With this volume, the sixth of the sub-series dedicated to Myanmar, the cataloguing of Burmese manuscripts has returned to the collection held by the Berlin State Library. A total of 185 items, some of them containing several distinct manuscripts, are described in the usual very detailed manner. Each entry provides information on the date (if stated), donor/owner, author and title of the manuscript as well as physical data such as number of leaves, lines and the state of preservation. Moreover, brief transcripts from the first page and colophon of each text are given, too. The vast majority of the texts are part of the Buddhist canon and its commentaries, of which a good number, as the editor points out, appear to be extremely rare, including one manuscript that could not be traced in any other available catalogue or bibliography (no. 1072–5). This list of ‘unknown’ (or at least unlisted) texts (pp. x–xii) gives once more an impression of the treasures that await ‘discovery’ by scholars interested in Burmese and Theravada Buddhism or Pali grammar and language.

In addition, attention may be drawn to the roughly one dozen woven ribbons containing a dedicatory inscription or poem. These ribbons or sazigyos, which are normally wrapped around the bundle of palm leaves, are a peculiar Burmese tradition and display the skills of Burmese weavers as they existed in the early twentieth century but have fallen into oblivion since. As in previous volumes, the editor has done good service to scholars of Burmese culture and poetry (these woven inscriptions are usually in verse) by supplying a full reading of them. This time, the high standard of all transcriptions has to be acknowledged.

Further peculiarities that deserve to be singled out from the collection are a manuscript from the year 1777 CE which is dated in the ‘long era’ of 1436 CE (no. 1170), and another one written in the year 1670 CE (no. 1098), which is the second oldest manuscript from Myanmar listed in the series so far. The volume is dedicated to Heinz Bechert who had for years been a guiding spirit and driving force behind the cataloguing of the Burmese manuscripts in Germany, but passed away before the completion of the project, which now appears to be imminent.