As a modest kris book author myself, I know very well how we are easily prone to mistakes even if we check and conter-check our descriptions.
I bought and carefully read Gardner's book and I found it interesting in spite of some mistakes or inaccuracies. He was serving in Malaysia so his knowledge of Javanese and Balinese krisses was probably less accurate than those from Malaysia and Sumatra.
Alan is asking to pinpoint some mistakes and I would indicate four of them in my opinion:
. In page 11 he shows 4 specimens of Balinese kris hilts of which one is obviously Madurese and the other most probably East Javanese.
. In pages 15 & 17, he shows a Jawa demam hilt from Sumatra which actually seems to be a burung hilt from Sulawesi or Riau.
. In page 17, he shows a Banjarmasin gilt copper hilt labelled as Javanese.
. In page 21, he shows a Bugis kris sheath which rather looks from Sumatra.
The pictures quality is poor by modern standards but this book remains a precious historical reference and was worth to be re-published in my opinion.
Jean
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