Philip Harris (1926-2018)

2019 ◽  
Vol 34 (03) ◽  
pp. 371-373
Author(s):  
Michael Hodgetts
Keyword(s):  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
British Museum ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Reading Room ◽  
The West ◽  
Birkbeck College ◽  
Final Project ◽  
Printed Books ◽  
History Of ◽  
West European

Philip Harris, who died on 21 July 2018 at the age of ninety-one, was born in Woodford, Essex, and educated at St Anthony’s School in Woodford (1932-7), St Ignatius College in London (1937-44), Birkbeck College, London, and the Institute of Historical Research. In 1953 he was awarded an M.A. for a thesis on ‘English Trade with the Eastern Mediterranean in the Late 16th Century’. From 1947 onwards he was on the staff of the British Museum (of which the Library was then part), becoming Assistant Secretary in 1959, Deputy Superintendent of the Reading Room in 1963 and Deputy Keeper in 1966. He was in charge in turn of the Acquisitions, the English and North European, and the West European Branches of the Department of Printed Books. In 1998 he published his History of the British Museum Library, the fruit of more than ten years’ research after his ‘retirement’ in 1986.1 His final project there, almost complete when he died, was on the Old Royal Library donated to the Museum by George II.2 At his funeral the first reading was read by a former head of the Chinese Department there.

scholarly journals XIII.—Further Facts in the History of the Early Discovery of Australia

Archaeologia ◽  
1874 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-241
Author(s):  
Richard Henry Major
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
The West ◽  
Gold Mines ◽  
Good Fortune ◽  
Special Commission ◽  
The World ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cape York ◽  
First Time

In the year 1861 I had the satisfaction of laying before the Society of Antiquaries, and thereby making known to the world for the first time, the important fact that the great continental island of Australia had been discovered in the year 1601 by a Portuguese navigator, named Manoel Godinho de Eredia. Up to that time the earliest authenticated discovery of any part of the great southern land was that made a little to the west and south of Cape York by the commander of the Dutch yacht the Duyfhen, or Dove, about the month of March 1606. Thus the fact which I announced in 1861 gave a date to the first authenticated discovery of Australia earlier by five years than that which had been previously accepted in history, and transferred the honour of that discovery from Holland to Portugal. The document on which this fact, so entirely new to the world, was based, was a MS. Mappe-monde in the British Museum, in which, on the northwest corner of a country which could be shown beyond all question to be Australia, stood a legend in Portuguese to the following effect:— “Nuça antara was discovered in the year 1601 by Manoel Godinho de Eredia, by command of the Viceroy Ayres de Saldanha.” This mappe-monde had the great disadvantage of being only a copy, possibly made even in the present century, from one the geography of which proved it to be some two centuries older. Still, the mere fact of its being a copy laid it open to a variety of possible objections, which fortunately I was able to forestall by arguments that I believe to be unanswerable, and which I think I need not repeat now, as they are already printed in the “Archaeologia,” vol. xxxviii. I will merely say that I had the good fortune at the time to find a happy confirmation of what was stated in the map in a little printed work which described the discoverer as a learned cosmographer and skilful captain, who had received a special commission from the Viceroy at Goa to make explorations for gold mines, and at the same time to verify the descriptions of the southern islands.

Līlātilaka: A Sanskrit Tract on Malayalam Grammar and Poetics

1947 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 148-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Brough
Keyword(s):  
British Museum ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
Malayalam Language

The recently discovered Līlātilaka, containing as it does the oldest known observations upon the grammar of the Malayalam language, has naturally won for itself a position of importance; and although there has perhaps been a tendency to exaggerate its merits, the evidence which it offers will certainly be of interest and value to students of the history of the Dravidian languages. Nevertheless, although it has quickly achieved fame in its own country, it has remained all but unknown in the west. So far as I can ascertain, only a solitary copy of the edition of the Sanskrit sutras with Malayalam translation of the original Sanskrit commentary, by A. Krsna Pisarati (Trivandrum, 1092 = A.D. 1916) has reached this country; and even this did not reach the British Museum until 1938. The chief aim of the present paper, therefore, is to render accessible the text of the sutras.

Is Globalisation Yesterday’s News?

