This page lists Javanese rare books and manuscripts that are part of the Southeast Asian Rare Book Collection at the Asian Division. There are more than 150 of these rare items, in a variety of formats--palm leaf manuscripts, and printed as well as handwritten books--and cover a range of genres such as language studies, religious stories, classic wayang (theatrical) stories, fables, and chronicles. The oldest dated item in the collection is a New Testament in Javanese, which was published in 1829, and the most recent publications date to 1939, one of which is a work on teaching the Javanese language. A notable item in the collection is an 1862 Javanese Illuminated manuscript, "Pangkat-pangkat caritanipun serat babad ing Tanah Jawi sedhaya : awit Gusti Nabi Adam dumugi sapunika," which has been digitized and is available to view online. Please note that not all of the Javanese rare books and manuscripts have been catalogued. The lists below do not reflect the complete holdings of Javanese rare books and manuscripts in the Southeast Asian Rare Book Collection at the Asian Division, and are periodically updated as items are catalogued or more information about them becomes available.

The list of Javanese rare books is broken up into "Javanese rare books" and "Javanese Christian rare books." The latter is a subset of the former, and has been compiled to highlight items used for Christian missionary activity. The term "manuscript" on this page refers to items that are handwritten. "Book" refers to printed material that is bound in book form.

Note: there are two Madurese items in the "Javanese rare books" table. These are marked with an asterisk.