The Malay Archipelago

First published in 1869, this travel and natural-history narrative records Wallace's eight years in the islands now divided among Indonesia, Malaysia, and Papua. He describes collecting beetles, birds, and orangutans, living in Malay and Papuan villages, and sailing among the Moluccas, Sulawesi, and the Aru Islands. A central argument is the faunal break later called the Wallace Line, separating Asian and Australian animals. The book is a field journal of biogeography and encounter, not a political history of the Dutch East Indies.

Bound in mid-blue cloth printed and blocked with a dark blue picture and gilt lettering. Dark blue slipcase front blocked with a green and gilt image.