Malay Sketches.

London: John Lane, 1905. "This is not a book of travels... It is a series of sketches of Malay scenery and Malay character drawn by one who has spent the best part of his life in the scenes and amongst the people described." Indeed, Swettenham was a British civil servant who served as the first Resident general of the Federated Malay States, which united the Malay states of Selangor, Perak, Negeri Sembilan and Panang. He knew whereof he wrote, having worked on a Malay-English dictionary, and he had an eye for the dramatic, as his chapters on Amok and Latah attest. First edition, in a rather spectacular Bodley Head decorated cloth binding. One stain on front board, else very good condition, with the pretty bookplate of Thomas Hovey Gage Jr. A rare book. Worldcat shows only two institutions holding copies. Nothing but reprints online.. 19 cm. xi, (1)288, (1), 288, (1), (16 publisher's ads) pp. (Inventory #: 47989)