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21. ART AND TECHNIQUE OF PRESENTATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
PROF. S. G. KANTAWALA
Since the beginning of Indological Studies in India and abroad there has been a growing awareness about the importance of mass, their collection, survey, presentation, editing, etc. The importance of mass for the recovery of India's past is immense in addition to archaeological finds. It is well-known that the critical edition of Sanskrit, Prakrit, etc. texts is a rare one non of any previous and reliable study and research related to the works concerned.
In a sense art of writing and manuscript go together, because the verable manuscript literature means "handwritten", it is an objective and is desirable from L. manus hand and L. Scribe to write.
The existence of writing material is as old as the Indus valley civilisation with reference to India. With this therefore is connected the account of writingmaterial used by scribes through the ages. Various materials have been used for writing purpose since older times and a brief mention of the same will not be out of place here:
Stones of various kinds, shells metals, e.g. copper, gold, silver, iron, brinks, earthen material lay-tablets,
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