History, Politics and Government
There is a very large body of materials which provide source for study in these fields for this period of Indonesia's history. A great deal of this is in printed form, much has been acquired in microfilm in the last years. The NLA holds materials for the earliest periods of Dutch contact with the Indonesian Archipelago, reports of early governors such as the equivalent of our gazette, Staatsblad van Nederlandsch Indie 1816-1940, together with its voluminous Bijblad. This government publication at the same time is a record of the laws instituted by the administration for the archipelago.
The NLA holds the publications and serials and annual reports of the Bataviaasch Genootschap van Kunst en Wetenschappen, which acted as a council of sciences and meticulously recorded its findings and meetings.
Government reports on the state of the Dutch colonies are found in the series known as Kolonial Verslag 1852-1939, and contains very detailed reports for the Dutch East Indies.
As the political system of the colonies developed, the Volksraad, or House of Representatives, was instituted and the meetings of these are recorded in the Handelingen van het Volksraad. The history of the Indonesian nationalist movement is documented in the collection of documents in De opkomst van de nationalistische beweging in Nederlandsch-Indie by S.L. van der Wal. This is held by the NLA, together with the works relevant to this aspect of study in the microfiche collection prepared by the Inter Documentation Company (IDC) which had reproduced 96 works on this subject under the title Indonesian Nationalist Movement.
The NLA holds three bibliographical works which are indispensable for research in the history of the Dutch East Indies up to just after the turn of the century. These are J.E. Albrecht's Klapper op de wetboeken en het Staatsblad van Nederlandsch Indie benevens op het bijblad op dat Staatsblad, an index to the Staatsblad; G. Ockeloen's Catalogus van boeken en tijd-schriften uitgegeven in het Nederlandsch Oost-Indie 1870-1937 is in fact a list of books and serials held in the library of the institute now known as the National Museum in Jakarta; the collection is now part of the national collection of the National Library of Indonesia. The list of books known as Catalogus der Koloniale Bibliotheek van het Kon. Instituut voor de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde van het Nederlandsch Indie en het Indische Genootschap, 1908 is a valuable catalogue of materials on and about the Dutch East Indies.
Economics, Agriculture and Social Sciences
The NLA holds the publications of the Centraal Kantoor voor de Statistiek although full runs are not always held. This was set up soon after the turn of the century when it became clear that the normal colonial reports were no longer sufficient to present statistics of economic conditions in the colony. An important economic journal for the period 1932-1951 is Economisch weekblad voor Indonesie, which superseded Korte berichten voor landbouw, nijverheid en handel, published by the Department van Landbouw, Nijverheid en Handel.
Social conditions of the period are recorded in a larger number of publications which cover the period from first Dutch contact up to the outbreak of World War II. The NLA Rare Books Section has a number of monographs about the earlier period of Dutch exploration which contain travellers' tales and one of the earliest imprints in Jacob Jansz de Roy's Hachelijke reystogt... na Borneo en Atchin... 1691 (dangerous journey to Borneo and Aceh...). between the two world wars appeared a great deal of writing, both creative and descriptive, which contain a wealth of detail which would add up to a precise picture of the times. The immediate post-World War II period inspired previous residents of the Dutch Indies to write out their nostalgia, such as the reminiscences by the well-known writer Jan Fabricius, Tempo doeloe: uit de goeie ouwe tijd... (1949). Less nostalgic and more factual were a series of journals which reflected the time and brought information about the area, such as Tropisch Nederland, a quarterly, 1928/29-1940.
Language and Literature
The NLA has strong holdings on Dutch studies of the Indonesian languages, dictionaries, grammars, Sanskrit literature translated into Javanese, Javanese literatures translated into Dutch, and holdings include such works as Humboldt's Kawi Sprachen, Brandes' Beschrijving der Javaansche, Balineesche en Sasaksche handschriften, and Kern's Verspreide Geschriften. There are texts, transcriptions, translations of Javanese classics such as the Babad Tanah Jawi and Serat Tjentini, and the classical writings on history and philosophy by Ranggawarsita. There are also a number of editions of the Javanese version of the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, the basis of the stories for the Javanese "Wayang Kulit" or shadow-puppet plays.
Pigeaud's Literature of Java is also held, a work which also deals with the many forms of oral literature found in the various regions of this island. Through the Kern collection the NLA acquired 130 Sundanese manuscripts which are transcriptions from original manuscripts, and this collection is reinforced by many monographs on Sundanese literature.
Law
Statute Law of the Netherlands Indies:
[The following information has been extracted from Guide to Overseas Statutes (1993) Canberra: National Library of Australia. p. 151-152.]
The Netherlands Government ruled the colony from 1816 to 1941, before the Japanese occupation which lasted until 1945. An Independent republic, Indonesia, was proclaimed on 17 August 1945. The following statute law resources are held:
- Short Title: Staatsblad...Aanwijzing der veranderingen...
