fuad

I came across this book by chance and I was most intrigued to find an eyewitness account of the East India trade of the 17th century, though in spite of its promising topic it was dragged down by a few shortcomings. The book opens with a bit of scientific background and the presentation is quite dry, almost wandering into thesis territory. Next follows an English transcript of Mr. Heeck's journal on the parts which cover his journeys to the Kingdom of Siam. There are some really sharp observations here but given that these are journal entries, Heeck’s observations start and end quite abruptly with loose ends and plots hanging. I for one would have liked to see the onward material as he travelled on to Batavia. Of the roughly 120 pages of this volume, over half of them contain the original Dutch manuscript which will no doubt be of little use to most international readers, a full publication of Heeck's journal in a single language would have been a much better read.

2022-10-29 03:32