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Journal article
An Englishman and a Scotsman in Vienna. ‘Tom’ and Tom Leonard in ‘The Tom Poems’ by Bob Cobbing
The Tom Poems’ originates in the chance discovery by Cobbing of a book of theoretical linguistics in a bookshop in Vienna, during a visit to the city in the company of Tom Leonard, in 1983, to perform at a sound poetry festival. Written with Leonard (implicitly) in mind, the language...Beckett, Chris
found poetry, grammar, vernacular, sound poetry, Tom Leonard, derived poetry, Bob Cobbing, and phonetic transcription
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Journal article
Dilemmas in archiving contemporary material: the example of the British Library
The dilemmas faced by institutions in archiving contemporary materials are exemplified by current practices at the British Library. With a growing collection aiming to be comprehensive and of use to researchers, tensions between selectivity and universality in acquisition are soon brought to the fore. Similarly, a sensible collection strategy must...England, Jude ; Bacchini, Simone
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Journal article
Categorizing tin phosphate/silicate-weighted silks on site by near-infrared spectroscopy
One of the most versatile instrumental analytical techniques for the non-interventive characterization of organic artefacts is near-infrared spectroscopy. In the case of textiles, methodology has recently emerged for assessing the condition of historic silks on site and a corresponding protocol that allows the simultaneous weighting categorization of silks would be...Garside, Paul ; Wyeth, Paul ; Zhang, Xiaomei
costume, silk, tin weighting, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR), weighting classification, and multivariate analysis
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Journal article
Articulation markings in Manuscript Sources of Luigi Boccherini’s String Quintets
Unlike many eighteenth-century virtuoso violoncellists, Luigi Boccherini did not write a string treatise. His influence and contribution to historical performance practice is widely known today through his solo works, his violoncello sonatas and concertos, which best reflect his virtuosic techniques and overall use of the instrument. Yet, his chamber works...Drosopoulou, Loukia
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Research report
Technology report: Web-archiving
Web archiving technology enables the capture, preservation and reproduction of valuable content from the live web in an archival setting, so that it can be independently managed and preserved for future generations. This report introduces and discusses the key issues faced by organizations engaged in web archiving initiatives, whether they...Pennock, Maureen
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Blog post
Conference on Digital Islamic Humanities
Two representatives from the British Library attended the recent conference, ‘The Digital Humanities + Islamic and Middle Eastern Studies’, hosted by the Middle Eastern Studies Department of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Organised by Dr Elias Muhanna and held on 24-25 October 2013, this conference sought to bring together...Lowe, Daniel ; Sobers-Khan, Nurs
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Blog post
Book of Affairs of Love
Karnama-i ‘Ishq (Book of affairs of love) by the Hindu poet Rai Anand Ram Mukhlis (d. 1751) is a romance in Persian on the afflictions of a young man’s heart and the challenges he faces for eternal love. The poetical narrative is derived from an existing Hindi literary work, the...Roy, Malini
Mughal India, South Asia, and art
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Blog post
Marianne North's Visions of India
The British Library holds one of the richest archives of prints, drawings and photographs from South Asia. As Visual Arts Curator, exploring the vast collections and learning about the history of the works of art is just part of my daily activities. Although my previous blog posts have focused on...Roy, Malini
South East Asia, South Asia, and art
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Blog post
A farewell to the Mughals
British Library's exhibition Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire closed on 2 April 2013. The last few days of the exhibition saw a record number of visitors! Since opening in November 2012, we have been surprised by the overwhelming response from the press and social media. We never anticipated being...Roy, Malini
science, Mughal India, and art
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Blog post
Mughal painting by Faizallah recently acquired by the British Library
In our recent exhibition and the accompanying publication Mughal India: Art, Culture and Empire, we featured paintings made in Delhi as well as at the Mughal province of Awadh during the 18th century. In March, we were able to add to our collection a splendid work by the artist Faizallah...Roy, Malini
Mughal India, South Asia, and art
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Book chapter
Space: changing the boundaries
This chapter considers developments in collaborative approaches to the enhancement of academic library space. Brophy defined the purpose of the academic library as follows: Academic libraries are here to enable and enhance learning in all its forms – whether it be the learning of a first year undergraduate coming to...Jolly, Liz
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Book chapter
Maps, Knowledge and Resilience: Application of ArcGIS in Building Small Islands’ Resilience to Climate Change
Small, low-lying islands are one of the most vulnerable social-ecological systems to climate change. Inundation caused by storm surges and sea level rise makes habitability a serious concern for islanders. This chapter explores how co-production of knowledge through a collaborative local and scientific inquiry could contribute to small islands’ resilience... -
Journal article
The conservation of the burnt Cotton Collection
The Cotton Collection is one of the British Library's foundation collections and represents the single greatest known resource of medieval and early modern British history and literature. Its care and conservation are of great importance to allow access to the collection both now and in the future. The collection had...Beltran de Guevara, Mariluz ; Garside, Paul
burnt parchment, damage, survey, scientific research, and conservation treatment
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Dataset
JISC UK Web Domain Dataset Geoindex. 1996 - 2010. TSV.
