Books narrating Malay society, history and culture, as well as classical Malay texts, especially written and published before World War Two are much sought-after. And second-hand bookstores and some of the newer independent booksellers know this too well.The vast majority of collections of Malay books and manuscripts in European libraries were acquired as early as in the second half of the nineteenth century.
Holger Warnk, German scholar of Southeast Asia from the Goethe University in Frankfurt, clarified that Overbeck was many times misinterpreted and misunderstood. An example of early Malay manuscripts were the two letters from the Sultan of Ternate to the King of Portugal dated 1521 and 1522. In the lecture, I addressed early Malay sources in Malay manuscripts and other written texts before the establishment of colonial governments in the region.
It was not surprising that the main focus of interest were literary works with information on the local community and their customs .