SOURCE: An introduction in John Company by Arthur van Schendel, edited by E. M. Beekman, translated by Frans van Rosevelt, The University of Massachusetts Press, 1983, pp. 1-12.

In the following essay, van Rosevelt discusses themes and characters of John Company, and its similarities to The Johanna Maria.

There is no better introduction to the everyday experiences of men and women during the early days of the East Indies Company than John Company. It provides a first-hand account of the perils at sea and in the newly discovered Indonesian Islands. To Arthur van Schendel, its author, the work represented a journey back, both to Indonesia, where he had been born, and to Amsterdam, where he spent his youth during a time when that city was also young and growing.

John Company is considered one of the five best books that the prolific Van Schendel wrote between 1930 and 1935. It was...