Description
Book SynopsisThis book offers an integrated study of the texts and images of illustrated Malay manuscripts on magic and divination from private and public collections in Malaysia, the UK and Indonesia. Containing some of the rare examples of Malay painting, these manuscripts provide direct evidence for the intercultural connections between the Malay region, other parts of Southeast Asia and the rest of the world. In this richly illustrated volume many images and texts are gathered for the first time, making this book essential reading for all those interested in the practice of magic and divination, and the history of Malay, Southeast Asian and Islamic manuscript art.
Trade Review"Magic and Divination in Malay Illustrated Manuscripts is a pioneering study in the field of Malay manuscripts and deserves to be appreciated as an invaluable contribution to scholarship in Islamic art history. It will function as a fundamental resource for future research and teaching on the singular visual and material culture of the Malay lands." - Yuka Kadoi, in: Orientations, January/February (2018) "This is an important book. It makes a significant and original contribution to a little-known aspect of Malay manuscripture – illustrated Malay manuscripts on magic and divination – previously either ignored, or sampled very selectively, or approached tangentially through ethnographic studies… With its exceptionally wide-ranging references and thorough investigation, this book delivers much more than the sum of its parts, and constitutes a landmark in Malay manuscript studies." - Annabel Teh Gallop, in: Aseasuk News no. 61, Autumn (2017) "This comprehensive book resembles a well written encyclopaedia in targeting every aspect of Southeast Asian notes on divination and magic .." - Majid Daneshgar, in: Southeast Asian Studies, Vol. 5, No. 3 (2016)
Table of ContentsPREFACE ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS NOTES TO THE READER Abbreviations Translations and Transliterations MAPS PART I: INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND CHAPTER 1: Introduction: Malay Magic and Divination Manuscripts Malay Magic and Divination Manuscripts Importance of the Art Contained CHAPTER 2: Malay Magic And Divination The Malay Spirit World Magic and Divination Magicians and Shamans Tools of the Magician PART II: THE MANUSCRIPTS CHAPTER 3: Early Manuscripts and European Collecting Activities Manuscripts during the Srivijaya Period Magic and Divination Manuscripts from the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries Later European Collecting Activities and Scholarship CHAPTER 4: Material and Format European Paper and Watermarks The Folding-book Format Binding and Covers Colophons, Seals and Other Documentary Evidence Inks and Colours CHAPTER 5: The Contents: Texts and Images Relationship between Text and Image Some Issues Regarding the Sources of the Contents Titles, Opening Statements and Arrangement of the Texts Magical Rites Divinatory Techniques CHAPTER 6: The Art: Iconography, Style and Illumination General Remarks on the Illustrations and Diagrams Anthropomorphic Beings Animals Buildings Talismanic Designs Illumination and Decorative Elements Chinese and Western Influences and the Impact of Printing and Photography CHAPTER 7: Production, Patronage and Consumption Professional Magicians Female Magicians The Religious Milieu and Pondok Schools Patronage of the Royal Courts and the State Magicians Commissions by European Colonial Collectors Printed Books on Magic and Divination during the Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries Magic And Divination Manuscripts and Books during the Late Twentieth and Early Twenty-first Centuries CHAPTER 8: Conclusion APPENDIX: Catalogue BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX
