December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Ruined Home, Suceava, Romania]()
This photograph shows a man posing in front of a home in Suceava (present-day northeastern Romania, until 1918 in southern Bukovina, part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire) that was destroyed during World War I. After the war, the population of Suceava was about one-third Jewish. The Jewish community supported a number of communal philanthropic associations and was the seat of several regional organizations. During this period, outside support was provided by the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC). This photograph is from an album documenting the JDC’s work in Bukovina, including a loan for the rebuilding of this home. Encouraging reconstruction, rather than merely providing relief, was a focus of the JDC’s activity in Romania in this period. The JDC was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Ruined Buildings in Siret, Romania]()
This photograph shows Jewish residents of Siret, a town in northeastern Romania close to the border with Ukraine, standing in front of a ruined building slated for reconstruction. Siret was located in the region of Bukovina, which was annexed to Romania following World War I and the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. In the first decades of the 20th century, Siret had a relatively large Jewish population that supported a number of communal philanthropic associations. During this period, outside support was also provided by the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian organization formed to provide wartime relief to the stricken Jewish communities. This photograph is from an album documenting the JDC’s work in Bukovina, which included a loan for the rebuilding of this structure. Encouraging reconstruction, rather than merely providing relief, was a focus of the JDC’s activity in Romania in the period after World War I. The JDC has operated as a global humanitarian organization, providing food, clothing, medicine, child care, job training, and refugee assistance in more than 90 countries since it was established in 1914. The archives of the JDC contain documents, photographs, documents, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Female Shopkeepers Given Aid by the Joint Distribution Committee to Begin Their Businesses]()
Peddlers’ shops in the war-torn small towns in large swaths of Eastern Europe were ruined by World War I and the Russo-Polish War that followed in 1919‒20. Interest-free small business loans enabled small businesses, such as those of the female merchants in this wire-service photograph, to start over, selling wares along the streets of Brest-Litovsk, Poland (Yiddish, Brisk; present-day Brest, Belarus). The loans were made by the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), a humanitarian organization that provided relief during the war and reconstruction support in its aftermath. The JDC was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present. Since its beginnings, the JDC has provided aid and social care in more than 90 countries.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Orphaned Refugees in a Children's Home in Kiev]()
This orphanage in Kiev, Ukraine, took in children, mostly from small towns, who had survived the pogroms (anti-Jewish riots) of May 1920. In the years immediately following the Russian Revolution and continuing until the end of the Russian Civil War, disputed territories of the former Russian Empire suffered repeated invasions from Ukrainian, Bolshevik, and Polish forces. During this period of political upheaval, there were many pogroms, and disease and starvation were also rampant. In Ukraine, hundreds of thousands of children were left without parents or homes. In the wake of such violence, the first efforts to provide aid were handled by regional organizations such as the Jewish Committee to Aid War Victims (EKOPO), through funding from the Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC). The JDC, a humanitarian organization, was created in the United States at the start of World War I to provide relief from privation and suffering for Jews abroad. The JDC supported homes for orphans, both institutional and private, in Ukraine, Russia, and other war-torn countries. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Jewish War Orphans Arrive in the United States]()
This photograph from 1921 shows a group of children orphaned as a result of World War I, newly arrived in New York harbor and about to begin a new life, posing with American flags. The war brought devastation to communities across Europe, leaving behind needy populations, including hundreds of thousands of orphans. In Central and Eastern Europe, the collapse of empires and onset of revolution prolonged the disorder, famine, and disease that began during the war. For Jews, there was the added danger of pogroms. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as the JDC), founded in 1914 to provide relief during the war, continued its work in Poland and neighboring regions after the war. In 1920 it created the War Orphans Bureau, which played a crucial role in facilitating the emigration of Jewish children from Eastern Europe to the United States and elsewhere. The image is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present. The JDC has provided food, clothing, medicine, child care, job training, and refugee assistance in more than 90 countries since 1914.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Orphanage Kindergarten in Brest-Litovsk, Poland]()
