Extent: 100 unnumbered pages : illustrations ; 10 x 12.5 cm
Note:
Page orientation: portrait. Condition: The manuscript is well preserved and in excellent condition. 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 on each of the two narrow sides. A cord made from the fibre of the sugar palm (Arenga Pinnata) is looped through the holes to facilitate carrying the manuscript. The cover is not decorated but left rough-hewn. 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. 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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