Middle East Banking in the 20th Century
Metahistory: Food for Books on Banking
In Dirāsah fī al-nuẓum al-naqdīyah wa-al-maṣrifīyah maʻa al-ishārah al-khāṣṣah ilá Miṣr wa-Lubnān (A Study of Financial and Banking Systems with Special Attention to Egypt and Lebanon), we see how the research sources for the banking history of the Middle East can contain more than simply the information conveyed in a scholarly study or annual report. The bookplate and stamp placed at the beginning of this volume document how it was acquired and processed by UT Libraries.
Dirāsah fī al-nuẓum al-naqdīyah wa-al-maṣrifīyah maʻa al-ishārah al-khāṣṣah ilá Miṣr wa-Lubnān
Ṣubḥī Tādrus Qurayṣah, 1974.Provided by the Library of Congress Public Law 480 Program
In Qurayṣah, Dirāsah fī al-nuẓum al-naqdīyah wa-al-maṣrifīyah maʻa al-ishārah al-khāṣṣah ilá Miṣr wa-Lubnān, 1974.Arab Development Institute Fund Bookplate
In Qurayṣah, Dirāsah fī al-nuẓum al-naqdīyah wa-al-maṣrifīyah maʻa al-ishārah al-khāