{"id":6006,"date":"2026-08-18T15:23:53","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:23:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/?p=6006"},"modified":"2026-08-18T15:23:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T19:23:55","slug":"digitizing-lost-farfel-leaves","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/2026\/08\/18\/digitizing-lost-farfel-leaves\/","title":{"rendered":"Digitizing Lost Farfel Leaves"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Lilyana Mays, MA in Art History \u201826, Digital Initiatives Graduate Intern<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Background<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

My experience with the Gilbert and Ursula Farfel Collection of Incunable and Manuscript Leaves<\/a> held by the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections is a bit of a long story. In the spring of 2024, months before graduating with BAs in English and Classical Civilizations from Ohio University, I interned under Dr. Miriam Intrator, Rare Books and Special Collections Librarian. My work involved reconciling data from the Pages from the Past “History of the Written Word” collection<\/a> for transfer into a new finding aid resource. As part of that internship, I was invited to spend my Monday afternoons in the Digital Initiatives office\u2014with my good friend, OU ’24 alumna, Maggie Bennink<\/a>\u2014reconciling boxes from the Farfel Collection that contained items with no associated information. It was in these two projects that my appreciation for data reconciliation was born.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Front<\/figure>
\n

The most unique aspect of the Farfel Collection is the research Dr. Gilbert Farfel (MD in internal medicine) documented with each of the approximately 700 leaves he purchased. “Leaves” refers to loose, individual pages that were originally part of complete books. Every leaf\u2014or almost every leaf, as we would come to find out\u2014has a “Farfel number” and page(s) of handwritten notes associated with it across 12 notebooks. The project Maggie and I started in 2024 boiled down to matching around 100 unidentified leaves with information from the notebooks based on content of the leaf and context provided in the notebook pages.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

\n

Our primary concern that first spring was labeling the items themselves, not entering metadata or digitizing them in any way. The notebooks were our primary source of information and would provide basic description for those who were involved in the next step of the process of reconciliation. Little did I know at the time, after rehousing and conservation, the next step in the process of reconciliation would fall to me, over a year later.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I returned to Digital Initiatives\u2014this time as a first-year graduate student and a student employee\u2014in the fall of 2024, I expanded my research from Farfel and Pages from the Past<\/em> to the plethora of ongoing projects in the department. Farfel fell to the wayside as the leaves Maggie and I identified were sent off for rehousing and conservation, and I found new loves in metadata entry and photographic digitization for the Athens Mental Health Center<\/a> and Grace Fleischer Neumann Diary<\/a> digitization projects.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Research & Description<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most of the items in the Farfel Collection are leaves from manuscripts, incunabula (books printed in Europe from 1452-1501), and printed books created in Europe and Colonial America dating from the early 14th century through the late 19th century.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

As previously noted, Dr. Farfel kept detailed information on every leaf he purchased. The Farfel Notebooks<\/a>, digitized and transcribed by students over the course of the last several years, are a gold mine of compositional and contextual information on the leaf collection. These notebooks were our primary source for identification of leaves in the spring of 2024. Without their associated Farfel numbers, we measured the leaves, made notes on significant visual details, and at times transcribed sections of text into Google to identify passages while researching through the digitized notebooks. On occasion, we would get lucky and find an original label, likely made by Dr. Farfel for his recordkeeping, in the folder of an item that would make finding the Farfel number and notebook page(s) associated with it significantly easier to find, but this was a very occasional occurrence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In my role as Digital Archives Graduate Intern, I was tasked with creating file names, photographing, and developing metadata for the newly identified leaves. The first two steps are mostly governed by institutional standards, although there are broader guidelines and best practices that archival institutions follow. Developing metadata in Digital Initiatives involves very specific guidelines using controlled vocabularies from the Library of Congress Authorities<\/a> and the Art and Architecture Thesaurus<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

These resources on controlled vocabulary govern internationally summative research terms available for metadata input. They are not used by all archival institutions, but they do provide a relatively encompassing search-term vocabulary which our library utilizes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Challenges<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Twenty-five of the 95 items involved in this project are of Asian origin. Being that I studied Ancient Greco-Roman and West Asian civilizations as an undergrad, my required language of study was Latin, and my focus was primarily Western art in my master’s, I am not the best choice for thorough research on these items.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thankfully, Ohio University Libraries has recently joined the Digital Scriptorium<\/a> as a contributing institution which not only increases opportunities for scholars to discover and use our leaf collections, but also brings opportunities for descriptive assistance from DS research fellows. With these future possibilities for enhancement in mind, I focused my efforts on creating a thorough paper trail. Using terms from the Farfel notebooks and scholarly-source-driven Googling, my goal was to create a shell for future research on the items and to accurately complete metadata fields which were either minimally described by Dr. Farfel or not described at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The other task I was assigned as an intern was identifying leaves that were particularly lacking in descriptive information or context, which would require more thorough research than could be accomplished with the Farfel notebooks and my incredible Googling skills. The notes made by Farfel on his collection were integral to determining some of these fields, while others will be left for experts to determine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the greatest difficulties in metadata research as a general and intermediate scholar in the field is determining the orientation, language, material, and font or script, all of which are fields we include in our public metadata for most manuscript leaves. Sometimes, simply transcribing a passage of the text into Google can resolve some of these issues; a lot of German and French manuscripts are digitized by other institutions, in part or in full, and their metadata can be used in our research if we can locate digitized versions. However, in many other cases, especially with texts that do not use the Roman alphabet, this is not possible or incredibly difficult to accomplish.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot
Metadata record for Farfel leaf 680: Sanskrit prayer manuscript, India, 19th century<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The orientation of text is standardized in European manuscripts almost as far back as our collections reach, and font\/script are relatively standard by location and period. For example, the recto (or front of a leaf\/page) and verso (back of a leaf\/page) are easy to establish with a manuscript made on vellum or paper. However, these simple conclusions can become incredibly cumbersome for a researcher working with leaves in unfamiliar languages that do not use the Roman alphabet, i.e. me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In researching these items, I found that my methods of research\u2014using Farfel\u2019s notes, intensive Googling, and sifting through often-extensive results in the controlled vocabulary databases\u2014regularly surfaced issues related to dominant linguistic and cultural frameworks that limit discovery and research. Description for items of Asian provenance was made even more difficult by limited representation of multilingual and multicultural terminology in the Library of Congress Authorities and the Art and Architecture Thesaurus.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Case study: Sanskrit prayer manuscript, India, 19th century (Farfel leaf 680)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

Farfel leaf 680: Sanskrit prayer manuscript<\/a> is minimally described in Dr. Farfel’s research notebook. He notes that the leaf is sourced from a “pothi” format manuscript. Pothi manuscripts are identified by having a landscape orientation and binding along the top of the page with the intention to flip the pages vertically, instead of horizontally as in the Western manuscript tradition (Ciotti 2024).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Cropped
Farfel notebook page<\/a> for leaf 680 (Sanskrit prayer manuscript) described as “MSS on paper in pothi format.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n

The term ‘pothi’ (poth\u012b, from Sanskrit pustaka\/pustik\u0101) can be used for the sake of convenience as an umbrella term for any manuscript that is made of a stack of folios in landscape format that are flipped upward rather than sideward. Historically, this manuscript form was prominently used in South and South-east Asia (both Mainland and Maritime) (Ciotti 2024).<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

