Extent: 48 unnumbered pages : illustrations ; 13 x 13 cm
Note:
Page orientation: square. Condition: The manuscript is well preserved and in excellent condition apart from some water damage that does not hamper readability. Physical appearance: The bark book has two wooden covers that are glued to the ends of the leparello-folded strip of bark. The upper cover (=front cover) has two holes through which a cord made from the fibre of the sugar palm (Arenga Pinnata) is looped to facilitate carrying the manuscript. The cover is not decorated. The manuscript is held together by means of a plaited rattan band. Description: Pustaha (bark book) made by the Batak people in North Sumatra (Indonesia) most likely in the nineteenth century. Paper and ink: The manuscript is made of the bast (inner bark) of the aquilaria tree. Black as well as red ink has been used in this manuscript. Red ink is only used as illumination of the illustrations, including the chapter markers (bindu). BINDU GODANG (large bindu) denotes a large ornament which serves as a chapter marker. BINDU denotes a smaller ornament which may introduce a new subject matter. BM stands for bindu metmet (small bindu) which serves as a paragraph markers. Punctuations such as full stops or commas are not known in the Batak script. Collected by Frederick Starr, Professor of Anthropology at the University of Chicago, 1892-1923.
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