Abstract: The volume consists of letters, telegrams, and reports relating to the affairs of Saudi Arabia. Most of the correspondence is between the British Legation in Jeddah, the Political Residency in Bushire, the Foreign Office in London, the Political Agencies in Kuwait and Bahrain, the India Office in London, and the Government of India.The volume covers the build up to and outbreak of the Second World War and thus much of the correspondence focuses on this subject. Topics include:the activities of the Germans, Italians, and Japanese in the region;Ibn Sa'ud's allegiance to Britain and the Allies;Ibn Sa'ud's anxiety about Hashemite dominance in Syria and potential attack from hostile Arab nations;anti-Allied sentiment in the region;the financial and political contribution of the United States of America.Other subjects covered by the volume are:the maintenance of law and order in the Kingdom;the presence of community feeling and national identity;Captain De Gaury's journeys in Saudi Arabia, including a report on agricultural development at Kharj, and the objection to his proposed tour of all of Arabia;Amir Sa'ud's trip to India for medical treatment;the anti-British activities of St John Philby and his subsequent arrest in India.At the back of the volume (folios 177-186) are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues through to the inside back cover. The numbering is written in pencil, circled, and located in the top right corner of the recto of each folio. The first three folios are marked 1A, 1B, and 1C respectively, then the sequence continues from 2 as normal. There is one other foliation system, written in pencil and inconsistent.
Abstract: The volume consists of letters, telegrams, and memoranda relating to the Hejaz and Najd. Much of the correspondence is from the British Legation in Jeddah, with regular reports on the situation in that region sent to Sir John Simon, the Foreign Secretary in London. The rest of the correspondence is mostly between the Political Residency in Bushire, the Political Agencies in Kuwait, Bahrain, and Muscat, the Colonial Office, and the Government of India.The main subjects of the volume are:the change in name from 'The Kingdom of the Hejaz-Nejd and its Dependencies' to 'The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia';the announcement of Ibn Sa'ud's eldest son, Prince Sa'ud, as the heir apparent to the throne;the territorial dispute between Yemen and Saudi Arabia after the latter's absorption of the 'Asir region into its kingdom.A copy of the 23 September 1932 issue of the newspaper
Umm al-Qurais contained in the volume (folios 57-58). It features the Royal Order proclaiming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.Other miscellaneous subjects covered in the volume include:relations between Italy and Saudi Arabia;a dispute between Ibn Sa'ud and his agent in Bahrain, al-Quasaibi [‘Abd al-‘Azīz al-Qusaibi], over a debt the former owes the latter;a revolt against Ibn Sa'ud by tribes loyal to ex-King Hussein coming from Sinai;a request for a loan made by Ibn Sa'ud to the British Government;relations between the Soviet Union and Saudi Arabia;relations between the USA and Saudi Arabia, including the visit of a Mr Gallant looking for oil concessions;concessions for the building of the railway between Mecca and Jeddah;the prospect of Saudi Arabia joining the League of Nations;the case of two slave girls seeking refuge at the British Legation in Jeddah.Other documents of note contained in the volume are:a copy of a new customs tariff for Saudi Arabia (folios 122-134)a 'Who's Who' of Saudi Arabia, produced by the British Legation in Jeddah and covering all those deemed important to know by the British (folios 183-200);an envelope containing the torn-out pages of an article in the
International Affairsjournal (Vol. 12, No. 4, Jul., 1933, pp 518-534) entitled 'Ibn Sa'ud and the Future of Arabia.'At the back of the volume (folios 245-251) are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: The sequence starts on the first folio and continues to the inside back cover. The numbers are written in pencil, circled and located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Note that following f 1 are folios 1A, 1B, 1C, and 1D. The sequence then continues as normal from folio 2. There are two other foliation systems present but both are inconsistent and neither are circled.
