In many regions, the inner bark of trees was used directly as a writing surface, not reconstituted as fiber paper. Here several such examples are shown from different regions: the Batak accordion-style books called pustaha are on softened but unbeaten alim “birch” bark, and there are texts made from aloe bark (sān̐cipāta), in use until very recently in Assam, India and Bengal. Amate paper (from Aztec āmatl) is made from the inner bark of the fig tree and was extensively used in Mexico before it was largely but not completely replaced by European paper; its oldest example (without text) may date from around the same time as Chinese paper, the first century CE. In Mesoamerica amate paper was used to make accordion-fold books that are currently often called códices by scholars of that tradition, although it is important to note that they are not codices according to the definition used in this exhibition.

Chief Jones (Sound of Thunder Ravens) of the Shawanaga Anishinaabe community, made this small codex from birch bark in a cover decorated with dyed porcupine quills for his son Louis (Little Talking Bird). It depicts wild animals with captions in Ojibway. Wolverine, the Cunning One (gweengwahuhgay), is on the left and a Beaver (ahmik), its lodge, and a spring trap are on the right. Odawa is a dialect of Anishinaabemowin (Ojibway).

Gift of Lloyd E. Cotsen ’50

Cotsen 9670

For further reading

James, Soloman. Sound of Thunder Ravens. Little book of animals (facs.) Los Angeles: Costen Occasional Press, 2010.

Sān̐cipāta manuscripts, made from the bark of the sān̐ci aloe tree, were a popular writing support in Assam, northeast India. Despite the hot and humid climate, many manuscripts still exist, perhaps because of anti-fungal properties of the ingredients used in their preparation. Their form is clearly related to the pothī tradition, but the actual material of Princeton’s two items was until very recently misidentified as “Bengal birch bark” or “wood.” The item shown is likely an amulet.

Gest Collection, GM 2126

For further reading

Ali, Asadulla A., Barsha R. Goswani, Niranjan Ligira and Robin K. Dutta. “Sāncipāt: a popular manuscript writing base of early Assam, North East India.” Current Science 123, no. 11 (2022): 1359-62.

Pustaha are made from strips of unbeaten birch bark, folded in accordion-style, and then bound between two wooden covers, and form the books of ritual specialists of six linguistically related Batak peoples. In addition to ritual texts, they may include chains of transmission, and often have drawings in black and red. When properly displayed (the writing goes from left to right, although images usually are rotated 90°), their distant affinity to Southeast Asian accordion style books is apparent. They are mostly written in an archaic hata poda linguistic register, not easily understood outside the circle of religious specialists.

Gift of John F. Mason *41

Mason Batak Collection PB 31

For further reading

Putten, Jan van der, and Roberta Zollo. Die Macht der Schrift: die Manuskriptkultur der Toba-batak aus Nord-Sumatra (Ausstellungskatalog). Hamburg: Center for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, 2020.

Voorhoeve, P. “Four Batak manuscripts in Princeton.” Princeton University Library Chronicle 30, no. 3 (1969): 158-70.

Voorhoeve, Peter. P. Voorhoeve Collection of Batak Manuscript Translations, 1953-1985, Special Collections C0936. Princeton University Library.

The precise development of the Batak script is still unclear. The 19th–20th-century conversion to Islam and Protestantism resulted in the discontinuation of older animistic and polytheistic practices, and created a background against which donors such as the local Princetonian John F. Mason could create sizable collections of discarded books. However, this particular manuscript with its cover motif of an ilik (gecko) was likely newly created as a tourist item.

Gift of John F. Mason *41

Mason Batak Collection PB 34

For further reading

Putten, Jan van der, and Roberta Zollo. Die Macht der Schrift: die Manuskriptkultur der Toba-batak aus Nord-Sumatra (Ausstellungskatalog; Manuscript Cultures 14). Hamburg: Center for the Study of Manuscript Cultures, 2020.

Voorhoeve, P. Four Batak manuscripts in Princeton. Princeton University Library Chronicle 30:3 (1969), 158-170.

Voorhoeve, Peter. P. Voorhoeve Collection of Batak Manuscript Translations, 1953-1985, Special Collections C0936. Princeton University Library.

This modern, lithographic artist's book by Enrique Chagoya references ancient Mesoamerican manuscripts in its form, material, and iconography. The term códex has been applied to this manuscript tradition, even though such works would not be classified as codices according to the definition used in this exhibition, but as accordion-style books. In this tradition, and this artist’s book, amate, a type of handmade bark paper, is used. Very few pre-colonial “códices” still exist because of systematic destruction after the Spanish invasion in the early 16th century.

Graphic Arts, 2012-0041N

For further reading

Mellby, Julie L. “Escape from Fantasylandia.” Graphic Arts Blog (January 20, 2012). Accessed May 20, 2025. https://www.princeton.edu/~graphicarts/2012/01/chagoya.html

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