A Vision of the Past contains selected photographs from what is arguably “the single, most important existing pictorial record of Southeast Asia in the late 19th and early 20th centuries” according to its author, John Falconer. The vast collection of prints produced by G.R. Lambert & Co. — the largest and most successful studio at […]
A Vocabulary of the English and Malay Languages, Containing Upwards of 2000 Words
A Vocabulary of the English and Malay Languages, Containing Upwards of 2000 Words was published in 1820 with the purpose of introducing a collection of common words to those whom knowledge of the language is necessary to communicate with the local people. As its name suggests, it contains a vocabulary of 2000 commonly used words […]
Images of Singapore: From the Japanese Perspective (1868–1941)
Images of Singapore: From the Japanese Perspective (1868–1941) is a compilation of photos, books and postcards of Singapore before WWII. It was published in Singapore by the Japanese Cultural Society in 2004 to commemorate its 40th anniversary. The book is clearly a labour of love by Lim Shao Bin, then the Vice President of the […]
Daoyi Zhilue (岛夷志略)
Daoyi Zhilue 岛夷志略 (Description of the Barbarians of the Isles) was written by Yuan dynasty voyager Wang Dayuan 汪大渊 in 1349. The book contains Wang’s personal accounts of the places he travelled to in the course of his 2 voyages between 1330 to 1339. His travels brought him to more than 100 places across South […]
Characters of Light
Characters of Light, by Marjorie Doggett, is a pictorial chronicle of colonial architecture in Singapore and the first photographic book to document the Singapore urban landscape. It was published in 1957 by Donald Moore, a publisher and author who had produced a wide range of books and pamphlets on Malaya and Singapore. The book is […]
新嘉坡と馬来半島
新嘉坡と馬来半島 (Shingapōru to Marai hantō) is published in 1941 in Tokyo. Written in Japanese, it outlines the Japanese’s perspective on pre-war Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. The title, translated into English means “Singapore and the Malay Peninsula”. The book provides a general description, of the history, geography, administration and population, of Singapore and the Malay Peninsula. […]
Twentieth Century Impressions of British Malaya: Its history, people, commerce, industries and resources
Twentieth Century Impressions was a series of travel, political and social reference books published by Lloyds Greater Britain Publishing Company between 1901 and 1914. The full series comprises 14 volumes. Each volume is dedicated to a country or region where British power held sway, with the exception of Siam. The titles were typically styled as […]
One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore
One Hundred Years’ History of the Chinese in Singapore is a 600-page classic that chronicles the contributions of the Chinese community, and the development, progress and prosperity of Singapore between 1819 to 1919. The book is a compilation of anecdotes centred on the movers and shakers who had contributed to the social, economic, political, educational […]
Lat Pau (叻報)
Lat Pau (叻報) was the first Chinese daily in the Nanyang region (Southeast Asia). It began circulation in 1881 and ran for 52 years before it finally ceased publication in 1932, making it the longest running Chinese daily in pre-war Singapore. Lat Pau derived its name from the Hokkien and Cantonese pronunciation for “selat” which means […]
Hikayat Abdullah (Stories of Abdullah)
To commemorate #SGBicentennial, we will be sharing a series of rare books in our collection that highlights Singapore, and the surrounding regions’ rich history. Kicking off the series is the Hikayat Abdullah (Stories of Abdullah), which was one of the earliest lithographed works published in Singapore and deemed the ‘most ambitious and impressive Malay work […]