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INTRODUCTION

COLLECTIONS OF JAVANESE MANUSCRIPTS (50.001) In the pre-Islatnic period collecting remarkable manuscripts already was a favourite pursuit of learned connoisseurs. It is mentioned in the Nagara Kërtagama (canto 29, see the present author’s “Java in the XIVth Century”, vol. IV, p. 84). Collections of books originally written on palmleaves, afterwards on paper, were kept at the Javanese Courts and in the homes of gentlemen as precious treasures, to be passed on to following generations as heirlooms. Perhaps in some cases the veneration for the writing, the letters as such, irrespective of the contents, led to a kind of fetishistic cult of manuscripts. A cult of charters engraved on copper plates is well certified. Unfortunately in the moist tropical climate of Java and Bali palmleaves and paper do not last long. Moreover in former times in houses made of wood or bamboo there was no safe place for manuscripts, keeping them out of the reach of insects, rain and fire. In antiquity iron or brass boxes were unknown, because metals were scarce. In consequence the chance for manuscripts to survive for many generations without serious damages was extremely small. Probably in Javanese and Balinese households, before modern boxes and chests became generally available, manuscripts did not last longer than about seventy-five years on an average. Therefore every generation had to set itself to the copying of old manu scripts simply in order to preserve the texts. It stands to reason that under such circumstances making and preserving large collections of handwritten books was difficult and time-consuming. In former times only rich and influential families were able to do so through the generations. As a rule decay of the family and vicissitudes of war caused collections of manuscripts to go to ruin. In this way important texts, family histories and myths, could disappear, at best leaving vague memories to be traced in other texts preserved in manuscripts which belonged to luckier or more energetic families. Anyway it should always be borne in mind that the Javanese literature which ls preserved for us in manuscripts is only a small part of the mass of writings produced by Javanese authors through the centuries, beginning in the pre-Islamic period up to the nineteenth century. Gradually in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries modern methods of making and preserving manuscripts increased the chances of surviving for products of Javanese authors. Since the middle of the nine-