Letters of a Javanese princess

←

Letters of a Javanese princess (1921)
by Raden Adjeng Kartini, translated by Agnes Louise Symmers

Foreword

→

Raden Adjeng Kartini3179896Letters of a Javanese princess1921Agnes Louise Symmers

LETTERS OF A JAVANESE PRINCESS

By RADEN ADJENG KARTINI

TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL DUTCH

By AGNES LOUISE SYMMERS

WITH A FOREWORD BY

LOUIS COUPERUS

LONDON: DUCKWORTH & CO.

3 HENRIETTA ST., COVENT GARDEN

First published in 1921

“When you sail from Chambra fifteen thousand miles on a course between south and southeast, you come to a great island called Java. And experienced mariners of those Islands who know the matter well say that it is the greatest Island in the world and has a compass of three thousand miles. It is subject to a great King and tributary to no one else in the world. The people are idolaters. The Island is of surpassing wealth, producing black pepper, nutmegs, spikenard, galingale, cubebs, cloves and all other kinds of spices.

“This Island is also frequented by a vast amount of shipping, and by merchants who buy and sell costly goods from which they reap great profit. Indeed, the treasure of this Island is so great as to be past telling.”

Marco Polo.

NOTE

The letters of Raden Adjeng Kartini were first published at the Hague in 1911 under the title, “Door Duisternis tot Licht,” (from Darkness into Light). They were collected and edited by Dr. J. H. Abendanon, former Minister of Education and Industry for Netherland-India. Many of the letters were written to him and to his wife “Moedertje”. Dr. Abendanon has given me permission to publish this English version, which is a selection comprising about two-thirds of the original book.

I also wish to acknowledge my debt to Dr. Leonard Van Noppen, who, when Queen Wilhelmina Professor of Dutch Literature at Columbia University, first called my attention to the book and told me something of Kartini’s story.

A. L. S.

Chapters (not listed in original)

This work is a translation and has a separate copyright status to the applicable copyright protections of the original content.

Original:

This work was published before January 1, 1929, and is in the public domain worldwide because the author died at least 100 years ago.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse

Translation:

This work is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before January 1, 1929.

The longest-living author of this work died in 1965, so this work is in the public domain in countries and areas where the copyright term is the author's life plus 58 years or less. This work may be in the public domain in countries and areas with longer native copyright terms that apply the rule of the shorter term to foreign works.

Public domainPublic domainfalsefalse