The scroll form, made from papyrus, textiles, parchment, or paper, is common to all traditions presented here, yet likely was invented independently in each. Papyrus scrolls were earlier than the codex, rolled up bamboo slats were the basis of East Asian paper scrolls. In South and Southeast Asia, painted scrolls existed to assist with storytelling, but rarely included texts.

Scrolls remained in use particularly when larger or continuous illustrations were needed, unrolling either horizontally or vertically. Because they often predated other forms, they acquired an aura of antiquity; unscrupulous dealers occasionally rebound later forms as supposedly early scrolls. A scroll is not always preserved as such; it may be preserved flattened, while flat items may be rolled up for easier preservation. Smaller scrolls, as for amulets, were portable and could be worn on the body.

Ethiopian healing scrolls are textual amulets commissioned by ordinary people, usually women, to guard against such dangers as child mortality, labor pains, barrenness, wild animals, the evil eye, and illnesses like colic or the plague. Practitioners of traditional medicine created these, making them the length of the customer’s height. The text has rubric (red) lettering for holy names and talismanic drawings of guardian angels, crosses, and magic squares. People wore these scrolls in tight leather cases around their neck.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Garret Ethiopic Scroll No. 44

For further reading

Nosnitsin, Denis. “Ethiopian manuscripts and Ethiopian manuscript studies: a brief overview and evaluation.” Gazette du livre medieval 58, no. 1 (2012): 1-16.

This miniature illustrated devotional scroll of the Devīmāhātmya, a part of the Mārkaṇḍeya Purāṇa, describes the exploits of the Goddess as the supreme power and creator of the universe. In the text, the Goddess manifesting herself as the Goddess Durga leads the forces of good against the buffalo demon Mahiṣāsura. Some scholars have posited an especially close relationship of embellished texts with followers of the Goddess in South Asia.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Garrett Indic Manuscripts GIM 2

For further reading

Kim, Jinah. “A book and the goddess: the Devimahatmya from palm leaf to paper.” In Old stacks, new leaves: the arts of the book in South Asia, edited by Sonal Khullar, 33-56. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 2023.

The Scroll of Esther, a book from the Hebrew Bible, is read in synagogue on the holiday of Purim. It narrates the liberation of the Jews in the Persian Empire. Its name includes the Hebrew for scroll (megillah), and it is commonly illustrated. At one time every Jewish household was supposed to possess one, and hence many beautiful ones still exist.

Gift of Jean P. J. Baltzell, 1950

Princeton Hebrew MS. 8

For further reading

Clines, David J.A. The Esther scroll: the story of the story. Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1984.

Before printing, the hand-copying of the Buddhist Canon took place in large scriptoria, as was the case with an early project led by the Japanese Queen Kōmyō. Coming from a devout Buddhist background, she managed a scriptorium that became a part of the Tōdaiji temple. Thousands of scrolls were copied there, out of which Princeton has two; the one shown here shows the Tōdaiji seal. Archives at the Shōsōin Treasure House of the Tōdaiji temple give current scholars an almost day-to-day overview of this project, which was a vow on behalf of her parents and the emperor.

Gest Collection, BQ1100 .T67 GM 221

For further reading

Lowe, Bryan D. “Patrons of paper and clay: methods for studying women’s religiosity in ancient Japan.” In Female agency in manuscript cultures, edited by Eike Grossmann, 19-63. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2024.

Scrolls allow for large-scale illustrations, as shown here in this Japanese-sung libretto of a dance. As the Heike monogatari does elsewhere in this exhibition, this work depicts the war between the Taira and Minamoto clans, this time from the latter’s point of view. During a service for a newly built bridge over the Sagami River attended by Minamoto no Yoritomo, many dead spirits suddenly appear. In this image, Yoritomo’s brother Yoshitsune practices martial arts with a tengu creature in support of Yoritomo, who, however, would later kill him.

Gift of Robert Garrett, Class of 1897, 1942

Garrett Japanese Manuscripts, no. 1

For further reading

Schwemmer, Patrick Reinhart. “Samurai, Jesuits, puppets, and bards: the end(s) of the kōwaka ballad. Volume One: Sagamigawa, transformations of a post-kōwaka ballad.” PhD diss., Princeton University, 2015.

Empress Shōtoku, daughter of Queen Kōmyō, in her turn commissioned in 764 “one million wooden pagodas” (Hyakumantō), each containing a small paper scroll printed with dhāraṇīs (spells) from a Buddhist text that itself recommended that practice. These texts now constitute, alongside a Korean print from the very same sūtra, the world’s oldest examples of printed matter. Tens of thousands of the pagodas and several thousand printed spells still exist.

Gift of Gillett G. Griffin

Graphic Arts, 2015-0160Q

For further reading

Kornicki, Peter. “The Hyakumantō darani and the origins of printing in eighth-century Japan.” International Journal of Asian Studies 9, no. 1 (2012): 43-70.

In China a finely graded system of “letters patent” once existed that conferred honorary ranks or titles. Gaoming, the term used for the granting of lower nobility titles, were scrolls made of paper covered with silk in five colors, written upon with multicolored text. They confer ranks to the parents or spouse of the actual official being honored. Manchu and Chinese are both vertically written, but their columns go in different directions, thus their texts meet in the middle.

Gest Collection, DS753.8 . G36 scroll 15

For further reading

Franke, Wolfgang. “Patents for hereditary ranks and honorary titles during the Ch’ing dynasty.” Monumenta Serica 7, no. 1-2 (1942): 38-67.

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