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JAVA -- RAFFLES, Th.S. The history of Java. Lond., printed by Cox and Baylis for Black, Parbury and Allen, and for John Murray, 1817. 2 vols. xlviii, 479; viii, 288,(4), cclx (appendix) pp. W. lge-fold. map, handcold. in outlines & 65 engr. plates (of which 10 handcold. aquatint costume plates) by W. Daniell. 4°. Fine half brown mor. extra w. raised bands & dec. gilt backs, bound by Morrell (c. 1900). (Slightly foxed in places, upper inner margin first vol. faintly stained in places).
Beautiful set of this first edition, printed in 900 copies only. Contributions on the island’s botany and geology were made by Thomas Horsfield, and chapters on Java’s antiquities and temples, literature, history and economics were made by Indonesian, Dutch and British experts on Indonesia. Raffles’s work was patterned on William Marsden’s The History of Sumatra, 1811, but was intended to contrast British benevolence with the 'tyrannical and rapacious' policies of the Dutch. The typography and fine illustrations are exceptional, and the work was judged by John Bastin, bibliographer of Indonesia, to be 'one of the most important and influential books about Indonesia ever published'. Raffles was Lieutenant-Governor of Java until 1816 and founded the city state of Singapore in 1819. Abbey Travel 554; Bastin/Brommer 80-90.€ 2400
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