The dataset comprises ~2.5 billion 200 OK responses in the 1996 - 2010 tranche of the JISC UK Web Domain Dataset Dataset which have been scanned for geographic references - specifically postcodes. This set of postcode citations, found at particular URLs and crawled at particular times, forms an historical geoindex...UK Web Archive
archive, 1996-2011, JISC UK, geoindex, UKWA Open Data, and web domain dataset
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Journal article
Boccherini as Chamber Composer to Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia: some insights from the Catalogues of the king’s Music Collection
King Friedrich Wilhelm II of Prussia (1744-1797) had a strong interest in Boccherini’s music already from his time as Crown Prince. His collection contained almost the complete published oeuvre of the composer, acquired before Boccherini’s official employment with him begun. In October 1783 the prince sent a letter of interest...Drosopoulou, Loukia
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Conference paper (unpublished)
Authority and Judgement in the Digital Archive
The transformative promise of the digital humanities is not without problems. This paper looks at digital archive curation using a database of 19th-century London concerts as a case study. We examine some of the barriers faced in its development, related to expertise, volume and complexity, the gap between cost and...Dix, Alan ; Cowgill, Rachel ; Bashford, Christina ; McVeigh, Simon ; Ridgewell, Rupert
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Learning object
"مأساة الخليج العربي": وفاة وتَرِكة جون جوردون لوريمر
لقد اعتُبِرَت الوفاة المبكرة لجون جوردون لوريمر، المقيم المُفوّض في الخليج العربي ١٩١٣-١٩١٤، مأساة حزينة. مع ذلك فإن تَرِكته المتمثلة في "دليل الخليج وعمان ووسط الجزيرة العربية"، الذي ظهر بعد أربعين عامًا من وفاته، ظلت مصدرًا أساسيًا لجميع الدراسات التي أُجريت عن الخليج منذ ذلك الحين. في صباح يوم الأحد...Lowe, Daniel
المكان, موسوعات, عمليات الاستخبارات, بوشهر, and الخليج العربي
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Research report
European Documentation Centres: Challenges for the EDCs’ work in the 21st century
This e-catalogue on 'The challenges for the EDCs’ work in the 21st century' has been produced to confront three important challenges which EDCs are facing in their daily work. The EDC Pan-European Working Group 2012-13 has discussed these challenges and would like to share its findings with the rest of...Directorate-General for Communication (European Commission)
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Blog post
Distinctive leg-of-mutton legs and fine jewels: a new display of Indian paintings in the Treasures of the British Library
Regular visitors to the Sir John Ritblat Gallery: Treasures of the British Library, may have encountered our recent display of Natural History drawings from India next to the entrance to the Magna Carta. From 8 March 2014, a new display of Indian paintings from the Visual Arts collection will be...Roy, Malini
Hinduism, South Asia, exhibitions, and art
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Blog post
The accident that befell Sir Donald Friell McLeod
Even if the attendant or station inspector had shouted ‘Mind the Gap’ (the phrase first used in 1969 at rail stations in the United Kingdom), it would not have prevented the horrific accident that befell Sir Donald Friell McLeod at the railway station at Gloucester Road in 1872. Arriving at...Roy, Malini
religion, South Asia, art, and visual arts
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Blog post
William Beckford's albums on Hindu mythology
The English novelist and noted bibliophile William Beckford is highlighted in the British Library’s current exhibition ‘Terror and Wonder: the Gothic Imagination’. Exhibition curators (Greg Buzwell, Tanya Kirk and Tim Pye) feature Beckford’s Gothic novel Vathek as one of the earliest examples in this style. Beckford’s masterpiece expressed the ‘orientalist...Roy, Malini
