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Archive: August 2021 (7 Posts)

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Middle East and North African Government Institution Websites Digitally Preserved

Posted by: Muhannad Salhi

The Middle East and North African Government Institution Web Archive collects websites from Bahrain, Mauritania, Qatar, Turkey and Yemen, representing national financial ministries and banks. The archive is especially valuable as to demonstrate transparency and the conditions in the country/region during a time of global economic change, and, in some cases, while embroiled in conflict. The content preserved is valuable for understanding the application of Islamic banking and finance at the national level.

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Highlighting the Treasures of the Naqvi Collection: A Typewritten Urdu Translation of Wajid ‘Ali Shah’s Reply to the Blue Book

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

This blog describes the provenance of a partial translation in Urdu of Wajid ‘Ali Shah’s protest against the annexation of his kingdom by the British Empire. Written by his great-grandson, the Urdu translation is a record of the Indian princely state ruler’s response to British accusations of corruption that enabled their annexation of his kingdom, Awadh.

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“In Search of Melancholy Baby”: Vasilii Aksenov and Soviet Émigré Life in Washington, DC

Posted by: Taru Spiegel

(This guest post is by intern Dylan Ogden, European Reading Room) For many Soviet authors, emigration could be something of a mixed blessing: moving to Western Europe or the United States meant freedom from government censors and KGB surveillance, but it also meant exile from the culture, friends and readers that had initially shaped these …

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Cordel and Caribbean Poetry: Showcasing the Brazilian and Caribbean Collections

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

The Summer 2021 Junior Fellows who interned virtually with the Hispanic Reading Room shone a light on Caribbean women poets featured in the PALABRA Archive and contextualized Brazilian cordel through audio recordings of Brazilian artist J. Borges and photographic images of Andre Cypriano.

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Gas Balloons, Continental Maps and an 18th Century Armenian Engraver

Posted by: Anchi Hoh

This blog tells the story of Father Elia Endasian, an engraver, mapmaker, and a keen follower of the scientific advances of his time. The 6 maps (world, continental, and regional) Endasian engraved within 4 years (1784-1787) made an indelible mark on Armenian cartography. The Library of Congress houses these maps and many works by Endasian.