de Clercq, F. S. A. and Taylor, Paul Michael. 2018. Ternate: The Residency and its Sultanate. Washington, DC: Asian Cultural History Program, Smithsonian Institution.
This is P.M. Taylor's edited and annotated translation of "Ternate: The Residency and its Sultanate", by F.S.A. de Clercq. (Original Dutch: "Bijdragen tot de kennis der Residentie Ternate". Leiden: E.J. Brill, 1890.) Edited witn an "Introduction," "Notes on Transcription and Translation," and annotations by Paul M. Taylor; translated by Paul Michael Taylor and Marie N. Richards. ========= The publication of this edited volume will help alleciate the paucity of source materials available in English on this historially important region. This book, first published in 1890, also serves as a well-written example of gentlemanly scholarship by a Dutch colonial civil servant of the time. The author was a truly involved and active amateur in the best sense (and the etymological sense) of that term: he loved his subject-matter. He also cared deeply for the success of the colonial enterprise. He presents a vivid and informative account of court life at the historic sultanate of Ternate, joined to a travelogue about the far-flung dependencies of the sultanate, as told by a witty and opinionated observer with many interests -- who happened also to be the "Resident" or supreme local representative of the colonial government. This translation tries to convey the detailed data de Clercq presents while also preserving the pungent style with which he leads the reader on this tour of his Residency.
