The publication of the Oost-Indische Spiegel by Rob Nieuwenhuys in 1972 was not only a heart-warming event for many former inhabitants of Indonesia in Holland. It was also a valuable addition to historical knowledge about a particular aspect of Dutch overseas expansion. The Dutch Indian belles lettres offered a glimpse on the sociologically curious society of those days, on colonial relations and conditions within indigenous society. This last element is particularly present in Maria Dermouts writing on the Moluccas, that of S.Lulofs on Deli and a figure such as Tjoet Nyak Dien, and of Dubekart on the region of Kediri around 1870.