Two rare 17th and 18th-century historical works on Ceylon restored with Dutch expertise for “Pathfinder Collection”

The 1681 edition of Robert Knox’s classic work on the Kandyan Kingdom after the restoration work

The mid-18th century edition of “A True and Exact Description of Malabar… and Ceylon” after the restoration work

 The Pathfinder Foundation has been bringing together and preserving artefacts of historical value that relate to Sri Lanka’s history and culture. The “Pathfinder Collection” consists of a wide range of historically significant artefacts of Sri Lanka, including an extensive collection of antiquarian books written by Sri Lankan and foreign authors covering various facets of Sri Lanka. These include some of the earliest works ever printed in or about Sri Lanka. Of these are copies of two of the most well-known works on Ceylon written by Europeans. 

The first is Robert Knox’s “An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon” (1681). The second is the account of the island written by the Dutch missionary Philip Baldeus, who resided in Jaffna, “A True and Exact Description of Malabar…and Ceylon” (1672). The original work was published in Dutch and was later translated and published in London in the mid-18th century. Interestingly, a piece of the tamarind tree in Jaffna, under which Baldeus used to preach, is also in the Collection. This tree (depicted in the book) was cut down by the Government in the 1950s. The National Archives used wood from the same tree to make a cover for the copy of the Baldeus’ book held by them.

These two rare books were meticulously restored with expertise from the professional restorer of paper and books, Elizabet Nijhoff Asser, from the Netherlands. Earlier, an ola leaf manuscript from the Kandyan Period of the 13th century, “Buthsarana” from the Pathfinder Collection, was restored by the Department of History and Archaeology of the University of Sri Jayawardenapura.

The Pathfinder Collection includes over 6,000 books collected over the course of four generations by several family members of Milinda Moragoda, containing a large number of the most important books written on Sri Lanka covering the subjects of history, religion, literature, wildlife, nature, art, culture, botany, agriculture, anthropology, archaeology, sociology, politics, economics, and business. It is a veritable time capsule of Sri Lanka’s history from the earliest to modern times. Also belonging to the collection are a diverse group of prints, maps, watercolours, coins, stamps, and an extensive collection of seashells. This diverse range of artefacts offers a unique and comprehensive insight into Sri Lanka’s rich history and culture. A bird collection of exotic parrots, lories, lorikeets, and fish comprise its living collection.