Hinduism, religion, South Asia, exhibitions, and art
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Learning object
للملك جورج الخامس مها الملك: هدية ابن سعود الدبلوماسية
كانت هدية ابن سعود في سنة ١٩٢٠عبارة عن أنثى المها وهي أول هدية تمكنت من التغلب على الرحلة الصعبة من الجزيرة العربية إلى لندن. في رسالة بين ملك بريطانيا وأمير نجد في سنة ١٩٢٠م لوحظ أن حيوانًا "فريدًا من نوعه" قد وصل إلى لندن، وفي الواقع "لم يصل آي حيوان...Lowe, Daniel
آل سعود, المملكة العربية السعودية, الحرب العالمية الأولى (١٩١٤-١٩١٨), and سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود
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Learning object
وفاة النقيب شكسبير
تُسلط رواية غير معروفة حكاها شاهد عيان، وحصل عليها الوكلاء البريطانيون بالبحرين من قبيل الصدفة، الضوء على وفاة وليام هنري إيرفين شكسبير. يعتبر النقيب وليام هنري إيرفين شكسبير شخصية غامضة في تاريخ العلاقات الإنجليزية السعودية. ورغم أنه كان من أصغر الوكلاء السياسيين سناً ممن خدموا في الخليج، إلا أنه من...Lowe, Daniel
آل سعود, المملكة العربية السعودية, الحرب العالمية الأولى (١٩١٤-١٩١٨), الكويت, العمليات العسكرية, سعود بن عبد العزيز آل سعود, and نجد
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Learning object
The King’s Oryx: Ibn Saud’s Diplomatic Gift to George V
In 1920, a gift from Ibn Saud in the form of a female oryx was the first ever to have survived the difficult journey from Arabia to London. In correspondence between HM the King and the Amir of Najd of 1920 it was noted that an animal ‘unique of its...Lowe, Daniel
Āl Sa'ūd (Family), King of Saudi Arabia Sa'ūd bin 'Abd al-'Azīz Āl Sa'ūd, Saudi Arabia, and First World War (1914-1918)
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Learning object
The Death of Captain Shakespear
A little known first-hand account, that the British Agents in Bahrain garnered by chance, sheds light on William Henry Irvine Shakespear’s death. Captain William Henry Irvine Shakespear is an enigmatic figure in the history of Anglo-Saudi relations. Although he was one of the youngest Political Agents to serve in the...Lowe, Daniel
military operations, Naid, Āl Sa'ūd (Family), Kuwait, King of Saudi Arabia Sa'ūd bin 'Abd al-'Azīz Āl Sa'ūd, Saudi Arabia, and First World War (1914-1918)
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Blog post
George Percy Churchill’s Biographical Notices of Persian Statesmen and Notables
In 1906, the Government of India Foreign Department published (and republished in 1910) an index of prominent Qajar statesmen, compiled by George Percy Churchill, Oriental Secretary at the British Legation in Tehran. According to Cyrus Ghani, this collection of notes and genealogical tables, entitled Biographical Notices of Persian Statesmen and...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
Performing Authority: the ‘Islamic’ Seals of British Colonial Officers
The function of seals as symbols of textual authority and ownership is deeply rooted in the Islamic world, especially in Arabic and Persian-speaking societies. Historically, seals were used for authorising various documents, including letters and legal contracts, and for marking the ownership of books and manuscripts. Edward William Lane attests...Lowe, Daniel
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Learning object
‘Persian Gulf Tragedy’: the Death and Legacy of John Gordon Lorimer
The untimely death of John Gordon Lorimer, acting Resident in the Persian Gulf 1913–14, was seen as a tragedy. Yet, his legacy – in the form of his Gazetteer of the Persian Gulf, Oman and Central Arabia – emerged forty years later and has remained central to the study of...Lowe, Daniel
gazetteers, intelligence operations, Bahrain, Būshehr, and Persian Gulf
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Learning object
وفاة الملكة فيكتوريا: سياسات الحداد الخاصة بالبريطانيين في الخليج
تكشف التعليمات المُرسلة إلى الوكيل المحلي في الشارقة بعيد وفاة الملكة فيكتوريا في ١٩٠١ بشأن كيفية الحداد على وفاتها عن عدة جوانب لبنية الإمبراطورية من خلال ممارسات الحداد الشعائرية. فعلى الرغم من أن الملكة فيكتوريا لم تطأ قدمها أرض الإمبراطورية التي تربعت على عرشها حيث نالت لقب إمبراطورة الهند في...Lowe, Daniel
