First edition, first printing. All three parts bound in one volume. [ii], 355; [ii], 356-700; [ii], x, 703-718, [ii], liv, [ii], vi. Half bound in brown calf's leather over green cloth-covered boards, gilt stamped titles on a six-panelled spine. Large and heavy 4to. Staining and mottling on cloth, leather rubbed and rounded at corners and a little dry and mildly cracking over spine, a little rubbing and scuffing all over. Text block edges a little toned and spotted. Endpapers, possibly replacements, are clean, bright and fresh, with one small and mild smudge on the front free endpaper. Small rubber stamp on title page of part one, some pencil annotations on blank reverse of erratum page only. Pages slightly aged else internally neat, clean, and tight.
Richard James Wilkinson (1867-1941) was a British colonial administrator, a linguist and a scholarly historian of Malay, serving with the Straits Settlements Civil Service in Singapore at the time he compiled this monumental work on the Malay language. Once considered the standard work on the Malay language, although in part overtaken by Rumi (using the Latin alphabet), it remains the standard work on Jawi script, now widely used for religious and cultural purposes. Includes among the appendices in part three brief essays and entries on Malay History and Literature, The Malay Alphabet, Pronunciation, Malay Dialects etc. An important and now scarce work.
