toward a Ph.D. in Indology at the University of Bonn, for identifications of the text on some leaves.]

Paper Leaf in Sanskrit with an Ornate Frame for the 4-Line Text. Gold-framed rectangular green border with frieze-like floral designs in dark green pigment. Private Collection. Photography by Mildred Budny.Inspired by some recent communications, as scholars, collectors, and devotees of manuscripts around the world recognize a welcome on our website, we present some fragments from palm-leaf and paper manuscripts which have joined a collection willing to welcome them.  This private collection of many varieties of scripts, texts, languages, formats across the ages and across many cultures — see our Galleries — has generously allowed us to display, study, and publish them, along with discoveries that this collaboration permits.

For some time, I have meant to present these images on a Gallery of one kind or another on our nonprofit website.  In the transition from our first (Drupal) website to the second (WordPress), I encountered so many difficulties regarding any advance with the Galleries and Media, ensuring an inevitably cumbersome transition from one to the other.

That was then.  This is now. Read the rest of this entry →

Tags: Astrological Manuscripts, Bhagavadgita Manuscripts, Devī Māhātmyam Manuscripts, Kalpa Sūtra Manuscripts, Mahābhārata Manuscripts, Palm-Leaf Manuscripts, Prakrit, Sanskrit, Stringing Holes, Vishnu Sahasranāma stotra Manuscripts
3 Comments »

  • Top


is proudly powered by WordPress. WordPress Themes X2 developed by ThemeKraft.