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PHRA MALAI MANUSCRIPT:
Thai Buddhist manuscript. Harmonica-style bound thick manuscript on heavy paper, late 18th or early 19th century. 47 double page leaves, text in black ink recto /verso. Cambodian script, in all 24 beautiful miniatures in watercolours occasionally in gold.
14.5x67.5 cm (leporello - or concertina style), 94 leaves, written and illustrated on recto / verso, each leaf appr. 14.5x 67.5 cm (of a total length of ca. 1363 cm), illustrated with 24 most beautiful double-page miniatures (12 double-pages on each side), contemporary painted black boards.
Reference : 101284aaf
This Buddhist manuscript contains most likely the account of the monk Phra Malai, often found in illustrated Thai manuscripts of that time. According to this story Phra Malai acquires extraordinary powers through his merits and meditation, which allow him to travel between heaven and hell. Back on earth, the monk preaches about the things he has seen and what to expect from these places in our own future. Consequently it was widely used as a preaching text at funerals. The miniatures present a.o. angels hovering through the air, the gods Brahma and Indra, a poor man picking waterlilies and offering them to Phra Malai to take with him to the heavens as a gift, people suffering on the thorn tree (the punishment for adulterers in hell), a buddhist ascetic in front of a cave and a man fighting demons. For the popularity and iconography of Phra Malai manuscripts see: H. Ginsburg, Thai manuscript painting (1989), mainly chapter 5. Image disp.
Bookseller's contact details
Harteveld Rare Books Ltd.
M. Ben Harteveld
rue des Alpes, 5
1700 Fribourg
Switzerland
41 (0)26 3223808
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