Until recently the Philippines were hardly known in the Netherlands. In academic circles the focus was on Indonesia, and publications on the Philippine part of the Malay archipelago tended to be inspired by matters of economy and state in the former Netherlands East Indies. The 1970s and 1980s showed a substantial broadening of scope and increase in research as well as popular interest in the Philippines, as is evidenced by the large majority of the 349 titles mentioned and annotated in this publication. Many early publications contain interesting information and views as well, however. Pre-war authors who are mainly known for their work on Indonesia, such as Valentijn, Van Hovell, Kern, Abendanon, E.F.E. Douwes Dekker, Van Vollenhoven, Van Mook, and Holleman, at one or more stages of their careers also devoted attention to the Philippines.

The primary aim of this bibliography is to offer the international and Filipino scholarly public access to articles and books written by Dutch authors on the history, sociology, anthropology and to a lesser extent the geography, languages, economy, and culture of the Philippines. About two hundred of them appeared in the Dutch language.
The bibliography proper is preceded by an introduction on the history of relation between the Philippines and the Netherlands and the Netherlands Indies and on shifts in the subjects of Dutch scholarly research as well as popular interest. Access to the titles is facilitated by a geographical and a subject index.