Leporello book from Sumatra

Object: leporello book with handwriting in the Batak language
Leporello book with Batak-language handwriting, from Sumatra, around 1800
Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek Leipzig

Leporello book from Sumatra

Prayers and talismanic phrases handwritten in the Batak language

This Leporello is composed of a writing material that would be unusual in our modern culture: smoothened tree bark. Two wooden covers enclose the pages of the book which is held together by a rattan tie. It originates from the Batak peoples of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. In the religion and culture of the Batak, ancestral spirits, sacrificial offerings and magic practices play an important role. This piece is a collection of prayers and talismanic phrases.

These ritualistic works, called Pustaha, were compiled by spiritual healers and written mostly on bark. The six Batak languages each had their own writing system, written horizontally, from left to right. The handwritten work in the collection of the Deutsches Buch- und Schriftmuseum arrived in Leipzig in 1914 so as to feature in the “Bugra” exhibition for book craft and graphic art.