This collection of letters was written by Raden Adjeng Kartini, the daughter of a Javanese civil servant in the Dutch colonial government. After being granted the rare opportunity to attend a Dutch elementary school, at the age of twelve she went into seclusion in accordance with Indonesian customs for women of nobility prior to marriage. Her letters to Dutch correspondents offer a captivating glimpse into the life and spirit of a woman who challenged the customs of her time and forcefully promoted the rights of women to obtain an education. This edition faithfully reproduces the first English translation, which was published in 1920, and includes a contemporary biographical essay by Guggenheim award-winning scholar E. M. Beekman, as well as a detailed chronology of Kartini’s life. Raden Adjeng Kartini (1879–1904) was a prominent Indonesian feminist and national hero. Despite societal constraints, she defied conventions and passionately fought for women’s rights and education. Kartini’s legacy continues in the form of “Kartini schools” for women and her birthday is a national holiday in Indonesia. Agnes Louise Symmers (1887–1941) was a well-schooled and respected American landscape painter and translator. She was a member of the National Arts Club in New York City and her work was represented by Montross Gallery, the leading art gallery of the time. She is now best known for her translation of Letters of a Javanese Princess from the original Dutch. Louis Couperus (1863–1923) was a Dutch novelist and poet and one of the major innovators of Dutch fiction. Eric M. Beekman was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1939 and emigrated to the United States in 1957. He earned his B.A. in English and Comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley in 1963 and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University in 1968. He taught for more than three decades in the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is the author of more than two dozen books. Raden Adjeng Kartini (1879-1904) was a prominent Indonesian feminist and national hero. Despite societal constraints, she defied conventions and passionately fought for women's rights and education. Kartini's legacy continues in the form of "Kartini schools" for women and her birthday is a national holiday in Indonesia. Agnes Louise Symmers (1887-1941) was a well-schooled and respected American landscape painter and translator. She was a member of the National Arts Club in New York City and her work was represented by Montross Gallery, the leading art gallery of the time. She is now best known for her translation of Letters of a Javanese Princess from the original Dutch. Eric M. Beekman was born in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, in 1939 and emigrated to the United States in 1957. He earned his B.A. in English and Comparative literature from the University of California at Berkeley in 1963 and his Ph.D. in Comparative Literature from Harvard University in 1968. He taught for more than three decades in the Department of Germanic Languages at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and is the author of more than two dozen books.