This photograph shows kindergarten teachers and pupils in a yard of the orphanage on Pushkinskaya Street in Brest-Litovsk, Poland (Yiddish, Brisk; present-day Brest, Belarus). After World War I and the Russo-Polish War that followed (1919‒20), there were tens of thousands of Jewish orphans in Poland. The Joint Distribution Committee of American Funds for the Relief of Jewish War Sufferers (later the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, both names abbreviated as JDC) was formed in 1914 to send aid, including food, clothing, medicine, funds, and emergency supplies, to the stricken Jews of Europe during the war. The war left in its wake many additional catastrophes—pogroms, epidemics, famine, revolution, and economic ruin—and after the war the JDC continued to play a major role in rebuilding the devastated Jewish communities of Eastern Europe and in sustaining the Jews in Palestine. The JDC supported homes, both public and private, for orphaned children such as those shown here. The photograph is from the archives of the JDC, which contain documents, photographs, film, video, oral histories, and artifacts recording the work of the organization from World War I to the present.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Map of the Fortifications of Yorktown, Virginia]()
This pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map shows an unfinished plan for the Siege of Yorktown in September‒October 1781. York (more commonly known as Yorktown after the Revolutionary War) was founded in 1691 and became a major port for the export of tobacco. The map shows the British defenses, advance redoubts, and roads leading into the town. It is oriented with north to the upper left. Relief is shown by hachures, and scale is approximately 1:5,000. The map has imperfections, including trimming on the upper and right edges. It also has creases, and several holes along or near the folds. Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. The defeat of the British and the surrender of their army under General Lord Cornwallis led to peace negotiations and conclusion of the Treaty of Paris of September 3, 1783, which officially ended hostilities and brought international recognition of American independence. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Map of York, Virginia Showing the Attacks by the French and American Armies in October 1781]()
This pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map shows the movements of the French and American armies in the vicinity of York, Virginia, in October 1781, during the Battle of Yorktown. The map is by Querenet de la Combe, a cartographer and lieutenant colonel of engineers with the army of the French commander, General Rochambeau. York (more commonly known as Yorktown after the Revolutionary War) was founded in 1691 and became a major port for the export of tobacco. The map shows British defenses at Yorktown, as well as the parallel formations of the French and Americans. A legend with a lettered key is used to highlight military fortifications and ship positions. The map also shows ships in the York River, fortifications on Gloucester Point across the river, vegetation, and houses and roads. Relief is shown by hachures. Scale is given in toises, an old French unit measuring almost 1.95 meters. Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. The defeat of the British and the surrender of the army under Lord Cornwallis led to peace negotiations and conclusion of the Treaty of Paris of September 3, 1783, which officially ended hostilities and brought international recognition of American independence. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Rochambeau’s Army, 1782. Map of the Williamsburg, Virginia Area, Where the French and American Armies Camped out in September 1781]()
This topographic pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map of the Williamsburg, Virginia, area was made in 1782 by Jean Nicolas Desandrouins, a French army engineer and cartographer, shortly after the October 1781 Battle of Yorktown. It shows the encampments and positions of the French and American forces in September 1781, on the eve of the battle. The map provides a detailed plan of Williamsburg and its environs, and shows the location of estates, towns, and other significant sites. It shows houses and public buildings in Williamsburg, plantations in the countryside, roads, creeks, ferries, mills, the “New Magazine,” and it gives the names of some local residents. A numbered key identifies military units, public buildings, and other points of interest. The map is oriented with north to the left. Relief is shown by hachures. Scale is given in toises, an old French unit measuring almost 1.95 meters. Yorktown, the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War, ended with the surrender of the British army under Lord Cornwallis to the combined French and American force and ultimately led to the Treaty of Paris of 1783 and British recognition of American independence. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Map of the Environs of Williamsburg, York, Hampton, and Portsmouth]()
