6. The art of writing
History of deciphering the
ancient scripts
Evolution of the ancient
and modern scripts
Evolution of numerals
The substances for writing
Pens and other writing
materials
Different types of ink
Pigments and colors
for illustrations
The author
The scribe
Mss. and their types
Mss. and their shapes
Their illustrations and
decorative signs
7. Their margins,
beginnings and ends,
additions and
corrections
Their numbering,
extent and title pages
Colophons and post
colophon entries
Their covers and
writings thereon
Wrappers
Their collections or
libraries and their
management
Preservation of mss.
against worms, rats,
weather, fire, water
etc.
&
Textual critism
8.
The German scholars came to India to search for palm-leaf
manuscripts to take home with them.
English, French people had came to India with thirst for
knowledge and research.
Colin Mackenzie (1754-1821), the first surveyor general of
India and a great orientalist, has went on to a search for
valuable manuscripts. But for now, majority of his collections
are preserved in British Museum and British Library.
Still, few million unpublished manuscripts are found, which are
in the custody of individuals and voluntary organizations, at
national and international levels.
The total number may accounted at ten million.