The Malay manuscripts you are referring to were acquired during the United States Exploring Expedition (1838–1842), commanded by Lieutenant Charles Wilkes.
While the expedition's natural history specimens (like plants and shells) became the foundation of the Smithsonian Institution, the majority of the linguistic and literary materials, including the Malay manuscripts, are now held at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C.
Where they are kept
- Location: Library of Congress, Asian Division (Southeast Asia Rare Book Collection).
- Acquisition: Wilkes and his crew stopped in Singapore in 1842. With the help of the American missionary Alfred North, they purchased a collection of manuscripts and early printed books that became the first documented Asian books in the Library of Congress.
Key Manuscripts and Works
The collection is famous because it includes works by Munshi Abdullah (Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir), the "father of modern Malay literature," as well as important historical annals. Key items include:
Significance
These manuscripts are written in Jawi (Malay in Arabic script). They are particularly valuable to historians because they provide a "local" perspective on Southeast Asian life and politics during the early period of British and Dutch colonial expansion, rather than just the European view.
Reference:
- Library of Congress Blog : The first Asian Books in the Library of Congress
- Library of Congress Blog: Southeast Asian Rare Collections at the Library of Congress
- Library of Congress Blog: New Online: William Farquhar Correspondence and other Malay Letters at the Library of Congress
C&P
6/3/2026: 4.12 p.m