العلاقات الخارجية, الشارقة, and بوشهر
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Learning object
The Death of Queen Victoria: the Politics of Mourning for the British in the Gulf
Upon the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, instructions sent to the Native Agent at Sharjah on how to visibly mourn her death reveal aspects of the construction of empire via ritual mourning practices. Although Queen Victoria never set foot on the soil of the empire over which she was...Lowe, Daniel
foreign relations, Sharjah, and Bushire
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Learning object
ثروة الشيخ جاسم بن مُحمد آل ثاني ووفاته
عقب وفاة الشيخ جاسم بن محمد آل ثاني في ١٩١٣، أكتشف البريطانيون ثروته الطائلة عبر التقارير الاستخباراتية التي أرسلها له يوسف بن أحمد كانو. في ١٢ يوليو ١٩١٣، تلقى الرائد آرثر بريسكوت تريفور، الوكيل البريطاني في البحرين تقريرًا عاجلاً من يوسف بن أحمد كانو، التاجر البحريني الذي عمل أيضًا بدوام...Lowe, Daniel
الوهابيون (قبيلة) and قطر
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Learning object
A Considerable Fortune: The Wealth, and Death, of Sheikh Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī'
At the time of Sheikh Jāsim bin Muḥammad Āl Thānī’s death in 1913, his great wealth was revealed to the British in intelligence reports sent by Yūsuf bin Aḥmad Kanoo. On 12 July 1913, Major Arthur Prescott Trevor, the British Political Agent at Bahrain, received an urgent report from Yūsuf...Lowe, Daniel
Qatar and Wahabi (Tribe)
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Blog post
‘Persian Gulf tragedy’ – the death of John Gordon Lorimer
On the morning of Sunday 8 February 1914, John Gordon Lorimer, the officiating British Resident in the Persian Gulf at Bushire, retired to his dressing room to ascertain the exact calibre of his automatic pistol as he wished to order cartridges from Bombay. He was later found lying on the...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
‘The Jewish State of Eastern Arabia’
In September 1917, Lord Francis Bertie, British Ambassador to France, received an unusual proposal from Dr M L Rothstein, a Paris-based Russian Jew. Bertie explained to the Foreign Secretary, Arthur James Balfour, that Rothstein proposed the Entente Powers should equip and organise an army ‘for the conquest of the Turkish...Lowe, Daniel
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Blog post
The Death of Queen Victoria: the Politics of Mourning and Memorialisation in the British Persian Gulf
This blog post marks the 195 anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth on 24 May 1819. On the afternoon of 22 January 1901, Queen Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight. In the United Kingdom, as well as many thousands of miles away around the Empire, reactions ‘were...Lowe, Daniel
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Journal article
The Oxford Movement, marriage and domestic life: John Keble, Isaac Williams and Edward King
While a number of studies have highlighted the theological and social importance of the household in nineteenth-century Protestant Britain, the significance of domestic life for the leaders of the Oxford, or Tractarian, Movement remains almost completely unexplored. This essay will argue that the high view of celibacy held by many...Boneham, John
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Journal article
Colonial discourse, Indian Ocean Trade and the Urbanisation of the Western Deccan
A plethora of data attest to the importance of connections across the Indian Ocean during the first millennium BC. Literary and archaeological evidence indicate that an Indian Ocean trade network had been established that facilitated the exchange of diverse goods between East Africa, Egypt, Arabia, South East Asia and South...Rees, Gethin
trade, urbanisation, early historic, Indian Ocean, and Western Deccan