Abstract: The volume consists of telegrams, letters, and reports relating to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Most of the correspondence is between the British Legation in Jeddah, the Political Residency in Bushire, the Political Agencies in Bahrain and Kuwait, the India Office and the Foreign Office in London, and the Government of India.Much of the volume covers Saudi-US relations, including:US financial assistance to Saudi Arabia;the report (ff 146-147) of a medical tour of the country made by the American Mission to Bahrain;a trip to Kuwait made by Colonel Hoskins, President Roosevelt's Personal Envoy to Ibn Sa'ud in August 1943;the opening of a US Consulate in Dhahran;a secret report (ff 223-224) on 'America and Arabia' from the Political Residency in Bushire.Other subjects covered are:the report (ff 79-99) of a trip to Riyadh made by Tom Hickinbotham, the Political Agent in Kuwait;the wartime supply situation in the region;the financial situation in Saudi Arabia;Ibn Sa'ud's relationship with Sa'ud bin 'Abdullah bin Jiluwi, the Amir of Hasa;telegraphic communications in the country;meteorology, including a report (f 181) on the British Meterological Party's tour of Saudi Arabia;Ibn Sa'ud's request for British military and financial assistance.Also notable within the volume are:Gerald De Gaury's interview with Ibn Sa'ud (ff 19-22);annual summary reports on Saudi Arabia produced by the British Legation in Jeddah for the years 1941, 1942, 1943, and 1944;a letter (152-154C) from Bertram Thomas to the Political Residency in Bushire following his trip across Arabia, detailing anything he thought might be useful for the British Government to know;a report (f 175) on the Saudi Arabian royal family by the British Legation in Jeddah.At the end of the volume (ff 249-264) are internal office notes.Physical description: Foliation: the sequence starts on the first folio and continues through to the inside back cover. The numbering is written in pencil, circled and located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. There are the following irregularities: 1A, 1B, and 1C; 28A and 28B; 154A, 154B, and 154C; 216A and 216B.Condition: the broken spine cover is detached from the volume and enclosed in a plastic sleeve numbered folio 265, at the back of the volume. The plastic sleeve may cause some loss of sharpness to the digital image of the spine cover.There is a second sequence that is inconsistent. It is also written in pencil but is not circled.
Abstract: ʻArā'is al-Murūj (Nymphs of the valley) is a collection of short stories by the celebrated Lebanese-American author and artist Gibran Khalil Gibran. Gibran was born in 1883 to a Maronite Catholic family in the village of Bsharri in the north of Lebanon. His family immigrated to the United States in 1895, where he began his formal schooling, studying English and art. He is best known in the West for his book The Prophet, which was completed in 1923 and subsequently translated into more than 40 languages. Gibran died in New York City in 1931; he was buried in Lebanon according to his wishes. The book consists of three stories: Ramād al-ajyāl wa al-nār al-khālida (The dust of ages and the eternal flame), Martā al-bāniya (Martha of Ban), and Yūḥanna al-majnūn (Yuhanna the mad). Nymphs of the Valley was translated into English by H.M. Nahmad in 1948, and it has been translated as well into Spanish, Persian, and other languages. The present copy is the second printing of the book, published by al-Hilāl in Cairo in 1922.Physical description: 72 pages ; 20 centimeters
Abstract: The file contains papers relating to the Middle East (Official) Committee. It consists of: papers circulated to members of the Committee, received by the External Department of the Commonwealth Relations Office (CRO); a few items of CRO correspondence with the Foreign Office, the Cabinet Office, and Commonwealth governments; and a register of papers received or sent by the CRO relating to the Committee, with internal CRO correspondence (at the back of the file).The file includes agendas for meetings of the Committee, and minutes of the meetings on 28 April, 5 May, 5 July and 19 July 1949. Matters discussed and recorded in the minutes include: the reconstitution of the Committee; the re-settlement of Arab refugees from Palestine; the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East by the Working Party of the Committee; the future work of the Committee; the Conference of HM Representatives in the Middle East to be held in London from 26 to 29 July 1949; United States President Truman’s ‘Fourth Point’ (Truman’s message of 24 June 1949 to the United States House of Representatives, communicating a ‘Recommendation for the Enactment of Legislation to Authorise an Expanded Programme of Technical Assistance for Underdeveloped Areas of the World’); and further studies of the Working Party.The file also includes the following papers prepared by (or approved by) the Working Party of the Committee: draft, revised and interim versions of the report on Economic and Social Development in the Middle East; papers relating to the economic and social development of Iraq, Syria, Greater Transjordan, Egypt, the Lebannon, Saudi Arabia, Cyrenaica, Tripolitania, Eritrea and Somalia, and the Colony of Aden and the Aden Protectorate; and a paper on Middle East oil.In addition, the file includes other papers relating to matters discussed at the meetings, and the following subjects: Transjordan; irrigation development in Iraq; Persia’s [Iran’s] Seven Year Plan for development; informal conversations on social and economic affairs in the Middle East between representatives of the Foreign Office, the Treasury, the British Embassy in Washington, and the United States State Department; the work of the Development Division of British Middle East Office; a survey of the oil resources of the Middle East; and economic development in Cyprus in relation to the Middle East.