VII. In Focus: Kleynenberg and Co

The following is an advertisement for a series of images published by Kleynenberg & Co. It is taken from the magazine Neerlandi(Geuze & Co, Dordrecht 1912), vol. 16, https://www.dbnl.org/tekst/_nee003191201_01/_nee003191201_01_0574.php.
Translation into English by Sadiah Boonstra

The publishers Kleynenberg, Boissevain & Co. in Haarlem have undertaken a project by which our Netherlands East Indies can be better known and appreciated in the Netherlands. Their business partner, Mr H.F. Wagenaar Reisiger travelled to the Netherlands East Indies to obtain photographic images there, which could be used in primary and high schools in the Netherlands. The Netherlands East Indies government has expressed its satisfaction with this plan by making available the talent of the well-known photographer J. Demmens, who, among others, has photographed Mr A.W. Nieuwenhuis on his journey across Borneo. The project is carried out under the supervision of Dr. A.W. Nieuwenhuis, professor in Leiden, who also, together with the expert gentlemen Mr L.A. Bakhuis, Dr. H.D. Ben jamins, prof. J.F. Niermeyer, Dr. J. Dekker, has shown willingness to edit the accompanying text. The intention is to have a number of 170 plates concerning our Overseas Possessions (East and West) appear in collotype. The first series of 50 plates is now ready. From 10 to 12 September inhabitants of The Hague had the opportunity to view these plates in the Salon of the Malay Mr J. Saritjan. Beautifully executed, they give a clear, distinct picture of the tropical nature, of the various enterprises of the Indigenous people and of the Europeans in the Netherlands East Indies, of the Indigenous people and European society there. Beautiful, lush landscapes, wild natural scenes, fertile (rice) fields, of the main cultures tea, sugar, rubber, etc. both their cultivation and manufacture, the petroleum company at Balikpapan, the state coal company at Sawahloents, the tin ore dredge on Banka, and many more are so vividly and clearly depicted that we do not hesitate to call this expenditure a precious acquisition for anyone who wishes to take a glance at the life and business in our Netherlands East Indies, specifically schools. That is, one might say, what has hitherto been lacking in giving a clear and true picture of our Netherlands East Indies. The price, f 37.50, for each of the first three successive series of 50 plates of the Netherlands East Indies, f 15 for the fourth with 20 plates of the West Indies, in addition to f 2.40 for the three accompanying books seems not too high, taken into account the manner of execution. The plates measure 60 by 73 centimetres on heavy cardboard collotype on lithograph.