This pen-and-ink manuscript map of 1781 shows the towns of Williamsburg, York, Hampton, and Portsmouth, Virginia, as well as the surrounding regions of southeastern Virginia. The area shown on the map extends from Cape Henry on the Atlantic Ocean to Williamsburg and south to the Effroyables Marais, the French term for the area known as the Dismal Swamp. The map shows part of the Chesapeake Bay as well as the James and Elizabeth Rivers and the Hampton Roads waterway. It notes towns, roads, rivers, creeks, bridges, mills, and a salt house, along with Kemps Landing, Pungo Chapel, and the names of some residents. Scale is given in miles, and the map has a watermark. Founded in 1632, Williamsburg was the capital of colonial Virginia from 1699 until 1780. York (increasingly known as Yorktown after the Revolutionary War) was founded in 1691 and became a major port for the export of tobacco. Hampton was founded in 1610, and has claims to being the longest continuously occupied English settlement in the present-day United States. Portsmouth was founded in 1752 but was a shipbuilding site even before establishment of the town. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Detailed Map of West Point on the York River, at the Confluence of the Pamunkey and Matapony Rivers]()
This 1781 pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map shows the region around West Point, Virginia, situated at the point where the Pamunkey and Matapony (present-day Mattaponi) Rivers join to form the York River. The map shows soundings and channels in the rivers, as well as ferries, roads, and vegetation. The villages of Bingham, Delaware, and Brackson are shown, along with Brackson’s Plantation, and the Meredy, Smith, Dodleys, and other plantations. The road to Williamsburg is visible in the lower left, running inland from the right bank of the York River. Shepperd’s Warehouse is indicated on the left bank of the Matapony River, and an oyster bed is shown in the York River. Virginia was a colonial center of tobacco production, and the plantations most likely were part of the tobacco economy. Relief is shown by shading. Scale is given in miles. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Map of the Fortifications of Portsmouth, Virginia]()
This 1781 pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map shows the fortifications and houses of Portsmouth, Virginia, at the time of the American Revolution. Portsmouth served as a primary British post and naval base. On July 4, 1781, British general Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805) left Williamsburg, Virginia, in order to cross the James River and reach Portsmouth. Once at Portsmouth, the British army loaded onto transports. Cornwallis and his men then sailed to Yorktown, where the British defeat at the Siege of Yorktown would conclude the American Revolution. The map shows the military headquarters, fortifications, an artillery park, and powder magazine. Just outside the town is the Habitations de Negres, presumably slave quarters of some kind. The map shows the Portsmouth waterfront along the James and Elizabeth Rivers. Portsmouth was founded in 1752, but dates back even further as a notable shipbuilding site. The map is oriented with north to the right. Relief is shown by shading. Scale is given in toises, an old French unit measuring almost 1.95 meters. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Map of Portsmouth, Virginia]()
This pen-and-ink manuscript map shows Portsmouth, Virginia, at the time of the American Revolution. Portsmouth served as a primary British post and naval base. On July 4, 1781, British general Charles Cornwallis (1738–1805) left Williamsburg, Virginia in order to cross the James River at Jamestown and reach Portsmouth. Once at Portsmouth, the British army loaded onto transports. Cornwallis and his men then sailed to Yorktown, where their defeat at the Siege of Yorktown would conclude the American Revolution. The map shows forts, bridges, country homes, marshes, a windmill, and Scott’s Creek. It also shows the Portsmouth waterfront, along the Elizabeth River, as well as roads leading into town and the adjacent area of Gosport. It lists property sites named for owners called Davis, Samuel Veals, Captain Badson, and Tucker. Portsmouth was founded in 1752, but dates back even further as a notable shipbuilding site. Scale is indicated in perches, an old unit measuring more than three meters. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Map of the Terrain on the Left Bank of the James River Across from Jamestown, Virginia, Where a Battle Took Place on July 6, 1781, between the American Army led by the Marquis de La Fayette and the English Army under the Leadership of Lord Cornwallis]()
This pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map was drawn by Jean Nicolas Desandrouins (1729–92), an engineer with the French army of General Rochambeau during the American Revolution. It shows the layout of the Battle of Green Spring, in southeastern Virginia, on July 6, 1781. This battle came near the end of the war, and involved Continental Army troops under the Marquis de Lafayette and General Anthony Wayne and British troops under General Lord Cornwallis. The battle was a minor victory for the British and the last land battle in Virginia before their ultimate loss at Yorktown. This map shows the town of Jamestown, as well as the battle site on the left bank of the James River across from the town. A lettered key identifies the troop positions of the Americans and the French, their maneuvers, and other points of military interest. The map also shows a mill, a church, a ferry, houses, roads, creeks, and vegetation. Among the sites listed are Humbler’s plantation, and the properties of Monsieur Lralchfeld, Monsieur Wilkesson, and Monsieur Harris. Virginia was a colonial center of tobacco production, and many of these plantations were part of the tobacco economy. The map has a watermark. Relief is shown by hachures. Scale is given in toises, an old French unit measuring almost 1.95 meters. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Notes on the Environs of York. Map Provided by Local Land Surveyors]()
This pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map is a draft containing information provided by local land surveyors that was used by a French military cartographer to create a finished map. It shows the area from Williamsburg to Yorktown, Virginia, between the James and York Rivers, where the Battle of Yorktown was fought in September‒October 1781. Williamsburg was founded in 1632, and was the capital of colonial Virginia from 1699 until 1780. York (more commonly known as Yorktown after the Revolutionary War) was founded in 1691 and became a major port for the export of tobacco. The map shows roads, houses, hospitals, and a church, and it gives the names of some local landowners. It also shows Burwell’s Ferry, Halfway House, mills, bridges, creeks, and various other places of interest. The text on the right side of the map, in French, contains notes on many of the sites indicated on the map and the role that they played in the battle. Some of the sites are indicated by letter. No scale is given. Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. The defeat of the British and the surrender of their army under General Lord Cornwallis led to peace negotiations and conclusion of the Treaty of Paris of September 3, 1783, which officially ended hostilities and brought international recognition of American independence. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Notes on the Environs of York]()
This pen-and-ink and watercolor manuscript map of 1781 shows the area from Williamsburg to Yorktown, between the James and York Rivers, at the time of the Battle of Yorktown, which took place in September‒October of that year. Williamsburg was founded in 1632, and it was the capital of colonial Virginia from 1699 until 1780. York (more commonly known as Yorktown after the Revolutionary War) was founded in 1691 and became a major port for the export of tobacco. The map shows roads, houses, hospitals, and a church, and it gives the names of some local landowners. It also shows Burwell’s Ferry, Halfway House, mills, bridges, creeks, and various other places of interest. The text on the right side of the map, in French, contains notes on many of the sites indicated on the map and the role that they played in the battle. Some of the sites are indicated by letter. No scale is given, but the map approximates to 1:44,000. Yorktown was the last major land battle of the Revolutionary War. The defeat of the British and the surrender of their army under General Lord Cornwallis led to peace negotiations and conclusion of the Treaty of Paris of September 3, 1783, which officially ended hostilities and brought international recognition of American independence. The map is from the Rochambeau Collection at the Library of Congress, which consists of 40 manuscript maps, 26 printed maps, and a manuscript atlas that belonged to Jean-Baptiste-Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau (1725‒1807), commander in chief of the French expeditionary army (1780‒82) during the American Revolution. Some of the maps were used by Rochambeau during the war. Dating from 1717 to 1795, the maps cover much of eastern North America, from Newfoundland and Labrador in the north to Haiti in the south. The collection includes maps of cities, maps showing Revolutionary War battles and military campaigns, and early state maps from the 1790s.
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Monograph on the Aden Hinterland as Touching the States of Dthala, Yafa, Alawi, Et cetera]()
Monograph on the Aden Hinterland is an intelligence report prepared in 1908 by a British army major, Harold Jacob (1866–1936), who was posted to the mountainous areas north of the port town of Aden. It is a richly detailed account of tribal life and practical politics. Jacob led the commission to demarcate the border between the Aden Protectorate and Ottoman Yemen. The detachment operated over difficult terrain, encountering sometimes violent opposition from the inhabitants. The report is marked “secret” and was printed for use by the Aden administration and for the information of the government of India in Bombay. It covers the complex and confusing political situation in the Dhala tribal areas and the need to combine knowledge of the people with military firmness and administrative finesse, qualities that Jacob found lacking in the distant governments of Aden and Bombay. In his view, the British could not advise rulers, in this case the amir of al-Dhala (present-day Ad Dhale’e), “without a perfect and detailed grasp of the habits of the people, their language and customs, and this most essential knowledge cannot be obtained without our living, moving and having our being with the people.” During his long career in Aden, Jacob was in turn political agent in upland Aden, first assistant resident in the Aden settlement, and political advisor in the settlement to the British Army during World War I. After the war he became advisor on Arabian affairs to the British High Commissioner in Cairo. Jacob is the author of
Perfumes of Araby:Silhouettes of Al Yemen (1915),
Kings of Arabia: The Rise and Set of the Turkish Sovranty in the Arabian Peninsula (1923), and
The Kingdom of Yemen: Its Place in the Comity of Nations (1933).