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the last folio with 468; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence between HM Ambassador to Iraq (Sir Kinahan Cornwallis), the Foreign Office, the Government of India External Affairs Department, and the India Office (Horace Algernon Fraser Rumbold), regarding the appointment of a new United States Minister to Iraq.The file includes a divider, which gives lists of correspondence references contained in the file by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 8; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Abstract: This volume contains papers relating to British policy in Muscat. It includes some papers regarding the situation at Sur; however most of the volume concerns the financial situation of the Muscat state, mainly the proposal to increase state revenues by removing the limitation on the power of the Sultan of Muscat and Oman to impose customs duties in excess of five per cent.It includes papers concerning the British Government asking the governments of the United States of America and France to agree to the modification of Article 3 of the Commercial Treaty between Muscat and the United States of 1833, and Article 10 of the Treaty between Muscat and France of 1844, respectively, which prevented the Sultan from levying import duties in excess of five per cent, in order to enable the general tariff and the tariff on alcohol and cigarettes to be increased.The volume also includes papers regarding the question of the revision of the tariff provisions of the Commercial Treaty of 1891 between Muscat and the United Kingdom, which also precluded the Muscat Government from imposing import or export duties higher than five per cent.In addition, the volume includes papers relating to the eventual proposal to abandon attempts to secure a modification of the Muscat Commercial Treaties with France and the USA, and instead to raise the tariff rate against all goods other than those carried in French and American vessels and those covered by the Commercial Declaration between Muscat and the Netherlands of 1877. This was due to the United States Government only being willing to consider the modification of the 1833 Treaty with Muscat on the basis of the accord of most favoured nation treatment to US nationals as well as US goods, which the Muscat Council had raised objections to, and which the India Office considered unacceptable.The papers consist of correspondence, draft treaty articles, India Office Political and Secret Department minute papers, reports, memoranda, and copies of the Maskat [Muscat] Order in Council, 1915 and the Maskat (Amendment) Order in Council, 1922.The main correspondents are as follows: the India Office; the Government of India Foreign and Political Department; the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; the Foreign Office; the British Embassy, Washington; and the British Embassy, Paris.The volume also includes: letters from the Sultan of Muscat and Oman to the Political Agent at Muscat, dated 9 March 1930, and to the Officiating Political Resident at Bushire, dated 25 August 1931, which are in Arabic with English translations; and letters in French from the French Ministry for Foreign Affairs to the British Ambassador to France, dated 15 October 1930 and 29 September 1931.The volume includes a divider which gives the subject number, the year the subject file was opened, the subject heading, and a list of correspondence references by year. This is placed at the back of the correspondence.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the first folio with 1 and terminates at the last folio with 484; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.The foliation sequence does not include the front and back covers, nor does it include the leading and ending flyleaves.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.
Abstract: The file contains correspondence relating to American consular posts in the Persian Gulf. This largely consists of: correspondence between the Political Agent, Kuwait, and the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf; correspondence between the Political Agent, Kuwait, and the British Ambassador, Baghdad; copies of correspondence between the Political Resident in the Persian Gulf and the India Office, and between the Political Resident and the Political Agents at Bahrain and Muscat; copies of correspondence between the India Office and the Foreign Office; and copies of correspondence between the Foreign Office and the United States Embassy, London.This correspondence mainly relates to the following subjects:the informal inclusion of Oman (Muscat), Qatar, and the Trucial Coast within the district of the United States Consul at Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, and the activities of the United States Vice-Consul at Dhahranthe proposed agreement between the United Kingdom and the US for the reciprocal grant of certain financial privileges for officials other than diplomatic and consular personnelthe report of the Political Agent, Kuwait, on the visit to Kuwait from 13 to 16 July 1945 of the US Vice-Consul at Basrah [Basra]the visit to Kuwait of the US Ambassador to Iraq as a guest of the Kuwait Oil Company on 28 March 1947 for two nightsenquiries made by the US Vice-Consul at Basra to the Political Agent, Kuwait, about Farsi Island and the Kuwait Order-in-Council and ‘extra-territoriality’the establishment of an American Consulate at KuwaitAmerican consular ‘infiltration’ into Kuwait and the saluting by gun of American consular officers during the visit of units of the US NavyPhysical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 60; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.A previous foliation sequence, which is also circled, has been superseded and therefore crossed out.