ruled foolscap folios or loose sheets used in the colonial administration

Ingredients

official paper of the colonial administration

Preparation Steps

Original Recipe Text

The manuscripts were created by local copyists at the request of colonial administrators such as Enrico Cerulli. These 'colonial' composites were often compiled from several manuscripts of different origin, shape, and dimension (p. 158). Local copyists would copy, abridge, or merge theological and historical texts to satisfy the requests of influential Europeans (p. 159). In many cases, these were bound randomly or held by a simple cover to prevent loss or dispersion (p. 160).

Evidence

"The texts were mostly copied on ruled foolscap folios or loose sheets used in the colonial administration. The common use of the official paper of the colonial administration proves that the Italian colonial power was directly involved in the production of such manuscripts."

Remarks

The author notes that these manuscripts testify to the capability of the local African intelligentsia to adapt their writing to external inputs (p. 160). Representative codices include Vat.Ar. 1788, 1789, 1790, and 1796. Vat.Ar. 1788 is specifically a random collection of texts from different mystical brotherhoods contained in a folder (p. 160). The use of official colonial paper is a distinguishing material characteristic (p. 160).