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![An Account of the Arab Tribes in the Vicinity of Aden]()
An Account of the Arab Tribes in the Vicinity of Aden is an ethnography prepared for use by the British administrators and army in the Aden Protectorate. It was first published in 1886. This edition of 1909 was “corrected and added to by various officers of the Aden Residency” until September 1907. The Aden Residency and the Aden Protectorate were not the same entities. The residency governed the town and port of Aden, beginning in 1839. The protectorate was established in 1886 with the conclusion of separate treaties with tribes of the coast and hinterland. This web of agreements established Great Britain “as a kind of paramount power, which, while recognizing independence in regard to internal government, yet is ready to prevent alienation of territory to foreign nations, or inter-tribal disputes which are carried on to the detriment of the public peace or the interests of commerce.” In addition to the detailed ethnography of the region, the work contains genealogical tables, biographies of tribal notables, and the texts of treaties and other agreements. It includes histories and ethnographic details for approximately 20 Arab tribes or tribal confederations. A second volume containing maps is not in the collections of the Library of Congress and is not shown here. The authors of the work, Frederick Hunter and Charles Sealy, were officers in the Indian Army who served as resident (governor) in British Somaliland in the 1880s and 1890s, respectively. Hunter was also acting resident in Aden in 1885. Sealy was known in the army as an orientalist and was the translator of A.W.C. van den Berg’s
Hadthramut and the Arab Colonies of the Indian Archipelago (1887).
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Note on the Tribes of the Aden Protectorate]()
Note on the Tribes of the Aden Protectorate is an annotated list of the Arab tribes and sub-tribes of the Aden Protectorate. The short monograph was prepared by a Captain Knapp of the Royal Artillery. It is undated, but based on internal evidence it can be surmised that it was compiled sometime before administrative functions were transferred from the government of India to the British Foreign Office in 1917. The Aden Protectorate, like the Trucial States of the Persian Gulf and the tribal areas of India’s Northwest Frontier, was based on British treaty arrangements with local tribes, the first of which was concluded in 1886. The Aden Protectorate system ended in the 1960s. In the early days, Britain’s aim was to prevent other European powers from extending their reach to the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula and thus threaten the route to India. Later, British administrative officers became more intimately concerned with the internal affairs of the shaykhdoms.
Note on the Tribes of the Aden Protectorate is in the form of an intelligence report that provides information on 14 major tribes and their constituent clans. Each entry includes the name of the tribe, its geographic distribution, climate and topography, a population estimate, villages, principal characteristics (e.g., farming, nomadism, brigandage, and so forth), and treaty obligations. This is not a work of original research. Much of the information it contains was taken from Hunter and Sealy’s
An Account of the Arab Tribes in the Vicinity of Aden, published in 1886, and the tables of overland routes were derived from Indian Army reports from 1870 to 1894. There is no title page. The title is handwritten on the front flyleaf. The book was published in Simla, India, at the Government Central Press
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December 29, 2015, 6:24 am
![Flora Arabica, Part I. Records of the Botanical Survey of India, Volume VIII, Number 1]()
Flora Arabica is a botanical catalog of the plants of the Arabia. The work is in six volumes covering the whole of the Arabian Peninsula: the extra-tropical west, the tropical west, the tropical east, and the extra-tropical east including the Persian Gulf region. The catalog is by Father Ethelbert Blatter, and is largely based on the herbaria of the British Museum, which itself contained the records of other collections. The author asserts that
Flora Arabica contains “all the plant material ever collected in Arabia.” The work is noteworthy for the inclusion of the native names for plants in Arabic and Persian, including regional dialect variants. Blatter’s
Flora Arabica held pride of place among reference books on Arabian plants until the late 20th century. Ethelbert Blatter (1877‒1934) was a Swiss Jesuit priest and pioneering botanist in India. He left his native land to study in Germany and the Netherlands, and later for theological studies in England. In 1903, he moved to Mumbai (Bombay), India, to teach at Saint Xavier College and engage in the botanical research and publishing that occupied him for the remainder of his life. Although his main contributions were in British India, his books on the plants of Aden and Arabia are also important contributions to botanical literature.
Flora Arabica comprises volume VIII of the
Records of the Botanical Survey of India (BSI or the Survey). The BSI was established in 1890 for the purpose of identifying the plants of India and their economic value. European interest in the flora of India dates to the earliest days of exploration and colonial expansion. Beginning in the 16th century, the Portuguese, Dutch, and British collected and studied native plants. As the lands under control of the British East India Company grew in extent, so too did the study of plant life in the north and northwest of the Indian subcontinent. Economic and imperial expansion extended the surveys beyond the borders of British India to Myanmar (Burma) and the Arabian Peninsula.
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