Memory of the World; 2012 - unesdoc - Unesco

of maps and drawings. Frequently, these pictures are the �� An early 18th-century aerial view of Eauweck (now Khum Peam
first representations ever made of the people, houses, Lvek), the main Dutch settlement in Cambodia, first established
landscape, flora or fauna of these regions. About twenty- in 1620.
five million pages of VOC records have survived in
repositories in Jakarta, Colombo, Chennai, Cape Town
and The Hague.
The contents range from carved inscriptions in stone,
manuscripts on palm leaf and bark and printed court
chronicles to trade correspondence, travel reports and the
records of civic administrations. The VOC archives not
only richly supplement valuable regional sources, but they
also contain general information on Monsoon Asia and
Southern Africa as a whole, providing the data necessary
to draw a broad comparative picture from region to
region, and from village to village. When analyzed with
skill and training, the VOC archives offer a wealth of new
and valuable knowledge on Asian and African societies in
the 17th and 18th centuries. (following page) A panoramic view of the bay of Nagasaki in
August 1823, showing some Dutch merchant ships. Nagasaki was
the main port in Japan that traded with European countries. �
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