BOOK REVIEWS Sapirin bin Usman, Hikayat Nakhoda Asik; Muhammad Bakir, Hikayat Merpati Emas dan Merpati Perak. Edited by Henri Chambert-Loir. Jakarta: Masup Jakarta, École française d’Extrême Orient, Perpustakaan Nasional Republik Indonesia, 2009, 334 pp. [Naskah dan Dokumen Nusantara 26.] ISBN 978- 979-1570-664 (soft cover). Achadiati University of Indonesia Faculty of Humanities, Achadiati11130@yahoo.com Over the last 25 years, Chambert-Loir has demonstrated his interest in Muhammad Bakir, a member of a family of Betawi writers in the nineteenth century, and his collection of manuscripts, by exploring this important era in the history of Malay literature in Indonesia. His latest work is an edition of two manuscripts from this collection entitled Hikayat Nakhoda Asik (The Story of Captain Asik, further referred to as HNA) and Hikayat Merpati Emas dan Merpati Perak (The Story of the Golden Dove and the Silver Dove, referred to as HMM) accompanied by a critical review. Both manuscripts have been transliterated before: the HMM in 1984 by the National Library by an unknown transliterator and the HNA by Mu’jizah, published by the Pusat Pembinaan dan Pengembangan Bahasa, in 1995. A time lapse of almost ifteen years has apparently left its marks on the manuscripts so that the older transliterations (written when the manuscripts were still in a better condition) needed to be consulted in case of serious damage, although the writer mentions that “this edition is completely new”. This book presents several new points. First, although some mistypings managed to slip in, Chambert-Loir’s usual accuracy gives us a far better opportunity to enjoy and understand the stories. Secondly, he throws light on a number of important aspects present in Bakir’s writings earlier not found in Old Malay Literature and which certainly have not yet been discussed before. Also of importance and interest are the numerous wonderful illustrations which give the reader a clear impression of the character of the manuscript. The handwriting shows great variation and is sometimes very beautiful – Wacana, Vol. 12 No. 1 (April 2010): 201—218