Britain gives special present to Indonesia

Britain gives special present to Indonesia

JAKARTA (JP): The National Library of Indonesia is now home to one of the most comprehensive collections of drawings depicting Indonesia in the nineteenth century.

British Minister of Trade Anthony Nelson last week handed over the 510 reproductions as an official gift to mark Indonesia's fiftieth anniversary of independence.

The original drawings were commissioned by Lieutenant-Governor of Java, Thomas Stamford Raffles, during his appointment from 1811 to 1816. Estimated to be worth a million pounds, the originals are stored at the British Library in London.

The drawings, the first to be done of historical places in Java and Sumatra, provide an important archeological and historical reference. Most have never been published although a few were included in Raffles' book The History of Java, printed in 1817.

The British Embassy in Jakarta believes this collection is unique since Raffles' drawings depict traditions, temples and archeological sites which have since disappeared.

Commissioned by the British foreign office, the collection of reproductions took 17 months to produce at a cost of 60,000 pounds.

Entitled Early Views of Indonesia, the collection will be on display at the National Library of Indonesia in Jalan Salemba Raya 28A, Central Jakarta. (14)