The world’s most beautiful Malay manuscripts

Masterpiece theatre

The current exhibition at Singapore’s National Library on North Bridge Road is a roll call of the most dazzling manuscripts and books from the Malay world.

Titled “Tales of the Malay World: Manuscripts and Early Books”, it is a trove of historically and artistically significant materials gathered from National Library Singapore, the British Library and Leiden University.

If you like old books, illuminated manuscripts, calligraphy and the history of books, this exhibition is a rare treat.

The schools, the styles

First, I backtrack.

I had attended the launch event on August 18, 2017 — a talk (“Art and Artists in Malay Manuscript Books”) by Annabel Teh Gallop, the lead curator for Southeast Asia materials at the British Library — which helped me appreciate the displays immeasurably.

Annabel Teh Gallop from the British Library, an expert on Malay manuscripts of Southeast Asia, speaks at the National Library Singapore.

She said: