William Marsden

William Marsden (born November 16, 1754 in Verval , County Wicklow , Ireland , † October 6, 1836 ) was an English orientalist , linguist, numismatist and scientific explorer of the island of Sumatra .

Live and act

William Marsden was the son of a wealthy merchant. He went to school in Dublin. He was preparing to attend Trinity College, Dublin , but in 1770 decided to follow his brother John and enter the civil service of the British East India Company in western Sumatra . In the same year he embarked in Gravesend and reached Bengkulu (then Bencoolen) on the west coast of Sumatra in 1771, at the age of only 16 . Here he first worked as Undersecretary at Fort Marlborough, but soon rose to higher positions and ended up in the office of the main government secretariat. Marsden studied the Malay languages and collected all oral and written information about the countries and peoples of Sumatra. In 1779 he returned to Europe. In England he received a pension.

By Joseph Banks and other members of the Royal Society , he was encouraged to publish his knowledge and brought materials. The result is his main work, The History of Sumatra , the first detailed overall representation of Sumatra, with extensive information on flora and fauna, economy, social structures, religions and languages of this island. He was also the first to publish the Batak alphabet in this book and thus contributed significantly to the study of the language of this people.

In London Marsden was second secretary from 1795, from 1804 to 1807 first secretary at the Admiralty. He then retired and took up residence in Edge Grove, Aldenham, Hertfordshire.

His grammar of the Malay language, begun in 1786, was published in 1812. In 1818 a translation of Marco Polo's Travels from Italian followed. In 1834 he bequeathed his oriental and Indian coins to the British Museum . Marsden left behind a rich collection of letters, documents and research material; He bequeathed parts of it to King's College London during his lifetime in 1835 .

Marsden suffered an apoplexy in 1833 , of which he died on October 6, 1836. He was buried in Kensal Green Cemetery , London.

His autobiography was published by his widow Elizabeth as A brief memoir of the life and writings of the late William Marsden / written by himself, with notes from his correspondence in 1838 by Cox and Sons in London.

Honors and memberships

In January 1783 he was accepted as a member (" Fellow ") in the Royal Society . He held the office of treasurer from 1802 to 1810 and from 1803 to 1810 that of a vice-president of the Royal Society. As Vice President, he had to replace President Joseph Banks on several occasions because of illness.

In 1784 he was elected as a member of the Asiatic Society in Calcutta , in 1785 he became a member of the Society of Antiquaries of London . Marsden was one of the original members of the Royal Irish Academy in 1785 . In 1786 he received a Doctor of Civil Law from Oxford University . In 1799 he became a member of the Literary Club .

Fonts (selection)

The History of Sumatra.
Illustrations in the 3rd edition, 1811
A) Title, ethnology, map

title

A Malay, native of Bencoolen [Redjang]

A Village House in Sumatra

A plantation house in Sumatra

Entrance of Padang River

View of Padang Hill

Sumatran weapons

Sumatran alphabet

A Map of the Island of Sumatra in the East Indies . - The arrow points to Marsden's whereabouts.

B) Botany and Zoology
(20 panels)

Marsdenia Tinctoria

Mangustin Fruit

The rambutan

The Lanseh Fruit

The Rambeh

The Kamiling

The Kambing Utan

Skull from the Kambing Utan and Kijang

The Anjing Ayer - I.

The Anjing Ayer - II

The Kijang or Roe

The Palandok

The Musang

The Landak

The Tanggiling

Lemur volans

The Kubin

Beaks of the Buckeros

The Pepper Plant

The Dammar

Marsden's main work: The History Of Sumatra; 1st edition 1783; The History Of Sumatra, Containing An Account of the Government, Laws, Customs, and Manners Of the Native Inhabitants, With A Description of the Natural Productions, And A Relation of the Ancient Political State Of that Island. By William Marsden, FRS Late Secretary to the President and Council Of Fort Marlborough. - London: Printed for the Author, and Sold by Thomas Payne and Son, Mew's-Gate; Benjamin White, Fleet-street; James Robson, New Bond-street; P. Elmsly, Strand; Leigh and Sotheby, York-street Covent Garden; and J. Sewell, Cornhill, MDCCXXXIII. VIII, 375 p., 6 nn. S. Index. 4 °. Cover picture: Folded map of Sumatra. After p. 168: Tablet with Rejang, Batta and Lampoon alphabet. - Digitization of the Bavarian State Library: reader.digitale-sammlungen.de . Retrieved June 4, 2012.; 2nd edition 1784; The History Of Sumatra … [as before]. - The Second Edition. - London ... [as before], MDCCXXXIV. [Content unchanged]; 3rd edition 1811

