Access to Malay manuscripts

Abstract

Background Our knowledge of written traditional Malay literature depends to a great extent on the Malay manuscripts that have been copied and collected particularly in the 19th century. These manuscripts, perhaps with the exception of the oldest among them, preserved in the Cambridge and Oxford University libraries, have undergone various deliberate changes at the hands of scribes. This in no way lessens their importance. However , in this paper we are only concerned with the survival of manuscripts and their accessibility to researchers.