M
anuscripts form an important source of the literary heritage in the world. They make use of different writing supports, such as paper, palm leaf, tree-bark, parchment, bamboo and other materials. Manuscripts also provide crucial historical sources for the study of past civilisations and modern societies.
However, in the course of history people’s care for these sources became less and manuscripts were discarded as unimportant, so that many people today view manuscripts as an obsolete object that may be of only fleeting relevance. Social and political conflicts can also make manuscripts to become damaged or destroyed. As a result, manuscripts are not uncommon to be kept in a haphazard manner regardless of the potential for destruction.
