The History of Java - with - Memoir of the Life and Public Services of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, F.R.S. &c. &c. Particularly in the Government of Java, 1811-1816, Bencoolen and its Dependencies, 1817-1824; with Details of the Commerce and Resources of the Eastern Archipelago, and Selections from His Correspondence - together with the folio atlas - Antiquarian, Architectural, and Landscape Illustrations of the History of Java. With a Large Map of Java and it’s Dependencies, and Several Interesting Plates Now First Published -
Sir Thomas Stamford and Sophia Raffles, Sophia Raffles
1830 - John Murray, London - Second Editions
A very rare and near fine set of the two most comprehensive works on the history of Indonesia and Singapore in the publisher’s uniform cloth bindings including the folio atlas, nearly all of which were apparently remaindered by the publisher Henry Bohn, who then reissued them separately [Abbey Travel].
The folio Atlas contains all seventy-two engravings originally in the first edition of ‘History of Java’ and together with twenty-two additional plates, not originally included. Those illustrations include a large (114x44cm) folding map ‘Map of Java’ with inset ‘Mineralogical Sketch of the Island of Java’ and an engraved map of the ‘Countries referred to in the Brata Yud’ha &c’ and ten finely hand coloured aquatint costume plates engraved by William Daniell who visited the island in 1785 and 1793.
The ‘Memoir’ is illustrated with an engraved frontispiece, a folding map of ‘The Island of Singapore’, and a larger folding ‘Map of the Indian Archipelago’, a large folding facsimile of a letter from Raffles to Thomas Horsfield, and five folding aquatint lithograph plates, four of which are by William Daniell, made during his two visits to Java.
Raffles ‘History of Java’ is a magnificent survey of the customs, dress, language, religion, culture, and history of the Javanese people as written by Thomas Stamford Raffles, British colonial agent cum Imperial statesman and later founder of modern Singapore. ‘The marriage of a scientifically original text with beautiful illustrations by an accomplished aquatint engraver resulted in a book about Indonesia of outstanding quality; indeed a masterpiece.’ [Bastin and Brommer]
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) ‘was interested in every aspect of his subject, and devotes whole sections to Javan ethics, literature, poetry, music and musical instruments, drama, games of skill and methods of hunting, besides the more ordinary matters of interest, population, natural history, religion, antiquities, and the military system. At the end of the second volume a hundred and fifty pages are given up to the comparative vocabularies of Java and the neighbouring islands, and the whole is a unique monument erected by a great ruler to those over whom he rules, and incidentally, to his own honour, stands very high in its own class and the aquatint plates are full of interest’ [Prideaux]
‘During his last voyage back to England, the ship of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) caught fire, consuming many of the papers from which future biographers might have worked. When he died two years later, the task of sifting through the surviving materials and recording his life and career fell to his widow Sophia (1786–1858). Her substantial biography, remains an essential source of information about one of the key figures of British colonialism in the East Indies. At the centre of the book, interspersed with many of her husband's letters, is Raffles' struggle against his Dutch opponents, with whom he clashed on ideological grounds - he noted with distaste their mistreatment of the local population and their advocacy of slavery. It was this rivalry which convinced Raffles to found Singapore as a trading post’. [CUP] The publication of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles's The History of Java ‘marked a new sophistication in the recording of British experiences of the island. Providing a depth of analysis and breadth of subject matter, Raffles's publication was not the fairly simplistic diaristic account of adventure and opinion that had characterised many earlier British publications on Southeast Asia, but a highly detailed, minutely observed and handsomely illustrated study - Sarah Tiffin, Raffles and the Barometer of Civilisation.
Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Java in 1811 when the island and its dependancies were occupied by Lord Minto following the Annexation of the Netherlands by Napoleon. During the next five years he extended he area of European control and reorganised the Dutch colonial system in the island, as well as making an extensive study of the history, customs and languages of the region. From 1818 to 1824 he went on to serve as the British resident at Bencoolen in Sumatra. He ‘sought to put into practice the most advanced Western views of his time on personal liberty, judicial equality, education, free trade, penal reform, and slave emancipation. A man of vision, with great ambitions for himself and his country, he saw Britain's mission to raise the people of the eastern archipelago from ignorance and poverty, not by means of territorial expansion but a combination of commercial and moral pre-eminence: reviving old cultures and spreading European enlightenment through economic progress, liberal education, and the rule of law...’ (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
Provenance: Initials D.b.E to the front of each volume, with additional coat of arms stamped to front of volume I of ‘Memoir’ and the Folio Atlas.