\"Landscape-oriented<\/a>
Figure 1. Sanskrit prayer manuscript leaf<\/a> in Devanagari script, recto.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The orientation of this page, however, does not indicate the latter requirement of pothi format. Visible on the right side of the page is almost assuredly the remnants of its original binding (see Fig. 1); this conclusion can be drawn based on the orientation of the outer border, leaving no margin to the right and no vertical aspect on the right side of the page.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If this page was in pothi format, we would expect the roughest edge of the page to be the top (or bottom) and for the asymmetry of the outer border to be oriented as such. We would also expect the verso (reverse) side of the page to have text oriented opposite the horizontal axis of the recto. As can be observed in Fig. 2, this is not the case.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Landscape-oriented<\/a>
Figure 2. Sanskrit prayer manuscript leaf<\/a> in Devanagari script, verso.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

While researching this item, I realized Dr. Farfel’s identification of this leaf as pothi format is not correct\u2014noted above regarding the orientation of the binding marks and text.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My original interest in this case was that the term “pothi” does not exist in the Art and Architecture Thesaurus (AAT), a source for controlled vocabulary metadata terms used by many institutions. The purpose of this controlled vocabulary is to maintain and develop consistent search terms for research. While referenced under the material term “palm-leaf manuscripts,” “pothi” as a distinct characterization of format is a striking omission. This term plays a significant role in the history of South and Southeast Asian manuscript tradition. Its exclusion from controlled vocabulary indicates a research gap among the contributors to the AAT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Screenshot
Screenshot of Art & Architecture Thesaurus search<\/a> for the term “pothi” with one result, “palm-leaf manuscripts.”<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Closing thoughts<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the consistent issues with donated collections generally, and which I’ve observed especially throughout the process of reconciling the unidentified Farfel leaves, is the potential unreliability and inaccuracy of research provided by donors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some leaf collections in the Libraries’ Digital Archives\u2014namely, the Pages from the Past<\/em> collection\u2014have an intellectual disclaimer: “The collecting and marketing practices of [the original owner] reflect the values of\u2026 the contemporary American rare book market. Original descriptions, therefore, may contain outdated language, speculation, or inaccurate information.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Whereas the Mahn Center purchased the Pages from the Past<\/em> collection, The Farfel Collection was donated to the library. One for profit, and one for the love of historical preservation and research; although I am sure both would claim the latter. However, while well-intended and thoroughly documented, the Farfel Collection also brings to light the expansive access this market gives to endangered manuscripts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The case of the Sanskrit prayer manuscript is one example of incorrect information provided to a research institution\u2014either with Dr. Farfel as a conduit between the dealer he purchased the leaf from in Oxford, UK, February 2009, or with the relatively limited resources a doctor of internal medicine could obtain on antique manuscripts between 1975 and 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is not necessarily the fault of Dr. Farfel himself. Basic landscape orientation is present in the manuscript he uses “pothi” to describe, but the exchange of information from the time this leaf was attached to its original manuscript to the time the Mahn Center came into possession of the single leaf is a game of telephone spanning centuries and at least two languages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

References<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Ciotti, Giovanni. (2023). “Strategies for Binding Pothi Manuscripts” In Tied and Bound: A Comparative View on Manuscript Binding<\/em> edited by Alessandro Bausi and Michael Friedrich, 155-190. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter. https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1515\/9783111292069-006<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Media credit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Video content created by Owen Keller.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Lilyana Mays, MA in Art History \u201826, Digital Initiatives Graduate Intern Background My experience with the Gilbert and Ursula Farfel Collection of Incunable and Manuscript Leaves held by the Mahn Center for Archives and Special Collections is a bit of a long story. In the spring of 2024, months before graduating with BAs in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6013,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5,26,42,29],"tags":[13,241,240,20,239,242,60,116,17],"class_list":["post-6006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-digitization","category-internships","category-special-collections","category-student-workers","tag-digital-archives","tag-early-printed-leaves","tag-farfel-collection","tag-internship","tag-leaves","tag-manuscript-printed-leaves","tag-medieval-manuscripts","tag-metadata","tag-student-project"],"modified_by":"Erin Wilson","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6006"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6084,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6006\/revisions\/6084"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6013"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6006"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6006"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sites.ohio.edu\/library-archives-blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6006"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}