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Dividing texts : conventions of visual text-organization in Nepalese and North Indian manuscripts

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The number of manuscripts produced in the Indian sub-continent is astounding and is the result of a massive enterprise that was carried out over a vast geographical area and over a vast stretch of time. Focusing mainly on areas of Northern India and Nepal between 800 to 1300 CE and on manuscripts containing Sanskrit texts, the present study investigates a fundamental and so far rarely studied aspect of manuscript production: visual organisation. Scribes adopted a variety of visual strategies to distinguish one text from another and to differentiate the various sections within a single text (chapters, sub-chapters, etc.). Their repertoire includes the use of space(s) on the folio, the adoption of different writing styles, the inclusion of symbols of various kind, the application of colours (‘rubrication’), or a combination of all these. This study includes a description of these various strategies and an analysis of their different implementations across the selected geographical areas. It sheds light on how manuscripts were produced, as well as on some aspects of their employment in ritual contexts, in different areas of India and Nepal.

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Detail Information

Series Title

Studies in Manuscript Cultures, 10

Call Number

091.0954960902 BHA d

Publisher

Berlin, Germany : De Gruyter., 2020

Collation

XII, 376 p.

Language

English

ISBN/ISSN

9783110543087

Classification

091.0954960902

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Media Type

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Carrier Type

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Edition

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Subject(s)

Manuscripts, Medieval
Nepal
North India

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