What's on your bookshelf?

[David]

I would certainly agree that Alan's list is fairly comprehensive. I own the large majority of references on it.
I would also emphasize that if you are at all serious about getting a handle on understanding the keris that you also check out some of the books on his "Cultural and Historical Background" list as understanding this weapon is absolutely impossible without grasping an idea of the culture from which the keris emerged and flourished. I highly recommend Visible and Invisible Realms by Margaret J.Wiener for an inside into Bali.

[Jean]

For a beginning collector I would highly recommend the Krisdisk from the late Kasten Sejr Jensen, it may not be easy to find but should be available at the Ethnographic Art Books Library in Leiden (The Netherlands) or from Dutch sellers like Devriesantiek on Marktplaats. This is the best picture book about the keris IMO and it includes a well documented keris history as well.
Regards

[harrywagner]

Many thanks for the replies. It is incredibly helpful to be able to get recommendations like this.

Here are a few photos of my first keris. I can't imagine why these did not seem appealing to me sooner! I like it, but know almost nothing about Indonesian weapons (yet). Any comments would be most welcome. No need to tip-toe around. I've a long history of buyer mistakes and am able to just laugh them off.

Cheers!
Harry

[David]

One thing to absolutely keep in mind Harry is that almost none of these books on keris can be 100% accurate all the time. I believe "The World of the Javanese Keris" by Garrett and Bronwen Solyom is perhaps one of the most accurate of all these books, though it does deal with only a small area of the keris world. You will also encounter a great deal of conflicting information from book to book, especially when dealing with names of pamor patterns and dhapurs and such. Names change from region to region, so this info is not necessary wrong, just different. Names also change over time periods sometimes.
You will also find that certain books merely repeat old myths and legends that don't necessarily hold water (though may have some cultural value).
In the words, all reading on things keris are best taken with a few grains of salt.

[David]

I would suggest that you start a new thread to talk about this first keris of yours since this thread was started as a query on books.

[harrywagner]

Originally Posted by David

I would suggest that you start a new thread to talk about this first keris of yours since this thread was started as a query on books.

Thanks David. Good idea. What's the common practice for doing that? Should I just upload the photos again to the new post or just link to the photos in this post?

[Henk]

I think you should upload the pictures in your new thread.

[David]

Originally Posted by Henk

I think you should upload the pictures in your new thread.

I agree with Henk and see that you have already done so. So hopefully folks will comment on it over there.
More conversation on books here is always welcome as well.