Southeast Asia has been a zone of contact for thousands of years, with Europeans becoming an important group in the region starting about five centuries ago (earlier in some places and much later in others). By the nineteenth century, the Spanish, Portuguese, Dutch, English, and French had come to rule large parts of Southeast Asia, and as a result, left much documentation on the region--government reports, travel accounts, dictionaries, grammars, religious texts, works of literature, laws, and maps. Such material can be found in different parts of the Library of Congress.

This guide provides an entry point to those seeking rare and unique European-language resources related to Southeast Asia at the Library of Congress. Rather than present comprehensive listings of material, this guide aims to give an overview of rare European-language items found in different reading rooms at the Library, highlight a selection of those that might be significant for researchers interested in Southeast Asia, and suggest search strategies to aid with exploration of the Library's collections.