Collectors and Collections in the History of Thai Manuscripts
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Publication Thai Manuscripts in Italian libraries: Three Manuscripts from G.E. Gerini’s Collection Kept at the University of Naples “L’Orientale”(2018-05-04) Cicuzza, ClaudioIn this article I present a short description of the three illuminated Thai manuscripts kept in one of the libraries of the University of Naples “L’Orientale”, the Biblioteca Maurizio Taddei. These three manuscripts contain various Buddhist jātakas and also non-canonical works, in Pali and in Thai. They are adorned with beautiful depicted images which have been here reproduced.Publication Manuscripts from the Kingdom of Siam in Japan(2018-05-04) Unebe, ToshiyaIn this chapter, the textual contents of the illustrated samut khoi-s in Thailand, are examined. Samut khoi manuscripts are an important resource for the study of Siamese and Buddhist literature in the 18th and 19th centuries. Samut khoi-s are divided into two groups. Both groups use a script called “Khom” (อักษรขอม), but one group uses a thin character set, and the other a thick and calligraphic character set. The chief text of eighteenth century samut khoi-s, the Mahābuddhaguṇa, shows what great importance Thai Buddhists attached to the Buddha-anussati, the recollection of the Buddha. In the 19th century, there was a growth of the tale of Phra Malai in the Thai vernacular language —- a story of a monk named Māleyya (in Pāli) who travels to hells to help people, and to Tāvatiṃsa heaven to meet the future Buddha Metteya — was very popular at funeral ceremonies.Publication Siamese Manuscript Collections in the United States(2018-05-04) Kerekes, Susanne Ryuyin; McDaniel, JustinThis article provides a brief survey of public collections of Thai manuscripts held in the United States, which is home to roughly 650 Thai manuscripts. Of the twenty institutions that house Thai manuscripts, the following five are highlighted in this article: the Asian Art Museum, the University of California at Berkeley, the New York Public Library, Princeton University Libraries, and the Walters Art Museum. The second half of this article details a few key manuscripts held at the University of Pennsylvania: the Abhidhamma chet Kamphi, one book of the Phra ‘Aphaimanī epic, and a rare set of royal decrees. In short, this overview illustrates the vast diversity of genres of Thai manuscripts held in the United States – including a Thai translation of the Gospel of Matthew – as well as the diversity of its collectors in the nineteenth-century, the majority of whom were women.Publication Henry D. Ginsburg and the Thai Manuscripts Collection at the British Library(2018-05-04) Igunma, JanaOver half a thousand Thai manuscripts are currently being held in British institutions, with the largest collection at the British Library. Other important collections are at the Wellcome Library, the Royal Asiatic Society, the Bodleian Library and the John Rylands Library. Thai manuscripts and historic documents first came to Britain as a result of trade contacts, and documents from the earliest period include official letters and materials received from Thai counterparts. Manuscripts were also brought from Thailand by missionaries, travelers, traders, and officers of the India Office stationed in Burma, others were systematically collected by educators and scholars with a particular research interest. The largest number of manuscripts contains Buddhist scriptures and texts related to Buddhism, many of them in Pali language. However, almost all topics that can be found in the Thai manuscript tradition are represented in the collections held in the UK, for example literary and linguistic works, traditional medicine and healing practices, customary laws, cosmology and astrology, fortune-telling and divination, and animal treatises. Approximately a quarter of these manuscripts are illustrated or decorated in some way; some being outstanding examples of the tradition of Thai manuscript painting and manuscript decoration. This diversity is the result of the different intentions and ambitions of the collectors. Some collectors carefully chose material that they had a certain research interest for. For example, Henry Ginsburg who was fascinated by the beauty of Thai manuscript art built the most important collection of illustrated Thai manuscripts in the UK (held at the British Library). Another collector, Henry Wellcome, was particularly interested in medical texts and artefacts; therefore his collection contains dozens of medical treatises and herbals. Many manuscripts were given to British institutions after the death of a collector, and the trade in manuscripts only began to play a role in the second half of the 20th century. In my article I will give an overview of Thai manuscript collections in the UK, and major contributors and builders of these collections.Publication Manuscripts in Central Thailand: Samut Khoi from Phetchaburi Province(2018-05-04) Skilling, Peter; Pakdeekham, SantiThe article discusses illuminated manuscripts of Central Thailand, dealing with the different formats and different scripts (Khom, Thai, and Mon) used for different purposes, and their eventual evolution to print technology. We focus on manuscripts from Wat Pak Khlong, Phetchaburi, and illustrate examples from its small but precious organic collection. The themes of the illustrations are both narrative and non-narrative. The narratives, such as the story of the thaumaturge monk Phra Malai, are didactic. The non-narrative paintings might be described as simply decorative, but they draw on a rich animal lore that is detailed in scholastic literature. The texts recorded in the manuscripts, such as the story of Phra Malai, the Mahabuddhaguna, and the Unhissavijaya, have complex relationships to Thai Buddhist liturgy. A genre on the delineation of monastic boundaries illustrates a core concern of Theravāda monasticism throughout Southeast AsiaPublication The Chester Beatty Collection of Siamese Manuscripts in Ireland(2018-05-04) McDaniel, JustinThis article demonstrates the importance of the Chester Beatty Library’s collection of Thai manuscripts and more broadly highlights the importance of including the study of Ireland in the history of the study of Asia. I hope it also encourages future scholars to look to Ireland when writing the intellectual history of exchange between Asia and Europe. Even though Ireland was not a colonizing power, indeed, it was colonized for most of its pre-modern history, its libraries and museums attest to a people that spread far and wide across the globe sometimes as a point of necessity and sometimes in the spirit of exploration.Publication Cultural Goods and Flotsam: Early Thai Manuscripts in Germany and Those Who Collected Them(2018-05-04) Terwiel, Barend JanFinding Thai manuscripts in German museums and libraries is a daunting exercise. There are eight national libraries, twenty-five state libraries, and about eighty university libraries. As for the museums, of the thirty-nine ethnological museums, there are at least fourteen with collections that include objects from Asia. The standard publications on Thai material are both incomplete and out of date. This paper centers upon the collectors, beginning with August the Strong, who in 1728 acquired a Thai scroll. A century later, there began a steady trickle of acquisitions. Details of how Thai manuscripts came to Germany are presented for the century between 1830 and 1930. The collectors were missionaries, explorers, diplomats, travelers, traders, and Europeans in the employ of the Siamese Government. Altogether, the Thai manuscript material in Germany is a mixed batch indeed: some documents proved to be of great value, but there are also many incomplete items and standard pieces of literature. Hence the title: “Cultural Goods and Flotsam”.Publication Illuminating Archives: Collectors and Collections in the History of Thai Manuscripst(2018-05-04) McDaniel, Justin