Ethnographic Arms & Armour - View Single Post

A. G. Maisey · 24th October 2007, 12:43 AM

Thank you Pak Ganja for this advice.

Yes, I am aware that Suwarsono Lumintu is credited with authorship of this entry in the Ensiklopedi, however, Bambang Harsinuksmo is the author/composer of the book, not editor of the book, as such, Bambang Harsinuksmo must accept responsibility for all material published in that book, no matter who actually originated it.

This principle applies in any arena where any material is published under a single author's name. A published work may well be the product of a team of people, but once the work is published, and attributed to a single author, the benefits and defects of that published work accrue to the nominated author. In fact, Ensiklopedi contains the work of a number of contributors, not only Suwarsono Lumintu, however, Bambang Harsrinuksmo is nominated as the author, not the editor. This implies that Bambang Harsinuksmo used information supplied by the various contributors to complete the writing of his book.This being the case, he was responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the published material, the people who supplied the material can be viewed as assistants over whom he had control.Regretably, his control procedures were inadequate, and any inaccuracies were his responsibility.

I will make this point:- I have been aware of the error in the 1988 edition for almost 20 years; I have been aware of the error in the 2004 edition since I first obtained a copy of this edition; I am aware of other errors --- and I do not mean differences of opinion--- in both these books, and in other publications on the keris. I take no pleasure in bruiting these errors abroad nor in denigrating the work of these authors. One does not advance one's own reputation by attempting to lessen the reputation of others. I would have made no mention of this fault in Bambang Harsinuksmo's work were it not for the fact that we seem to have entered into what I consider to be a rather fatuous discussion in respect of keris origin, and I considered it necessary to shine a little light on the scholarship of writings which have generated this time wasting discussion.

I sincerely hope that we can leave this nonsense of a Buddhist origin for the Javanese keris well and truly buried.

24th October 2007, 12:43 AM	#27
A. G. Maisey Member Join Date: May 2006 Posts: 6,965	Thank you Pak Ganja for this advice. Yes, I am aware that Suwarsono Lumintu is credited with authorship of this entry in the Ensiklopedi, however, Bambang Harsinuksmo is the author/composer of the book, not editor of the book, as such, Bambang Harsinuksmo must accept responsibility for all material published in that book, no matter who actually originated it. This principle applies in any arena where any material is published under a single author's name. A published work may well be the product of a team of people, but once the work is published, and attributed to a single author, the benefits and defects of that published work accrue to the nominated author. In fact, Ensiklopedi contains the work of a number of contributors, not only Suwarsono Lumintu, however, Bambang Harsrinuksmo is nominated as the author, not the editor. This implies that Bambang Harsinuksmo used information supplied by the various contributors to complete the writing of his book.This being the case, he was responsible for ensuring the accuracy of the published material, the people who supplied the material can be viewed as assistants over whom he had control.Regretably, his control procedures were inadequate, and any inaccuracies were his responsibility. I will make this point:- I have been aware of the error in the 1988 edition for almost 20 years; I have been aware of the error in the 2004 edition since I first obtained a copy of this edition; I am aware of other errors --- and I do not mean differences of opinion--- in both these books, and in other publications on the keris. I take no pleasure in bruiting these errors abroad nor in denigrating the work of these authors. One does not advance one's own reputation by attempting to lessen the reputation of others. I would have made no mention of this fault in Bambang Harsinuksmo's work were it not for the fact that we seem to have entered into what I consider to be a rather fatuous discussion in respect of keris origin, and I considered it necessary to shine a little light on the scholarship of writings which have generated this time wasting discussion. I sincerely hope that we can leave this nonsense of a Buddhist origin for the Javanese keris well and truly buried.