Correspondence and other papers relating to purchases for and the maintenance of the Bahrain Political Agency gardens. The file’s correspondents include: the Political Agent (Major Cyril Charles Johnson Barrett; Captain Charles Geoffrey Prior; Lieutenant-Colonel Percy Gordon Loch); representatives of the Manama Municipality (writing in Arabic); horticultural suppliers, including Pestonjee P Pocha & Sons of Poona, Bliss & Company of Karachi, and Imperial Chemical Industries (India) Limited; Nora Loch (née Dalyell), wife of the Political Agent Percy Gordon Loch.Papers relating to purchases made for a range of supplies (including flower and vegetable seeds, bulbs, plants, garden implements, manure, artificial fertilizer, labour) include advertisements, order forms, bills, receipts, and price lists, and correspondence confirming arrangements for the delivery of items to Bahrain. Papers relating to the maintenance of the garden include correspondence relating to the recruitment of a gardener from India, water and electricity supply, and damage to a garden water tank.Other items in the file include:a price list of flower and vegetable seeds supplied by Sutton & Sons and imported by Bliss & Company of Karachi, received at the Political Agency in September 1930 (ff 58-59);an illustrated brochure of Christmas gifts for gardens, produced by Pestonjee P Pocha & Sons, received at the Political Agency in November 1930 (ff 73-80);a brochure advertising new year offers for roses, cannas, chrysanthemums, fruit trees and other plants, produced by Pestonjee P Pocha & sons (ff 115-120);a price list of Arthur Yates & Company’s Australian flower and vegetable seeds for 1935/1936, supplied by Bliss & Company (f 172);correspondence dated 1936/1937 between Nora Loch and the curator at the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, Roland Edgar Cooper, concerning seeds and plants for the Agency Garden (ff 226-229, f 232);a list of cuttings and seeds planted in the Political Agency garden. The list is divided into sources (the Royal Botanical Gardens in Edinburgh, local sources, the House of the Binns in Scotland, and Egypt), and arranged alphabetically by each plant’s Latin name, with date (presumably the planting date) and notes on its location (ff 183-225);garden diary entries for the period 16 October 1935 to 6 January 1936 (ff 238-239) and flower lists for the period 13 October 1936 to 21 March 1937 (ff 242-245). These lists are interspersed amongst correspondence sent by Nora Loch, and are likely to have been compiled by her.1 file (314 folios)The file’s contents are arranged in approximate chronological order, from the earliest item at the front to the latest at the end. The file notes at the end of the file (ff 302-315) mirror the chronological arrangement.Foliation: the main foliation sequence (used for referencing) commences at the front cover with 1, and terminates at the inside back cover with 316; these numbers are written in pencil, are circled, and are located in the top right corner of the recto side of each folio. Two additional foliation sequences are also present in parallel between ff 4-301, and ff 302-311; these numbers are also written in pencil, but are not circled.
A short treatise describing a geometrical method for precisely determining latitude by Abū ‘Alī al-Ḥasan ibn al-Ḥasan known as Ibn al-Haytham (أبو علي الحسن بن الحسن known as ابن الهيثم, d c 1039). The Arabic text is accompanied by a Latin translation produced by Jacobus Golius (1596-1667) in 1643 (f. 7v).The text were copied on 2 February 1646 in Leiden by Nicolaus Petri of Aleppo (نقلاوس بن بطرس; see title page, f. 1r). The Arabic text was presumably copied from Leiden MS Or. 14 (see Witkam, Inventory of the Oriental Manuscripts of the Library of the University of Leiden, vol. 1, 2007, pp. 19-20), and the text of Golius' Latin translation is said to have been copied from a manuscript owned by the mathematician Samuel Keihel (see title page to the Latin text, f. 7v).The title page to the Arabic text (f. 1r) reads:2 Febr. st. n. 1646Leidae hoc descripsitNicolaus PetriAleppensiscuius ms. versio addita est àclariss. viro Dno JacoboGolio, et à me descritaiuxta exemplar Dni SamuelisKeihelii mathematiciingeniosissimiThe title page to the Latin text (f. 7v) reads:TractatusHazeni Hei-temidae ArabisDe accuratè inveniendaElevationePoliex Arabico in Lati-num conversus aclariss. viroIacobo GolioProfess. mathem. in Aca-dem. Lugd. Bat.Anno 1643The texts have two diagrams each (ff. 5v, 6v, 10v, and 11v).Contents:1) Ibn al-Haytham (ابن الهيثم),
Maqālah fī istikhrāj irtifā‘ al-quṭb ‘alá ghāyat al-taḥqīq(مقالة في استخراج ارتفاع القطب على غاية التحقيق; ff. 2r-7r)2) Jacobus Golius,
Tractatus Hazeni Heitemidae arabis de accuratè invenienda elevatione poli(ff. 7v-12r).Arabic text begins (f. 2r, lines 2-6):مقالة للحسن بن الحسين (!) بن الهيثم في استخراج ارتفاع القطبعلى غاية التحقيق ليس واحد من المعاني السماوية المدركة بالإرصاديستغني في رصده عن استعمال ارتفاع القطب عن أفقموضع الرصد ولا يتم وجود الحركات السماوية إلا بالآلات وبتحقيقوضعها على الأفق ...Arabic text ends (f. 7r, lines 8-17):... فالساعات التي توخذ من البنكامتكون محققة والساعات التي تستخرج من الارتفاع ومن موضع الكوكبغير متيقن فالزمان الذي يستخرج بالحساب من ارتفاع الكوكبليس يكون محققًا ولا موثوقًا بصحّته فهذا الذي بيناه هو الطريقإلى معرفة ارتفاع القطب علىغاية التحقيق وذلك ما قصدنافي هذه المقالة تمتوالحمد لله ربالعالمينتمLatin text begins (f. 8r, lines 1-7):Heitemidae seu Al-hazeni Tractactus de accuratèinvenienda elevatione poli.Rerum astronamicarum, quae qui-dem per observationes indagari solent, vix utlae (!)quae ad hoc ipsuim non requirat Altitudinem Po-li ...Latin text ends (f. 12r, lines 21-26):Cum itaque locus stellae certus et accuratus haberi nequeat, nectempus ex altitudine stellae computandum certò ac praecisèdefiniri potest. Atque haec quidem ad cognoscendam ac-curatiorem Elevationem Poli nobis declarandafuerunt.FinisCodex; ff. xxvii+12+iiMaterial: PaperDimensions: 250 x 150 mm leaf [164 x 110 mm written]Foliation: British Museum foliation in pencil; pagination in black ink; front papers are paginated in balck ink pp. 946-993, but not continuously or in orderRuling: Margins ruled, but not lines; 25 lines per page and vertical spacing 16 lines per 10 cm (Arabic); 32 lines per page and vertical spacing 21 lines per 10 cm (Latin)Script:
Naskh; the scribe is Nicolaus Petri (نقلاوس بن بطرس) of AleppoInk: Black ink, with one book title in red (f. 8r)Binding: British Museum bindingCondition: Excellent condition; some bleed-through of ink, minor foxingMarginalia: Three marginal correction by hand of scribe (ff. 4r, 6r and 11r)Seals: None