The History of Java

Author: RAFFLES, THOMAS STAMFORD
Title: The History of Java
Publication: Kuala Lumpur. Oxford University Press. Oxford in Asia Historical Reprints, 1978
Edition: Facsimile Reprint

Description:

Introduction by John Bastin. Two volumes: large folding map of Java with printed outline colour, portrait frontispiece and 28 other plates, many in colour, xxi (Introduction by John Bastin) + xlviii + 479pp; Volume II: frontispiece and 36 black and white or monotonal plates (one folding), viii + 288 + [4] + cclx (appendices); original publisher's blue cloth, gilt lettered red spine labels, with the original slipcase, previous owner's name neatly inscribed in each volume, outer margin of the final leaf in Volume I abraded with minor loss (no loss to text), tail of spine in Volume II a little bumped and slipcase a little rubbed and worn, but a very good clean and bright set.

First published in 1817, Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles' two-volume text served as a monumental survey of Javanese geography, culture, language, and antiquities, meticulously compiled during his tenure as British Lieutenant-Governor of Java from 1811 to 1816.

This later 1978 edition features a completely revised, expanded, and significantly updated introduction by the late Dr. John Bastin, an eminent British historian and the leading authority on Raffles. His later essay demonstrated that Raffles relied extensively on a vast network of British and Javanese informants. Bastin integrated specific evidence showing how Raffles incorporated whole tranches of field research collected by figures like Colonel Colin Mackenzie and Dr Thomas Horsfield, recasting the text from what had conventionally been seen as Raffles' solo memoir into an institutional administrative compilation. His expert commentary reconstructed the specific, often frantic historical circumstances under which Raffles originally wrote the book, while also uncovering the extensive, complex production and publication history of the text back in London.

This preferred edition, with superior print and plate clarity, strictly preserving the original text and typography, is itself now sought after and scarce.

When referring to this item please quote stockid 224170.

Seller ID: 224170

Subject: All Galleries, Secondhand

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