Congratulations to Susanne Kerekes, our 2015-2016 Graduate Student Fellow, on her newly installed exhibition of some of Penn’s most beautiful, important, and rarely viewed Thai manuscripts, Siamese Sampler: 19th-century Manuscripts of Scripture, Poetry, and Decree!
As the website states: “this exhibition highlights a sampling of the rich variety of Thai manuscripts held in the Penn collection, including one of the most exquisite specimens of an illuminated Thai manuscript—the Abhidhamma Chet Kamphi (Ms. Coll. 990, Item 5). Other religious works in this exhibition include commentary on the Dhammapada, and a Thai translation of some of the Gospels of the Bible. The exhibition also includes three, rare manuscripts, all concertina and written on black khoi: a government treatise; an elementary Thai lesson book; and a volume from the epic poem, Phra ‘Aphai Mani, composed by Sunthorn Phu (1786-1855), a royal poet considered the Shakespeare of Thailand.
And don’t forget to register for the conference, to be held Tuesday, September 6, to learn more about these fascinating materials! http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/siamese_sampler.html
The Schoenberg Institute for Manuscript Studies 