[Oriental manuscripts]. Batak pustaha manuscript, probably 19th century, (10)lvs., 21,5x35...

[Oriental manuscripts]. Batak pustaha manuscript, probably 19th century, (10)lvs., 21,5x35 cm., written in black ink on bark on one side, w. 14 drawings (various sizes) in black and red ink.

- Folded once; sl. worn/ dam. in lower margin/ corner of first leaf; waterstained/ fingersoiled in margins.

= Intriguing manuscript: a pustaha is the magic book of the Batak people of North Sumatra, in which magician priests wrote the recipes, formulas and laws (in old Batak script) that they would need for properly executing their function. The contents of a pustaha can be divided in three categories: the art to sustain life (white magic), the art to destroy life (black magic), and the art of divination. SEE ILLUSTRATION PLATE XXXIX.