Batavia, Landsdrukkerij; Leiden, E. J. Brill, 1893-1894. In two volumes. Large 8vo (26.1 x 17.5 cm). 983 pp.; two large folding maps, two plates. Later uniform cloth with mounted front wrappers.

Written by the Dutch scholar of Oriental cultures and languages Christiaan Snouck Hurgronje (185 -1936). He"... was an advisor on native affairs to the colonial government of the Dutch East Indies. Snouck, who was fluent in Arabic, through mediation with the Ottoman governor in Jeddah, was examined by a delegation of scholars from Mecca in 1884 and, upon successfully completion of the examination, was allowed to commence a pilgrimage to the Holy Muslim city of Mecca in 1885. He was one of the first Western scholars of Oriental cultures to do so. In 1889 he became professor of Malay at Leiden University and official advisor to the Dutch government on colonial affairs. He wrote more than 1,400 papers on the situation in Atjeh and the position of Islam in the Dutch East Indies, as well as on the colonial civil service and nationalism. As the adviser of J. B. van Heutsz, he took an active role in the final part (1898-1905) of the Aceh War (1873-1914). He used his knowledge of Islamic culture to devise strategies which significantly helped crush the resistance of the Aceh inhabitants and impose Dutch colonial rule on them, ending a 40-year war with varying casualty estimates of between 50,000 and 100,000 inhabitants dead and about a million wounded" (Wikipedia). Contains a large index of 48 pp. and deals with all aspects of this Islamic people on Sumatra, being its language, history, religion, tradition, family, sciences, etc. Lacks, however, the atlas with 12 photographs. Boards a bit worn, second front wrapper a bit rubbed with slight loss, otherwise very good.