Holdings: 1816-60, 1816-75, 1816-83, 1816-92, 1816-1903
Location: s 345.92 NET - Short Title: Staatsbad
Holdings: 1816-1903, 1904 and lijst, 1905-38, 1939 (impft.), 1940 no. 1-57.
Location: s 345.92 NET - Short Title: Bijblad op het Staatsblad...
Holdings: 1857-85 deel 1-9, no. 1-4156 alphabetisch register no. 1-3570, 1885-1939 deel 23-77, no. 4157-14310.
Location: s 345.92 NETHoldings: 1857-1940 v. 1-77, no. 1-14330, 1945-49 v. [78] no. 15012-356.
Location: mp 2040 - Short Title: Regeling van het Privaatrecht voor de Indlandsche Bevolking in de Minahassa-Districten der Residentie Menado
Holdings: 1902 gedeelte 1-2
Location: s 345.92 NET - Short Title: De Nederlandsch-Indische wetboeken
Holdings: 1890, 1940
Location: s 345.92 NET - Short Title: Statuten van verenigingen (Bijvoegsel der Javase Courant)
Holdings: 1949 no. 3-89
Location: s 345.92 NET - Short Title: Local verordeningen...(Bijvoegsel der Javase Courant)
Holdings: 1949 no. 4-68 (impft.)
Location: s 345.92 NET - Short Title: Naamloze Vennootschappen (Bijvoegsel der Javase Courant)
Holdings: 1948 no. 3-200 (impft.), 1949 no. 1-70, 271-433
Location: s 345.92 NET
In addition to collections of laws emanating from the Dutch administration there are also materials on adat or customary law which grew with the strengthening of Islam in the Indonesian archipelago. The NLA has more than 400 volumes on adat law, including C. van Vollenhoven's three-volume study Het adatrecht van Nederlandsch-Indie, 1931-1938. We have a number of monographs by Professor E.V. Korn, an authority on adat law especially for the areas of Bali, Sumatra and the Tapanuli districts of Sumatra. The Korn collection on microfiche contains many transcripts of adat law, particularly of Bali. F.G.P. Jacquet had compiled a Descriptive List of the collection which is kept in the Microform area.
The Tobing Collection
The Tobing collection is described by Burmester in the Guide to the Collections. This collection has been described by a Batak scholar as being a collection of a theological scholar, but at the same time it also reflects the interest of Professor Tobing in his own Batak culture. The collection contains quite a number of books in the Batak language, and includes such titles as Batak bark books by P. Voorhoeve and Sechziz Jahre Batak mission is Sumatra by D. J. Warneck.
The books have been catalogued individually and integrated in the general collection.
Materials for Indonesian studies of the Dutch administration may also be found in the Newspapers and Microforms Area, the Pictures Section, in Manuscripts and in the Maps Section.
Newspaper Resources
We have an extensive collection of newspapers from the Dutch East Indies, both in printed form and in microform. A list of those on microform is given in the SEARMG Newsletter No. 21, and these are being added to as other titles on microform become available.
Major titles on microfilm include:
- Bataviaasch Nieuwsblad (1885-1942)
Holdings: 1885-1926
Location: Microfilm Collection MC X 29Holdings: 1942
Location: Microfilm Collection X 374 - Dagblad (1945-1950)
Holdings: 1945-1949
Location: Microfilm Collection X 580 - Deli Courant (1885-1901)
Location: Microfilm Collection X 589 - De Indische Mercuur (1879-1938)
Holdings: 1882-1931
Location: Microfilm Collection X 44 - Java Bode (1852-1957)
Holdings: 1953-1957
Location: Microfilm Collection X 52 - De Locomotief (1864-1956)
Location: Microfilm Collection X 863
Pictorial Resources
The Pictures Section holds some 1000 photographic prints from most of the temple sites in Java. These were acquired through the Yves Coffin collection of photographs of Javanese and Cham architecture and sculpture.
Manuscript Resources
In the Manuscripts Section are kept copies of translations of Batak bark books, collected by Dr. Voorhoeve, and there are some examples of Balinese lontar books as well.
Map Resources
In the Maps Sections we have almost 6000 maps of Indonesia, the greater portion of which are maps made by the offices of the Dutch Administration.
Resources from the Period of Japanese Occupation
Dutch rule ended with the Japanese invasion in 1942, and the period of Japanese occupation 1942-1945 is recorded and discussed in a number of monographs held in the NLA. The most useful primary resources we have for this period are Dutch and Indonesian newspapers during the Japanese invasion of Java for the period January-March 1942, and the newspaper Soeara Asia published in Surabaya from June 1942-September 1945, plus microfiche of Indonesian imprints during the Japanese occupation.
