Malay and Bugis Manuscripts and Early Printed Books at the Library of Congress: An Update

Abstract:This article updates a description on Malay and Bugis manuscripts and early printed books at the Library of Congress published by A. Kohar Rony almost thirty years ago. It discusses the provenance of these holdings, linking them to the United States Exploring Expedition of 1838–42 by means of lists of manuscript and book purchases found at the Smithsonian Institution Archives, and draws attention to the role of the American missionary, Alfred North, in their acquisition. The article also highlights three items at the Library of Congress that were re-discovered due to these lists, among them a Malay code of law copied by Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir. In addition, the article points towards a digitized collection of 46 nineteenth-century letters available online through the Library of Congress website (https://lccn.loc.gov/2019276520).