Itinerario ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
pp. 109-128
Author(s):  
A. G. Hopkins
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
United States ◽  
Eighteenth Century ◽  
The United States ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
The West ◽  
History Of ◽  
Lively Debate ◽  
The Subject

Globalisation is now a fashionable topic of historical research. Books and articles routinely use the term, though often in a loose manner that has yet to realise the full potential of the subject. The question arises as to whether globalisation, as currently applied by historians, is sufficiently robust to resist inevitable changes in historiographical fashion. The fact that globalisation is a process and not a single theory opens the way, not only to over-general applications of the term, but also to rich research possibilities derived in particular from other social sciences. One such prospect, which ought to be at the centre of all historians’ interests, is how to categorise the evolution of the process. This question, which has yet to stimulate the lively debate it needs, is explored here by identifying three successive phases or sequences between the eighteenth century and the present, and joining them to the history of the empires that were their principal agents. These phases, termed proto-globalisation, modern globalisation, and postcolonial globalisation provide the context for reviewing the history of the West, including the United States, and in principle of the wider world too.

scholarly journals Supplementary Facts in the History of the Discovery of Australia

Archaeologia ◽  
1874 ◽  
Vol 44 (2) ◽  
pp. 242-258
Author(s):  
Richard Henry Major
Keyword(s):  
Sixteenth Century ◽  
British Museum ◽  
New Guinea ◽  
East India Company ◽  
The West ◽  
North West ◽  
The North ◽  
History Of ◽  
Cape York ◽  
Better Than

On the 14th of March last I had the honour of laying before this Society some new facts which had fallen under my notice in connection with the early discoveries of the great continental Island of Australia. One of these new facts was the very promising circumstance that there had been found in the Royal Burgundian Library in Brussels, by M. Ruelens, one of the Conservators of the Library, who had obligingly communicated to me the fact, the original autograph report to King Philip III. of a discovery of Australia in 1601 by a Portuguese named Manoel Godinho de Eredia, which discovery I had been the first to make known to the world in a paper read before this Society on the 7th of March, 1861. The report was accompanied by maps and views and portraits, and as at the time of my announcing its discovery to you I had received through M. Ruelens an obliging promise from the Chevalier d'Antas, the Portuguese Minister in Brussels, that an extract should be sent me of that portion with which I was immediately concerned, I begged that the printing of my paper should be postponed until I should possess the opportunity of incorporating into it the translation of the said extract. My reason for appearing before you without waiting till I had examined the Report with my own eyes was, that, while I had no reason to entertain the shadow of a doubt as to the corroborative nature of its contents, I had a still more important announcement to make to you respecting a yet earlier discovery of Australia in the first half of the sixteenth century. Since then I have received the promised extract, and I am sorry to have to report to you that a more unsatisfactory document has never fallen under my notice. But, in order that you may rightly estimate both it and the case to which it refers, it will be necessary that I repeat to you the leading facts and circumstances of the whole story. Up to 1861, the earliest visit to the coasts of Australia known in history in connection with the name of any ship or captain, was that made by the Dutch yacht the “Duyphen,” or “Dove,” about the month of March, 1606. This vessel had been despatched from Bantam on the 18th of November, 1605, to explore the islands of New Guinea. Her course from New Guinea was southward along the islands on the west side of Torres Strait to that part of Terra Australis a little to the west and south of Cape York, but all these lands were thought to be connected and to form the west coast of New Guinea. The Commander of the “Duyphen,” of whose name we are ignorant, was of course unconscious of the importance of his discovery. Indeed, of the discoveries made subsequently by the Dutch on the coasts of Australia, our ancestors of a hundred years ago, and even the Dutch themselves, knew but little. That which was known was preserved in the “Relations de divers Voyages curieux,” of Melchisedeck Thevenot (Paris, 1663-72, fol.); in the “Noord en Oost Tartarye,” of Nicolas Witsen (Amst. 1692-1705, fol.); in Valentyn's “Oud en Nieuw Oost Indien” (Amst. 1724-26, fol.); and in the “Inleidning tot de algemeen Geographie” of Nicolas Struyk (Amst. 1740, 4to.). We have, however, since gained a variety of information, through a document which fell into the possession of Sir Joseph Banks, and was published by Alexander Dalrymple (at that time hydrographer to the Admiralty and the East India Company) in his collection concerning Papua. This curious and interesting document is a copy of the instructions to Commodore Abel Jansz Tasman for his second voyage of discovery. That distinguished commander had already, in 1642, discovered not only the island now named after him, Tasmania, but New Zealand also; and, passing round the east side of Australia, but without seeing it, sailed on his return voyage along the northern shores of New Guinea. In January, 1644, he was despatched on his second voyage, and his instructions, signed by the Governor-General Antonio Van Diemen and the members of the Council, are prefaced by a recital, in chronological order, of the previous discoveries of the Dutch. Prom this recital, combined with a passage from Saris, given in Purchas, vol. i. p. 385, we derive the above information respecting the voyage of the Duyphen, the date of which constituted it the first authenticated discovery of Australia with which a vessel's name could be connected. In 1861, however, I ventured to dispute this priority, and I think I cannot do justice to you and to myself better than by reciting the grounds on which I did so in the very words with which I then addressed you. They are as follows: “Within the last few days I have discovered a MS. Mappemonde in the British Museum, in which on the north-west corner of a country, which I shall presently show beyond all question to be Australia, occurs the following legend: Nuca antara foi descuberta o anno 1601 por mano (sic) el godinho de Evedia (sic) por mandado de (sic) Vico Rey Aives (sic) de Saldaha,” (sic) which I scarcely need translate, Nuca Antara was discovered in the year 1601, by Manoel Godinho de Eredia, by command of the Viceroy Ayres de Saldanha.

