Abstract: The file contains correspondence concerning the presentation of a naval sword to His Highness the Shaikh of Bahrain [King of Bahrain] on behalf of the Royal Navy. The initial proposal was made by Senior Naval Officer, Persian Gulf (Captain John Montagu Howson), to the Commander in Chief, Eastern Fleet, and the Naval Officer in Charge, Bahrain. Further correspondents include the Under Secretary of State, India Office, and the Foreign Office (Charles William Baxter). Folio 5 includes the sword inscription text and folio 2 provides a Bahrain Intelligence Summary extract reporting on the presentation.Physical description: Foliation: the foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 12; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio.
Physical description: Material: Paper (f. 65: European paper)Dimensions: 258mm x 185mm leaf [ 200mm x 119 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencilRuling:
Misṭarah; 15 lines per page; vertical spacing 8 lines per 10 cmScript: NaskhInk: Black ink, with rubricated headingsDecoration: NoneBinding: British Museum binding of red leather with blind tooled decoration on coversCondition: Significant water damage, worse towards the beginning of the volume rendering some text illegible on ff.1r, 7v and 9v. A few tears and repairs.Marginalia: Many marginal additions, corrections and notes are found throughout the text, as well as erasures.Erasures: f.3v: bottom 7 lines crossed out and erased; f.53r: lines 11-15 of main text scored through and marginal corrections added. Extensive marginal notes are encountered on f.3v, f.15r, f.44r, f.44v and f.45r (trimmed), and f.47r, f.53v and marginal doodles (concentric circles) have been drawn in the margin of f.41v.Frequent pencil markings in the upper and lower inner corners and margins include Arabic words from the text, and numerals that possibly relate to a rebinding scheme or collation with another manuscript or book.Seals: Red British Museum stamps on f.1r, f.6r, f.15r, f.28r, f.39r, f.46r, f.54r, f.58r, 64v, 65v.