Loose-leaf Islamic Manuscripts of West Africa: Retention, Adaptation or Invention?

Manuscript units in Islamic West Africa are formed by unstitched leaves placed between protective boards, wrapped in a leather folder and se" cured with a strap. The extant manuscripts assembled of single leaves are om" nipresent. Judging by traces of production, most of the loose-leaf manuscripts were originally made of bifolia or bifolia gathered in quires. The use of un" stitched bifolia at the initial stage of production is comparable to the practices reconstructed for the central lands of Islam, and such formal similarity points to the past connections across the Sahara. However, the complete omission of stitching in binding seems to be a clear break from the original Islamic tradition. Does unstitched binding retain some features of the past? Is it an adaptation of a specific type of binding to a wider variety of socio-cultural uses or was it an entirely West African invention? This short essay gives tentative answers and suggests a reconstruction of the historical development of loose-leaf binding.