SOAS Special Collections

Archives, manuscripts and rare books from @SOASLibrary, the UK National Research Library for Asia, Africa and the Middle East | [email protected]

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

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[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

Front binding of Muhammad Zuhūrī's Divan (late C16th). The cover is painted in a wonderfully colourful collection of flowers in reds, pinks and blues on a gold ground with small stylised birds appearing here and there. #EYAColourful https://t.co/zJXUERZM5D

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

'Royal Lamba' from Madagascar, presented to Rev A. R. Down as the district missionary. The age of this burial cloth is unknown. Lambas used for royal burial were of finer quality with gold threads. #EYAColourful https://t.co/Djnb4ZMh4s

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[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

18th century Christian liturgical texts in Bohairic Coptic with Arabic glosses. Coptic was derived from Ancient Egyptian and written in a modified Greek alphabet. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/KVMFafLxod

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Early C13th manuscript edition of the Kokin wakashū of 905, the first imperially commissioned anthology of waka, Japanese court poetry. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/k2wbeu0lQh

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

Hausa poem in praise of Muhammad written by Dāwūd, Son of the Imam of the Mosque of Bello. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/pq4SeqSOcR

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

Notebooks of William Dawes, 1790, documenting the grammar and vocab of the language spoken in the area around Sydney, Australia. These books are the major source of information about the Aboriginal language of Sydney. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/Aok4MPdqOC

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This palm-leaf manuscript contains three religious works written in Pali with Sinhalese. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/3RRkDDy0R7

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

Vocabularies of the Taheitian & some other languages, compiled by Joseph Banks during Captain James Cook's first voyage in 1760. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/9LYAOjmtZP

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

A handwritten native Siamese primer. With an inscription by G.Perry stating that he received it from Captain Francis Light (whose signature is added at the end) at Madras on the 14th July 1778. #EYAHandwriting https://t.co/fJHAOLdPzD

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

The Stencl papers contain hundreds of scribbled drafts of poems and memoirs, often written on the back of re-purposed paper, such as napkins or receipts. https://t.co/esTEqAWEIs #EYAHAndwriting

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

This manuscript map was draw and annotated by David Livingstone documenting his '‘Journey thro’ Barotseland’ in 1853 https://t.co/WiYIjAd0GQ #EYAHandwriting

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

This letter, dated 1777, is from Than Phya Phimon Aisawan, Siamese Governor of Thalang and Than Phya Surintharacha, Siamese Superintendent to Captain Francis Light. The letter relates to the supply of 4000 muskets by Light to the Siamese Gvt. MS380629 #EYAHandwriting

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

The hand captured in these images published by the International Association of the Vrindaban Research insitute show three gestures traditional in Indian dance: Bherunda, Chatura and Garuda. #InternationalDanceDay https://t.co/tFyqWxkgjz

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

This portrait of Honourable William Ainslie, Puisne Judge of the High Court, Calcutta is from Sketches of Indian military and civil service notabilities of the Victorian-Edwardian age. See more portraits here: https://t.co/1hYpSktyyo #EYACrime

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

This example of mail art by Hassan Musa, 1933 is titled 'En taule avec des amis Hollondais' (in jail with Dutch friends'. See more of his work here: https://t.co/TckOvvC87q #EYACrime

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

This manuscript contains illustrations of the ten halls of Bhuddistic judgement with their various kinds of punishment. This image shows the Hades or Hall of Buddha, also known as the Courts of Hell.#EYACrime https://t.co/ec2LOwHLYa

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

Next time you're at SOAS Special Collections why not check out some of our comic magazines? This didactic cartoon comic showcases the inadvisability of crime with a comedic twist! (PP MS 46, Hake, Box 29) #EYAcrime

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

Smuggling shadowed every China Navigation Co. voyage - bold, audacious, and woven into daily life. In the chaos of departure, 'pidgin' contraband slipped aboard: opium, alcohol, tobacco, textiles. Sailors looked away… or helped. #EYACrime Read more here: https://t.co/KEVdQTnmVf

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

In 1925 William Reid, a Taikoo Sugar Refinery employee was accused of embezzlement. The event led to the revision of accounting practices #EYACrime Read more here: https://t.co/FuLnrdVuWh

[SOAS Special Collections @SOAS_SpecColl]

This 1839 essays discusses the repercussions of British army soldiers drinking too much. #EYACrime https://t.co/kCR102zRml