jan 1, 500 BC - Palm Leaf Manuscripts
Description:
Palm leaf books are a traditional format from Southeast Asia. Text is etched onto specially-prepared pieces of palm leaf and pigment is applied so that it stays in the etched recesses. These inscribed leaves are bound together in sequence with a cord. Like the wax tablet, palm leaf books give users random access to information in a text, as opposed to purely sequential access, as is afforded by a scroll (Galbraith, 2020).About the image: This image is of an undated palm-leaf book containing a medical text (Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology).
SOURCE
Galbraith, S. K. (2020). A Brief History of the Book: From Tablet to Tablet. Libraries Unlimited.
IMAGE
Palm leaf book a medical text. (n.d.). [Palm leaf, wood, cotton cord, pigment]. Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology, Cambridge, MA. Retrieved February 20, 2025, from https://collections.peabody.harvard.edu/objects/details/96567
Added to timeline:
Date:
jan 1, 500 BC
Now
~ 2527 years ago