[6] The work was initially meant to be an English translation of Pokok dan Tokoh, but Teeuw found his earlier book out of date.
[3] While in this position, Teeuw, Petrus Josephus Zoetmulder, P. Galestin, Stuart Robson, and Peter Worsley translated the kakawin Siwaratrikalpa; featuring notes and historical background, the translation was published as the first installment of the Bibliotheca Indonesica series, published by the Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies.
He borrowed elements of linguistics in his 1980 work Tergantung Pada Kata (Hanging on Words), an analysis of Indonesian poetry.
[9] Teeuw described Marah Roesli's Sitti Nurbaya (1923) as the first true Indonesian novel, as the earlier Azab dan Sengsara (Pain and Suffering; 1920) by Merari Siregar was less developed.
[10] He wrote that Sitti Nurbaya, Abdul Muis' Salah Asuhan (Wrong Upbringing; 1928), and Sutan Takdir Alisjahbana's Layar Terkembang (With Sails Unfurled; 1936) were the most important pre-war novels.