The First Modern Scientific Journal Printed in Asia - Batavia (Jakarta) 1779 - "Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap der Konsten en Wetenschappen"

"Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap der Konsten en Wetenschappen" 

"Transactions of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences"

"Eerste Deel"  - First Volume

-Printed in Batavia by the [Dutch East Indian] Company's Printer - by Egbert Heemen

-1779

-Bound in Early wrappers.

-Collation TP, 70, 5-357, 30, [4] -Missing pages 1-4 (an account of early European colonisation of Jakarta), otherwise complete.

This fascinating book is volume one of the first modern Scientific journal printed in Asia.

The “Verhandelingen van het Bataviaasch Genootschap der Konsten en Wentenschappen” or - “Transactions of the Batavian Society of Arts and Sciences” was printed in Batavia - modern day Jakarta - in 1779.

The journal aimed to spread enlightenment learning to Asia, and encouraged articles from across the Dutch speaking regions of Asia.

The printer was Egbert Heemen, who worked for the Dutch East India Conpany (VOC).

This copy retains its nice decorative contemporary wrappers.

This first volume contains a wide range of scholarship produced in the Dutch East Indies, including reports on smallpox inoculation in Batavia, botanical classification of Malay plants using Linnaean taxonomy, and agricultural studies on sugar production. Analytical works include articles on experimental work with artificial magnets, critiques of Dutch maritime charts, comparative studies of Asian calendrical systems, and historical and ethnographic accounts of Java and Timor. 

Together, the articles demonstrate scientific inquiry in Southeast Asia, and reflect the Batavian Society’s ambition to establish Batavia as a centre of colonial science and intellectual exchange.