chapter. If we were to follow Colenbrander by limiting ourselves to 'Dutch
documents' produced by the almost 350 years long tie between the Netherlands
and the Indonesian archipelago, we would be able to conclude that the majority
of the archives known to us from the period of the VOC and the colonies are
to be found in Jakarta and in The Hague.35 The VOC archives which UNESCO
placed on the list of world heritage in 2002 have not always been treated with this
deference. In fact, interest in keeping the VOC archives developed only during
the course of the 19th century. Before they were transferred to the depots of the
general state archives in The Hague in 1856, the archives were stored in barely
accessible warehouses in Amsterdam. Lack of space regularly caused large parts
to be cleared out. In 1821/22 the Ministry of the Colonies sold approximately
10,000 bound volumes of the VOC archive (in total 28,920 kilos of paper) from
the 17the century to the highest bidder at a public auction.36 The circumstances
in the Dutch East Indies were not much better. It was only after Van der Chijs
was appointed as national archivist in 1892, that the archives were given any
professional care.37
Until recently, the colonial archives were on the whole approached in a rather
utilitarian manner. The emphasis was laid on surveying, accessibility and
conservation of the archives. The pioneering labours of historians and archivists
like Meilink-Roelofsz, Roessingh, Jaquet and Lohanda have produced important
inventories and guides to archives which describe the available sources regarding
the history of Asia, but which are now partly out of date. Meilink-Roelofsz worked
on the inventorisation of the VOC archives kept in The Hague. The work of
Roessingh and Jaquet deals with the sources concerning the history of Asia and
Oceania in Dutch archives, libraries and research institutions; Lohanda's work
is concerned with the archives held in the Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia,
ANRI.38 This annual is in our opinion not the appropriate place to summarise
all available access and we only wish to mention that in the past decades much
hitherto unknown archival material concerning the centuries old relations
between the Netherlands and the Indonesian Archipelago, has come to light and
has been made available by numerous smaller inventories, particularly in Dutch
institutions holding archives. However, the scope of such inventorisation projects
is not limited to colonial archives.39
15
CHARLES JEURGENS AND TON KAPPELHOF COLONIAL ARCHIVES
36 Meilink-Roelofsz, Raben and Spijkerman, Inventaris van het archief van de Verenigde Oost-Indische
Compagnie, 43.
37 Verhoeven, 'Geschiedenis van het Indische archiefwezen', Nationaal Archief, Collection Verhoeven, inv.
nos 44-46, F.R.J., Het landsarchief te Batavia 1854-1942 (typescript; n.p. n.d.). For the remaining history of
Indian archiving see also; Godée Molsbergen, 'Geschiedenis van het Landsarchief tot 1816'; Coolhaas,
'Het Landsarchief te Batavia'; Bloys van Treslong Prins, 'Het Landsarchief'
38 Roessingh, Sources of the history of Asia and Oceania Jaquet, Sources of the history of Asia and Oceania
Lohanda, Guide to the sources of Asian History.
39 See for example the book review by Poeze of three archival overviews of the IISG in Bijdragen tot de Taal-,
Land- en Volkenkunde, 142: 2 (1986) 361-364. Institutions such as the NIOD and KDC have archives related
to the Dutch East Indies. A recent project in the Institute of Dutch History has produced a reference list of
Catholic and Protestant Mission archives. These can be viewed at www.huygens.knaw.nl/RepertoriumVanN
ederlandseZendings-EnMissie-archievenl800-1960.