Libraries within libraries: the John Crawfurd collection in the British Library
In 1842, John Crawfurd (1783-1868) sold to the British Museum his collection of 143 Javanese, Bugis and Malay manuscripts, together with 119 Chinese printed books. The impact of this acquisition can be judged from the fact that at that time, the British Museum held only 15 manuscripts in Malay and I...
Enregistré dans:
| Dans: | URI:https://journals.openedition.org/archipel, |
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| Auteur principal: | |
| Format: | Article ou chapitre numérique |
| Langue: | Anglais |
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Archipel
2025
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| Accès en ligne: | Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM Accès Université d'Orléans et IFPM |
| Résumé: | In 1842, John Crawfurd (1783-1868) sold to the British Museum his collection of 143 Javanese, Bugis and Malay manuscripts, together with 119 Chinese printed books. The impact of this acquisition can be judged from the fact that at that time, the British Museum held only 15 manuscripts in Malay and Indonesian languages. The Crawfurd collection comprises a number of distinct sub-collections, notably Javanese manuscripts from the Kraton of Yogyakarta and Bugis manuscripts from the palace of Bone in Sulawesi, both collections seized during British attacks in 1812 and 1814 respectively; Javanese manuscripts copied for Crawfurd, reflecting an intimate relationship with Pakualaman court of Yogyakarta; Malay literary manuscripts from Penang, Kedah and Java, including a few from reading circles in Semarang; and a collection of Chinese printed books acquired in Surabaya. This article will analyse these ‘libraries within the library’, and will also trace a few Indonesian manuscripts originally owned by Crawfurd which appear to have been gifted to German scholars and are now held in the Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin. |
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