Associate Professor Peter Borschberg, Department of History, just launched his latest book Journals, Memorials and Letters of Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge: Security, Diplomacy and Commerce in 17th-century Southeast Asia at Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald, Germany on 29 October 2015.
Maritime Books from Greifswald – A translation of a German article on Assoc Prof Peter Borschberg’s book
The International Graduiertenkolleg (graduate training programme) “Baltic Borderlands” led by Michael North, chair of Modern history at Greifswald, has borne fruit in the form of high quality publications.
Turning to the book by Peter Borschberg of the National University of Singapore, who is also a visiting professor at Greifswald, the Australian academic Anthony Milner claimed it “spoke to new phase in historical studies of Asia”.
Borschberg’s volume is about Admiral Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge (c.1569-1632) who successfully fought for the Dutch East India Company against the Portuguese between 1605 and 1608. With this, he became significantly involved in establishing Dutch power in Southeast Asia. During the “Golden Age of the Netherlands”, the Dutch came to dominate about half of global trade.
The book which exceeds 650 pages titled Journal, Memorial and Letters of Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge was introduced in Greifswald by Michael North.
Borschberg has not only translated the letters and documents of Matelieff into English, he has also penned an excellent introduction according to experts in the field. It represents a history of the early Dutch East India Company.
“My special thanks go to Michael North and his team”, writes Borschberg, who was a visiting professor at Greifswald in 2012, 2013 and 2014. He acknowledges to have benefitted greatly from collaborating with the Graduiertenkolleg.
Peter Borschberg in turn introduced the revised text and English translation of Michael North’s Geschichte der Ostsee which has been published with the title The Baltic – A History. Since May, there is also a translation into Estonian as Läänemere Ajalugu: Kaubandus ja Kultuurid.
Both books demonstrate that even if the Baltic and the South China Sea may be geographically, socially and culturally far apart, there are still many commonalities thanks to agents, ideas and the exchange of goods and technology.
Journals, Memorials and Letters of Cornelis Matelieff de Jonge: Security, Diplomacy and Commerce in 17th-century Southeast Asia is currently retailing at S$42 and S$64 for the paperback and hardback version respectively. It is available for sale at NUS Press Singapore.
To purchase the book, click here.
For more information, please visit http://nuspress.nus.edu.sg .