References: Abbey,Travel, 554-5. Bastin and Brommer, Nineteenth Century prints and illustrated books of Indonesia, 81-2, 90, 118. Tooley, English Books with Coloured Plates, 1790 to 1860 (1954), 391. Hill, Pacific Voyages, 1413 (1844 edition). Prideaux, 252.
Four large octavo volumes and one atlas folio (octavo book size 23.1x15.5cm, Atlas 32.8x26.6cm), pp. xlviii 536; iv 332 clxxix [1]; xi [3] 437 [3]; vi [2] 468. Uniformly bound in publisher’s red blind embossed cloth, spines ruled in gilt, octavo volumes with spines lettered in gilt, atlas folio with upper board lettered in gilt, straw coloured coated endpapers. Bookbinder’s labels to rear of volume I of each octavo volume - ‘Bound by Westleys & Co. Friar Street, London.’, and to Atlas volume - ‘Bound by Westleys & Co. London.’
Illustrations (collated 6/2026)
Raffles Life - Illustrated with engraved frontispiece, a folding map of ‘The Island of Singapore’, and a larger folding ‘Map of the Indian Archipelago’, a large folding facsimile of a letter from Raffles to Thomas Horsfield, and five folding aquatint lithograph plates, four of which are by William Daniell, made during his two visits to Java.
The new edition added the folding facsimile of a letter from Raffles to Thomas Horsfield, and removed the large folding lithograph panorama of View of Singapore Town & Harbour taken from the Government hill. the folding map of Culombyan Harbour, and single page map of the Route from Padang to Menangkabu.
History of Java - Two printed folding tables in volume I - population statistics (opp. pp.70), revenue and expenses (opp. pp.342).
Folio Atlas contains all the engravings originally in the first edition of ‘History of Java’, consisting of 9 engraved vignettes on five plates, 10 hand-coloured engraved plates, a large (114x44cm) folding map ‘Map of Java’ with inset ‘Mineralogical Sketch of the Island of Java’ and an engraved map of the ‘Countries referred to in the Brata Yud’ha &c’, 2 Musical Scores, 9 Alphabets and Inscriptions, 5 of weapons, 3 of tools, 1 of musical instruments, 1 of masks, 7 temples (including one folding), 1 portrait, and 25 various other engravings. Together with 22 additional plates, not originally included in the first edition, consisting of 18 plates of temples, plans and elevations, 2 plates showing four portraits, and 2 plates of stone engravings and inscriptions. Condition: Near fine, some spotting to plates and early text pages, minor rubbing to outer cloth hinges with one or two pinholes, gilt strong and bright, ‘Memoir’ mostly unopened. Ref: 112641 Price: HK$ 48,000
The folio Atlas contains all seventy-two engravings originally in the first edition of ‘History of Java’ and together with twenty-two additional plates, not originally included. Those illustrations include a large (114x44cm) folding map ‘Map of Java’ with inset ‘Mineralogical Sketch of the Island of Java’ and an engraved map of the ‘Countries referred to in the Brata Yud’ha &c’ and ten finely hand coloured aquatint costume plates engraved by William Daniell who visited the island in 1785 and 1793.
The ‘Memoir’ is illustrated with an engraved frontispiece, a folding map of ‘The Island of Singapore’, and a larger folding ‘Map of the Indian Archipelago’, a large folding facsimile of a letter from Raffles to Thomas Horsfield, and five folding aquatint lithograph plates, four of which are by William Daniell, made during his two visits to Java.
Raffles ‘History of Java’ is a magnificent survey of the customs, dress, language, religion, culture, and history of the Javanese people as written by Thomas Stamford Raffles, British colonial agent cum Imperial statesman and later founder of modern Singapore. ‘The marriage of a scientifically original text with beautiful illustrations by an accomplished aquatint engraver resulted in a book about Indonesia of outstanding quality; indeed a masterpiece.’ [Bastin and Brommer]
Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781-1826) ‘was interested in every aspect of his subject, and devotes whole sections to Javan ethics, literature, poetry, music and musical instruments, drama, games of skill and methods of hunting, besides the more ordinary matters of interest, population, natural history, religion, antiquities, and the military system. At the end of the second volume a hundred and fifty pages are given up to the comparative vocabularies of Java and the neighbouring islands, and the whole is a unique monument erected by a great ruler to those over whom he rules, and incidentally, to his own honour, stands very high in its own class and the aquatint plates are full of interest’ [Prideaux]
‘During his last voyage back to England, the ship of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles (1781–1826) caught fire, consuming many of the papers from which future biographers might have worked. When he died two years later, the task of sifting through the surviving materials and recording his life and career fell to his widow Sophia (1786–1858). Her substantial biography, remains an essential source of information about one of the key figures of British colonialism in the East Indies. At the centre of the book, interspersed with many of her husband's letters, is Raffles' struggle against his Dutch opponents, with whom he clashed on ideological grounds - he noted with distaste their mistreatment of the local population and their advocacy of slavery. It was this rivalry which convinced Raffles to found Singapore as a trading post’. [CUP] The publication of Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles's The History of Java ‘marked a new sophistication in the recording of British experiences of the island. Providing a depth of analysis and breadth of subject matter, Raffles's publication was not the fairly simplistic diaristic account of adventure and opinion that had characterised many earlier British publications on Southeast Asia, but a highly detailed, minutely observed and handsomely illustrated study - Sarah Tiffin, Raffles and the Barometer of Civilisation.
