Author ORCID Identifier

https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5382-014X

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

Fall 2024

Abstract

Through researching the provenance of a Buddhist manuscript written in the Pali and Thai languages currently held at Rollins, this article seeks to answer the question of how a religious document created in Thailand ended up in a liberal arts college library in America. Regarded as an act of devotion by many Buddhist followers in Southeast Asia, the use of folding manuscripts (samut khoi) has been observed for centuries. The folding manuscripts served as handbooks and chanting manuals for Buddhist monks, who often recited in religious ceremonies while paying tributes to the deceased, with the hope of reincarnation in a heavenly realm. Acquired by Henry Harkness while serving in the British colonial forces in Asia in the early nineteenth century and later donated by Howard Kelly in 1932 to support Professor Edwin Grover's course, The History of Books, at Rollins College, the large leporello manuscript contains five Pali texts in Khom script and one Thai text in Khom Thai script. Both scripts are variations of ancient Khmer script and have been extensively used in Thailand. The long journey of this samut khoi from Thailand to America not only shows the growth of Buddhism and the popular religious practice in Southeast Asia, but also reflects the colonial history in Asia and the rise of "Oriental Studies" in the West. By focusing on the background of the Pali- and Thai-language manuscript and through careful examinations of both Henry Harkness and Howard Kelly's lives, this article also sheds light on the practice of manuscript collection in the Western tradition and the act of philanthropy in America.

Publication Title

Manuscript Studies: A Journal of the Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies

ISSN

2381-5329

DOI

https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/mns.2024.a945377

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