Leaving the Reading Room: Some Personal Reflections from within the British Library

1993 ◽  
Vol 5 (3) ◽  
pp. 201-213 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrew Phillips
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
British Museum ◽  
British Library ◽  
Reading Room ◽  
High Expectations ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Future ◽  
History Of ◽  
Library Catalogue ◽  
Personal Reflections

The history of the British Museum Library, so much identified with its famous Reading Room, can help inform some of the present and future obligations of The British Library. An example of this is the development and impact of various manifestations of the British Library Catalogue. Knowledge of the collections, expertise in selecting material and in database interpretation will be of high importance within a marriage of old and new skills. The new British Library building in London will be the future focus for Humanities & Social Sciences collections and reading rooms. By bringing together in one place vast and renowned collections, the new building itself will be a contribution to the increasingly interdisciplinary nature of researchers' interests and needs. The new library building should be celebrated as a cause for pride and high expectations. Just as considerable personalities of the past have created and maintained The British Library and its predecessors, so the BL must always also be looking towards the researchers of the future.

The Present State of Ukrainian Historiography in Soviet Ukraine: A Brief Overview

1979 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-24
Author(s):  
Lubomyr R. Wynar
Keyword(s):  
Present State ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Free Society ◽  
Research Centers ◽  
The West ◽  
Historical Scholarship ◽  
History Of ◽  
Historical Writings ◽  
Definition Of

“To write history well, one must live in a free society.”— Voltaire to Frederick the GreatHistoriography, as a special historical discipline, is defined as a history of historical scholarship reflecting the development of historical thought. In the context of this definition the study of modern Ukrainian historiography is directly related to the analysis of present historiographical trends, historical concepts, the conditions under which the discipline developed, the role of Ukrainian historical research centers in Ukraine and the West, the nature and scope of historical serials, critical evaluations of contributions of individual historians, as well as the study of characteristics of various historical schools. In my opinion, the older definition of historiography as the history of historical writings is too narrow and sometimes results only in critical or enumerative historical bibliography covering writings of individual historians.

scholarly journals Book Reviews

1996 ◽  
Vol 70 (3-4) ◽  
pp. 309-381
Author(s):  
Redactie KITLV
Keyword(s):  
New York ◽  
San Francisco ◽  
West Indies ◽  
British Museum ◽  
The United States ◽  
The West ◽  
University Of Pittsburgh ◽  
Historical Perspectives ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Caribbean

