The rare manuscripts and printed books of the Malay world

Banners outside the National
Library Building.

Malay has been the language of trade, diplomacy, religious discourse, and literature for maritime Southeast Asia for centuries. Tales of the Malay World: Manuscripts and Early Books, an exhibition by the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore, explores traditional paper-based Malay literature, from handwritten manuscripts to early lithographed books.

Rarely seen items - there are only about 10,000 Malay manuscripts that survive today - provide glimpses into the society that produced and read these literary works. Jawi, a modified Arabic script was used. Islam influenced the Malay written literary tradition. Loan words include "kalam" for pen, from the Arabic qalam (قلم) .

The exhibition gives a window into the society of the past, including lesser-known stories of women authors and 19th-century lending libraries in the Malay world. It also showcases the dramatic impact of printing on the manuscript tradition, and Singapore’s role as the early Malay/Muslim printing hub for the region.

Illuminated religious works generally came from Aceh, Indonesia and literary works from the Straits Settlements and Batavia (Jakarta). The Kampong Glam area was an important hub for Islamic scholars and hujjaj. This led to early printing works in Singapore to be mostly religious. The 1860s, when Malay/Muslim printing began in Singapore, put more texts into the hands of the public and spelt the demise of the handwritten manuscript tradition. 

Printers originally started printing lithographs that reproduced the look and feel of a manuscript. A lithograph is a printing method that relies on the fact that greased areas will repel ink. Benjamin Keasberry's press was particularly admired for the way it mimicked handwritten calligraphy. By the 1900s Singapore printing had declined and Malay books came in from Cairo, Bombay (Mumbai, India), Makkah in KSA and Istanbul, Turkey instead.

Images of rare books projected onto a book-shaped form at the exhibition.

The exhibition features rare manuscripts on loan from the UK and the Netherlands, shown in Singapore for the first time. Many exhibits are on loan from the British Library and the Royal Asiatic Society of Great Britain and Ireland; most date back to the 1800s. Some exhibits come from Sir Stamford Raffles' collection. Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles founded Singapore.

Highlights include:

- A manuscript (copied in 1710) of one of the oldest existing syair (narrative poem), which tells of the war (1666–69) between the Dutch and Makassar; 

- The earliest manuscript on the exploits of the legendary Malay hero, Hang Tuah; 

- A copy of Taj al Salatin - Crown of Kings, which details the ideal behavior of kings, nobility and their subjects. The copy, on loan from the British Library is illuminated in gold, similar in style to a Quran, with is unusual given that most manuscripts were meant to be transmitted orally and therefore did not need any decoration.

- An 1811 letter from the sultan of Pontianak in Kalimantan to Sir Stamford Raffles.

- The earliest-known book from a Malay/Muslim printer in Southeast Asia, a Quran printed in 1854. 

- Possibly the second-earliest lithographed Quran printed in Singapore, dated 1869. As with other Southeast Asian Qurans, this Quran has got illuminated page spreads at the beginning, end and middle of the book. The pages were coloured in by hand. Qurans worldwide typically only have decorations at the beginning of the book.

Source: NLB. The Hikayat Nabi Yusuf.

The finest examples of manuscript illumination in Southeast Asia are found not in literary or historical works, but in copies of the Quran. Sumptuously illuminated Qur’ans were produced in certain artistic centres such as Terengganu and Patani on the east coast of the Malay peninsula, Aceh on the northern tip of Sumatra, and across the archipelago from Java to Sulawesi and the island of Sumbawa.

Almost without exception, these exquisite works of art were anonymous, for Malay artists did not traditionally sign their artworks. However, in one finely illuminated Malay literary manuscript from the British Library currently on display in this exhibition – a copy of the Hikayat Nabi Yusuf, (The Story of the Prophet Joseph), written in Perlis, Malaysia in 1802 – the artist has inscribed his own name, and his comments and annotations shed valuable light on the mechanics of the book trade in the Malay peninsula in the early 19th century. 

Advertisement on the lift doors at the National Library Building featuring the Hikayat Abdullah, the first Malay work authored by a local - Abdullah bin Abdul Kadir. 

Associated events include:

I Can Compose and Recite Syair! workshop
3 February 2018, 9.30am – 11am
Level 5, Imagination Room
Facilitators: Dr Sa’eda Buang and Dr Kartini Anwar

Syair is a form of traditional Malay poetry that is made up of quatrains. Each line of every stanza in syair contributes to the formation of a unified idea or story.

This workshop, conducted in English and Malay, is focused on composing at least two verses of syair. Participants must understand and be able to speak simple Malay. 

Participants will be introduced to the functions and basic features of syair. They will also encounter various melodious forms of syair recitations based on the content and intent of the syair.

Register.

Guided tours and curator’s tours

What kinds of stories were popular in the early Malay world? How was the manuscript tradition different from printed books? Join the National Library's guided tours to learn about these and more.

2017 | 8 December
2018 | 5 January, 2 February

Meeting Point: Level 10, Gallery entrance
Time: 7pm – 8pm
The tours will be conducted in English
Free admission

Register for the curator’s tour on 8 December 2017.
Register for the curator’s tour on 5 January 2018.
Register for the curator’s tour on 2 February 2018.

Public Tours

Every Saturday* and Sunday** until 25 February 2018

Time: 1pm – 2pm
Meeting Point: Level 10, Gallery entrance
Led by docents
Free admission, first-come first-served basis 

A  chart of Jawi, a version of the Arabic script that accommodates sounds used in Malay but not in Arabic such as "ng" (ڠ), hard "g" as in "girl" (ݢ), and "ny" as in "near" (ڽ). There is also a character for "v" which acts like a و but with a dot on top.

Pencils and paper were available for those who wanted to try writing their names in Jawi script.

Details:

Tales of the Malay World: Manuscripts and Early Books runs till 25 February 2018 

Level 10, Gallery, National Library Building

100 Victoria Street

Admission is free.

View electronic versions of the exhibits

*Except 23, 30 December 2017 and 17 February 2018
**Except 24, 31 December 2017 and 18 February 2018