A Dictionary Of The Malayan Language , In Two Parts, Malayan And English And English And Malayan. - By William Marsden, FRS Author Of The History Of Sumatra. - London: Printed for the Author by Cox and Baylis, Great Queen Street; and sold by Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, Paternoster-Row, and Black, Parry, and Kingsbury, Booksellers to the Honorable East-India-Company, Leadenhall-Street. - 1812. - [2] Bl., XV, 589 S., [1] Bl .; 4 ° - PDF file: sabrizain.org (45.4 MB). Retrieved June 6, 2012.
A Catalog Of Dictionaries, Vocabularies, Grammars, And Alphabets. In two parts. - Part I. Alphabetic Catalog Of Authors. II. Chronological Catalog Of Works In Each Class Of Language. - By William Marsden, FRS & c. - London: Printed 1796. - [6], 154 p. 4 °
The Travels Of Marco Polo , A Venetian In The Thirteenth Century, Being A Description, By That Early Traveler, Of Remarkable Places And Things, In The Eastern Parts Of The World. Translated From The Italian, With Notes. - By William Marsden, FRS & c. - With a map. - London: Printed For The Author, By Cox And Baylis, Great Queen Street; And Sold By Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, And Brown, Paternoster-Row; And Black, Parry, And Kingsbury, Parbury And Allen, Leadenhall-Street. MDCCCXVIII. [1818] LXXX, 781 p. 4 °. - Full review: babel.hathitrust.org (English). - (The translation was also included in Everyman's Library , Volume 306.)
Numismata Orientalia Illustrata: The Oriental Coins, Ancient And Modern, Of His Collection, Described And Historically Illustrated by William Marsden. FRS & c., & C. - With Numerous Plates, From Drawings Made Under His Inspection. - Part I. [Part II.] - London: Printed For The Author, By Cox And Baylis, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn-Fields; And Sold By Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, And Brown, Paternoster-Row; And Kingsbury, Parbury And Allen, Leadenhall-Street. - MDCCCXXIII. [MDCCCXXV] - [1823 or 1825] - 2 volumes: XIX, [5], 840 pages (paginated throughout), LVII panels. 4 °.
Bibliotheca Marsdeniana Philologica Et Orientalis: A Catalog Of Books And Manuscripts Collected With A View To The General Comparison Of Languages, And To The Study Of Oriental Literature, By William Marsden, FRS & c. - London: Printed By JL Cox, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's-Inn Fields. 1827. - 308 pp., 2 nn. Bl., 4 °. - Digital copy: books.google.de . Retrieved June 6, 2012.

literature

Marsden, William (1754–1836) biographical data sheet at King's College London (English)

Entry to Marsden; William (1754–1836) in the Archives of the Royal Society , London

Marsden, William . In: Encyclopædia Britannica . 11th edition. tape 17 : Lord Chamberlain - Mecklenburg . London 1911, p. 766 (English, full text [ Wikisource ]).

William Marsden at the National Portrait Gallery (short biography and portraits)

William Marsden: A brief memoir of the life and writings of the late William Marsden, DCL, FRS, & c., & C. written by himself: With notes from his correspondence. London: Printed by JL Cox and sons, 75, Great Queen Street, Lincoln's Inn Fields. For private circulation only. 1838. VII, 177, 101 p. 4 ° books.google.de

Achim Sibeth: Living with your ancestors. BATAK. People of Indonesia . With contributions by Uli Kozok and Juara Ginting. Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart / London. 240 p., 330 illustrations. - Published on the occasion of the exhibition of the same name in the Linden Museum Stuttgart from June 7 to September 30, 1990.

Web links

Commons : The History of Sumatra (book) - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

William Marsden. In: Encyclopædia Britannica . Retrieved November 16, 2019(English).

Individual evidence

↑ Uli Kozok. In: Achim Sibeth (Ed.): Living with the ancestors. BATAK. People of Indonesia . With contributions by Uli Kozok and Juara Ginting. Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart / London, p. 100

personal data
SURNAME	Marsden, William
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	English orientalist, linguist, numismatist and scientific explorer of the island of Sumatra
DATE OF BIRTH	November 16, 1754
PLACE OF BIRTH	Verval , County Wicklow , Ireland
DATE OF DEATH	October 6, 1836

[1] Uli Kozok. In: Achim Sibeth (Ed.): Living with the ancestors. BATAK. People of Indonesia . With contributions by Uli Kozok and Juara Ginting. Edition Hansjörg Mayer, Stuttgart / London, p. 100