204 Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010) However, the other signs are not found in other Jawi manuscripts and are M. Bakir’s own invention. In some other Indonesian languages the same system to indicate vocals with special marks is applied when using the Arabic alphabet like pegon and Buri Wolio writings. M. Bakir’s efforts indicate that he considers the Jawi alphabet not quite perfect. The question then is: how readable was Bakir’s manuscript for his readers? Is it possible that he suspects that some of his readers would have been unable to read Betawi words? Chambert-Loir considers Bakir’s spelling quite good: words originating from Arabic are written with etymological spelling, although there are several deviations. Words considered originating from a foreign language (in this case Sanskrit) are written with consideration of their original sounds (in this case sy). But a hypercorrect trend is also present: besar (big) is written besyar; this, however, is quite common in Old Malay manuscripts. The morphology and syntax of the text reveal the inluence of various languages, speciically informal Betawi dialect as well as several other languages. When using words that are not Malay, the author often provides (sometimes faulty) explanations and translations. This is not found in other Malay manuscripts. Chambert-Loir’s work explores a unique literary process and its cultural background in the process of undergoing a profound change which is Batavia moving from traditional to modern. M. Bakir, as one of its representatives, is an active participant in this process who translates all the restlessness of his time into words in a creative and original way. Chambert-Loir’s research awakens our interest to further unearth and analyse other undetected gems in the literature of Nusantara. -------------------------------- Mu’jizah, Iluminasi dalam surat-surat Melayu abad ke-18 dan ke-19. Jakarta: Kepustakaan Populer Gramedia, École française d’Extrême-Orient, Pusat Bahasa–Departemen Pendidikan Nasional, and KITLV-Jakarta, 2009, 204 pp. [Seri Buku Pustaka hikmah Disertasi (PhD) 2.] ISBN 978-979-91-0175-4. Price: IDR 70,000 (soft cover). Dewaki Kramadibrata Faculty of Humanities, University of Indonesia dewaki.kramadibrata@ui.ac.id In 1991, a bilingual book entitled Golden Letters: Writing Traditions of Indonesia; Surat Emas: Budaya Tulis di Indonesia (Annabel Teh Gallop and Bernard Arps) was published. It contains many illustrations of letters in Malay and Javanese written by Nusantara kings to European and other rulers in the past. Subsequently, in 1994, a book entitled The Legacy of the Malay Letter; Warisan Warkah Melayu (Annabel Teh Gallop) was published. Since