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The bend of the leaf

In the process of preparing manuscripts for digital reproduction, I often become more sensitive to the aspects which cannot be reproduced. High-quality, instantly-accessible images are an incredible boon to researchers around the world, but, inevitably, a representation of a 2-dimensional surface will not be able to capture a 3-dimensional object persisting in and changing over time. Moreover, as a human artefact, it is embedded in a rich cultural and historical context, which is only hinted at through imagery.

 

Two consecutive folios from Indien 54. All images courtesy of the BnF.

Two consecutive folios from Indien 54. All images courtesy of the BnF.

 

The interaction between materiality and human culture is captured beautifully in palm leaf manuscripts such as Indien 54, pictured here. Especially in more recent manuscripts, the leaves still retain their natural curvature. This may have been exacerbated in the drying process, which often involves wrapping the leaves into coils before boiling them. The scribe of Indien 54 has exploited this property by arranging the leaves so that each leaf curves away from one another, instead of stacking the leaves so that they all bend in the same direction. As a result, when you are reading the manuscript, each folio naturally and gently springs out from the stack. This also ensures that the leaves do not stick to one another, causing damage.

 

In the middle of Indien 54.

In the middle of Indien 54.

 

In the image above, you can also see the scorch marks on the edge of the manuscript, made when the leaf edges were sealed using a hot iron. The scorch marks do not seem to line up, indicating that the leaves were rearranged after being sealed — perhaps to alternate their curvature.

When this manuscript is digitized, this graceful dynamic between the natural and the human, the process by which we coax our environment to suit our needs, will not be legible in the resulting images. It will be up researchers, like us, to tell its story.

Charles Li

Charles is the resident postdoctoral researcher at the TST project in Paris.

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OpenEdition suggests that you cite this post as follows:
Charles Li (November 2, 2020). The bend of the leaf. Texts Surrounding Texts. Retrieved April 25, 2025 from https://doi.org/10.58079/uxz2


Charles Li

Charles is the resident postdoctoral researcher at the TST project in Paris.

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