Raffles was appointed Lieutenant Governor of Java in 1811 when the island and its dependancies were occupied by Lord Minto following the Annexation of the Netherlands by Napoleon. During the next five years he extended he area of European control and reorganised the Dutch colonial system in the island, as well as making an extensive study of the history, customs and languages of the region. From 1818 to 1824 he went on to serve as the British resident at Bencoolen in Sumatra. He ‘sought to put into practice the most advanced Western views of his time on personal liberty, judicial equality, education, free trade, penal reform, and slave emancipation. A man of vision, with great ambitions for himself and his country, he saw Britain's mission to raise the people of the eastern archipelago from ignorance and poverty, not by means of territorial expansion but a combination of commercial and moral pre-eminence: reviving old cultures and spreading European enlightenment through economic progress, liberal education, and the rule of law...’ (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography).
Provenance: Initials D.b.E to the front of each volume, with additional coat of arms stamped to front of volume I of ‘Memoir’ and the Folio Atlas.
References: Abbey,Travel, 554-5. Bastin and Brommer, Nineteenth Century prints and illustrated books of Indonesia, 81-2, 90, 118. Tooley, English Books with Coloured Plates, 1790 to 1860 (1954), 391. Hill, Pacific Voyages, 1413 (1844 edition). Prideaux, 252.
Four large octavo volumes and one atlas folio (octavo book size 23.1x15.5cm, Atlas 32.8x26.6cm), pp. xlviii 536; iv 332 clxxix [1]; xi [3] 437 [3]; vi [2] 468. Uniformly bound in publisher’s red blind embossed cloth, spines ruled in gilt, octavo volumes with spines lettered in gilt, atlas folio with upper board lettered in gilt, straw coloured coated endpapers. Bookbinder’s labels to rear of volume I of each octavo volume - ‘Bound by Westleys & Co. Friar Street, London.’, and to Atlas volume - ‘Bound by Westleys & Co. London.’
Illustrations (collated 6/2026)
Raffles Life - Illustrated with engraved frontispiece, a folding map of ‘The Island of Singapore’, and a larger folding ‘Map of the Indian Archipelago’, a large folding facsimile of a letter from Raffles to Thomas Horsfield, and five folding aquatint lithograph plates, four of which are by William Daniell, made during his two visits to Java.
The new edition added the folding facsimile of a letter from Raffles to Thomas Horsfield, and removed the large folding lithograph panorama of View of Singapore Town & Harbour taken from the Government hill. the folding map of Culombyan Harbour, and single page map of the Route from Padang to Menangkabu.
History of Java - Two printed folding tables in volume I - population statistics (opp. pp.70), revenue and expenses (opp. pp.342).
Folio Atlas contains all the engravings originally in the first edition of ‘History of Java’, consisting of 9 engraved vignettes on five plates, 10 hand-coloured engraved plates, a large (114x44cm) folding map ‘Map of Java’ with inset ‘Mineralogical Sketch of the Island of Java’ and an engraved map of the ‘Countries referred to in the Brata Yud’ha &c’, 2 Musical Scores, 9 Alphabets and Inscriptions, 5 of weapons, 3 of tools, 1 of musical instruments, 1 of masks, 7 temples (including one folding), 1 portrait, and 25 various other engravings. Together with 22 additional plates, not originally included in the first edition, consisting of 18 plates of temples, plans and elevations, 2 plates showing four portraits, and 2 plates of stone engravings and inscriptions. Condition: Near fine, some spotting to plates and early text pages, minor rubbing to outer cloth hinges with one or two pinholes, gilt strong and bright, ‘Memoir’ mostly unopened. Ref: 112641 Price: HK$ 48,000