-Bridget Brereton, Emilia Viotti Da Costa, Crowns of glory, tears of blood: The Demerara slave rebellion of 1823. New York: Oxford University Press, 1994. xix + 378 pp.-Grant D. Jones, Assad Shoman, 13 Chapters of a history of Belize. Belize city: Angelus, 1994. xviii + 344 pp.-Donald Wood, K.O. Laurence, Tobago in wartime 1793-1815. Kingston: The Press, University of the West Indies, 1995. viii + 280 pp.-Trevor Burnard, Howard A. Fergus, Montserrat: History of a Caribbean colony. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1994. x + 294 pp.-John L. Offner, Joseph Smith, The Spanish-American War: Conflict in the Caribbean and the Pacific, 1895-1902. London: Longman, 1994. ix + 262 pp.-Louis Allaire, John M. Weeks ,Ancient Caribbean. New York: Garland, 1994. lxxi + 325 pp., Peter J. Ferbel (eds)-Aaron Segal, Hilbourne A. Watson, The Caribbean in the global political economy. Boulder CO: Lynne Rienner, 1994. ix + 261 pp.-Aaron Segal, Anthony P. Maingot, The United States and the Caribbean. London: Macmillan Caribbean, 1994. xi + 260 pp.-Bill Maurer, Helen I. Safa, The myth of the male breadwinner: Women and industrialization in the Caribbean. Boulder CO: Westview, 1995. xvi + 208 pp.-Peter Meel, Edward M. Dew, The trouble in Suriname, 1975-1993. Westport CT: Praeger, 1994. xv + 243 pp.-Henry Wells, Jorge Heine, The last Cacique: Leadership and politics in a Puerto Rican city. Pittsburgh PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993. ix + 310 pp.-Susan Eckstein, Jorge F. Pérez-López, Cuba at a crossroads: Politics and economics after the fourth party congress. Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1994. xviii + 282 pp.-David A.B. Murray, Marvin Leiner, Sexual politics in Cuba: Machismo, homosexuality, and AIDS. Boulder CO: Westview, 1994. xv + 184 pp.-Kevin A. Yelvington, Selwyn Ryan ,Sharks and sardines: Blacks in business in Trinidad and Tobago. St. Augustine, Trinidad: Institute of social and economic studies, University of the West Indies, 1992. xiv + 217 pp., Lou Anne Barclay (eds)-Catherine Levesque, Allison Blakely, Blacks in the Dutch world: The evolution of racial imagery in a modern society. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1993. xix + 327 pp.-Dennis J. Gayle, Frank Fonda Taylor, 'To hell with paradise': A history of the Jamaican tourist industry. Pittsburgh: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1993. ix + 239 pp.-John P. Homiak, Frank Jan van Dijk, Jahmaica: Rastafari and Jamaican society, 1930-1990. Utrecht: ISOR, 1993. 483 pp.-Peter Mason, Arthur MacGregor, Sir Hans Sloane: Collector, scientist, antiquary, founding Father of the British Museum. London: British Museum Press, 1994.-Philip Morgan, James Walvin, The life and times of Henry Clarke of Jamaica, 1828-1907. London: Frank Cass, 1994. xvi + 155 pp.-Werner Zips, E. Kofi Agorsah, Maroon heritage: Archaeological, ethnographic and historical perspectives. Kingston: Canoe Press, 1994. xx + 210 pp.-Michael Hoenisch, Werner Zips, Schwarze Rebellen: Afrikanisch-karibischer Freiheitskampf in Jamaica. Vienna Promedia, 1993. 301 pp.-Elizabeth McAlister, Paul Farmer, The uses of Haiti. Monroe ME: Common Courage Press, 1994. 432 pp.-Robert Lawless, James Ridgeway, The Haiti files: Decoding the crisis. Washington DC: Essential Books, 1994. 243 pp.-Bernadette Cailler, Michael Dash, Edouard Glissant. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995. xii + 202 pp.-Peter Hulme, Veronica Marie Gregg, Jean Rhys's historical imagination: Reading and writing the Creole. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1995. xi + 228 pp.-Silvia Kouwenberg, Francis Byrne ,Focus and grammatical relations in Creole languages. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 1993. xvi + 329 pp., Donald Winford (eds)-John H. McWhorter, Ingo Plag, Sentential complementation in Sranan: On the formation of an English-based Creole language. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer, 1993. ix + 174 pp.-Percy C. Hintzen, Madan M. Gopal, Politics, race, and youth in Guyana. San Francisco: Mellen Research University Press, 1992. xvi + 289 pp.-W.C.J. Koot, Hans van Hulst ,Pan i rèspèt: Criminaliteit van geïmmigreerde Curacaose jongeren. Utrecht: OKU. 1994. 226 pp., Jeanette Bos (eds)-Han Jordaan, Cornelis Ch. Goslinga, Een zweem van weemoed: Verhalen uit de Antilliaanse slaventijd. Curacao: Caribbean Publishing, 1993. 175 pp.-Han Jordaan, Ingvar Kristensen, Plantage Savonet: Verleden en toekomst. Curacao: STINAPA, 1993, 73 pp.-Gerrit Noort, Hesdie Stuart Zamuel, Johannes King: Profeet en apostel in het Surinaamse bosland. Zoetermeer: Boekencentrum, 1994. vi + 241 pp.

scholarly journals Agricultural Development under Thal Development Authority (1949-69)

2020 ◽  
Vol V (II) ◽  
pp. 80-89
Author(s):  
Muhammad Wasim Abbas ◽  
Imran Ahmad ◽  
Muhammad Farooq Akbar Leghari
Keyword(s):  
Agricultural Development ◽  
Economic Effects ◽  
Historical Research ◽  
Historical Event ◽  
Canal Water ◽  
The West ◽  
Secondary Sources ◽  
Punjab Province ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Masses

The Thal is a desert in the west of Punjab province of Pakistan having an area of five million-acre. It had been a barren piece of land for centuries. West Pakistan Government not only provided canal water to almost 2.1 million acres of the region but also developed the area from 1949 to 1969. The agricultural development of the Thal region carried out by the Thal Development Authority is a historical event in the history of Pakistan. This study is historical research and data has been collected through primary and secondary sources. This paper will highlight the agricultural development of the region in detail and its socio-economic effects on the masses as well.

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