Ohio University, folio-east-14b

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Metadata

DS ID:

DS30480

Shelfmark:

folio-east-14b

Title:

Foliophiles Eastern leaf 14b: Buddhist palm-leaf manuscript, Myanmar, 18th century

Palm leaf manuscript

Place:

Burma

Myanmar TGN

Myanmar

Myanmar TGN

Date:

n.d.

Language:

Pali

Pali WIKIDATA

Material:

Palm leaf (material)

Palm Leaf AAT

Physical Description:

Extent: 1 leaf; Palm leaf (material); 50.0 cm x 5.5 cm

Note:

Decoration: Fragments (object portions)
Provenance: This leaf is from a portfolio compiled by The Foliophiles Inc. in 1928 and issued as a limited edition under the title "Specimens of Oriental Mss and Printing."
Provenance: The set of leaves belonging to Ohio University is number 13 of 120.
Provenance: The transcribed labels accompanying these leaves were originally written by The Foliophiles, Inc., a now-defunct New York association of rare book dealers that was also known as the Society of Foliophiles.
Provenance: Between 1925 and 1968 The Foliophiles disbound hundreds of historical texts and assembled them into several thematic portfolio sets.
Provenance: These were then issued in “editions” of between 15 and 200 leaves. Universities across America subsequently purchased these portfolios as teaching tools.
Provenance: While a small number of the selected leaves come from other cultures, the vast majority are from European texts. The collecting and marketing practices of The Foliophiles reflect the values of the members of the association and the contemporary American rare book market.
Provenance: Original descriptions, therefore, may contain outdated language, speculation, or inaccurate information.
The following text is based on the original seller's label. FROM TWO TALIPUT MANUSCRIPTS, 1. Burmese, 2. Sinhalese Probably 18th Century
The sacred literature of both Burma and Ceylon is in Pali, which has survived as the priestly language of the Southern Buddhist countries
Pali was the living tongue of the people of India at the time of the Gotama, but, together with the religion the glories of which it still celebrates, it gradually receded before the rising tide of Brahmanism
Hence scholars must search the temples of Burma, Ceylon and Siam for the sacred Buddhist records long since lost or destroyed throughout India
These records exist largely in the form of just such manuscripts as are here shown, prepared leaves from the Taliput palm upon which the scribe writes with a sharp stylus, applying a pigment to render the characters legible
Both these specimens are from Buddhist canons, and in both cases the Pali has been transliterated into native characters
The short leaf is from Ceylon, while the long leaf, which we have been forced to fold, is from Burma
Note the holes through which thongs were inserted to hold the leaves securely within their wooden bindings.
Specimens of Eastern Manuscripts and Printing

Keyword:

religious texts

Manuscripts

Institutional Record:

http://media.library.ohio.edu/digital/collection/p15808coll19/id/4911

IIIF Manifest:

https://media.library.ohio.edu/iiif/2/p15808coll19:4911/manifest.json

Holding Institution:

Ohio University