This Earth of Mankind - Published By Ex-political Prisoners

Published By Ex-political Prisoners

After release from detention in April 1980, Hasjim Rachman, the former editor of the Eastern Star and Pramoedya met with Joesoef Isak, a former journalist of the Merdeka newspaper who had been detained in Salemba prison. After various discussion, an agreement was reached to publish works by ex-political prisoners that had not previously been welcomed by other publishers.

The manuscript chosen as the first work to be published was This Earth of Mankind (Bumi Manusia). Pramoedya began working hard to sort through the papers that he had managed to retrieve from the island of Buru. Nearly all the original manuscript had been detained by the prison officials and had not been returned. For three months he re-composed and sorted through the stained and weather-worn pages to create the manuscript for the book. In the meantime, Hasjim and Joesoef made the rounds of key government officials, including the Vice-President, Adam Malik, who were positively disposed towards the enterprise.

In July 1980, the manuscript of This Earth of Mankind was sent to the Aga Press printers with the hope that it would be published before the celebrations for the Indonesian Declaration of Independence on the 17th August, although in the end it was published on the 25th of August, having been delayed by the celebrations. This first edition was very simple, with no illustrations. For Pramoedya, the publishing of This Earth of Mankind signified his "determination, sincerity, and resolution to invest in the development of democracy in Indonesia - and not a democracy built upon colonialism, but a democracy that is the result of our own efforts".

5,000 copies of This Earth of Mankind sold in the space of 12 days. Within a few months of being published, several publishers in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Netherlands, and Australia approached the publishers, Hasta Mitra, for permission to prepare translations. Pramoedya as the author would receive royalties on these translations, while the role of Hasta Mitra was only to act as agents. The Wira Karya publishing house in Malaysia paid royalties of as much as 12% direct to Pramoedya.

By November, Hasta Mitra had published its third edition, and had sold as many as 10,000 copies. The book was well-received critically, acclaimed as "the best work of literature of our times", while the Armed Forces daily newspaper, published by the headquarters of the Indonesian Armed Forces called it "a new contribution to the treasury of Indonesian literature".