Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 9th January 2013, 11:05 AM

Semar, I'll keep this as short and as simple as I can.

At no time have I said that this is not a nice badik.

I have in essence raised two matters in respect of this badik:-

1) is this style of badik of Sulawesi origin ? I did not say it is not from Sulawesi, I said I did not know where it was from but that there seems to be a possibility it is from Jawa.

2) there is a high probability that the blade has been made from a pedang blade.

I made one further comment and that referred to the reliability of a particular book. In respect of the book I have stated an opinion, no more, no less, and I am aware that this opinion is shared by a number of other people.

I have not said it is not a "nice" book.

I have not said it does not contain information.

I have said it falls short of being a reliable source of information. Many other books have exactly the same flaw, but that does not mean that they do not have some value. For example, Edward Frey's little keris book is full of flaws. From the first edition it took me fourteen A4 pages to list them all, most of which disappeared in his second edition. But I still consistently recommend this book to newcomers who want to read about keris. Why? Because in spite of the flaws it also has much in it of value.

In fact, in the matter of keris books I know of only one in which I cannot identify an error. Possibly there are things in it with which I do not agree, but there are no errors that I can find. That book is the one written by Garrett & Bronwen Solyom.

When I write a comment I do try insofar as I am able to write plain English without obscure or implied meanings. It may assist in understanding what I write if the content of my writing is taken at face value.

9th January 2013, 11:05 AM	#18
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,994	Semar, I'll keep this as short and as simple as I can. At no time have I said that this is not a nice badik. I have in essence raised two matters in respect of this badik:- 1) is this style of badik of Sulawesi origin ? I did not say it is not from Sulawesi, I said I did not know where it was from but that there seems to be a possibility it is from Jawa. 2) there is a high probability that the blade has been made from a pedang blade. I made one further comment and that referred to the reliability of a particular book. In respect of the book I have stated an opinion, no more, no less, and I am aware that this opinion is shared by a number of other people. I have not said it is not a "nice" book. I have not said it does not contain information. I have said it falls short of being a reliable source of information. Many other books have exactly the same flaw, but that does not mean that they do not have some value. For example, Edward Frey's little keris book is full of flaws. From the first edition it took me fourteen A4 pages to list them all, most of which disappeared in his second edition. But I still consistently recommend this book to newcomers who want to read about keris. Why? Because in spite of the flaws it also has much in it of value. In fact, in the matter of keris books I know of only one in which I cannot identify an error. Possibly there are things in it with which I do not agree, but there are no errors that I can find. That book is the one written by Garrett & Bronwen Solyom. When I write a comment I do try insofar as I am able to write plain English without obscure or implied meanings. It may assist in understanding what I write if the content of my writing is taken at face value.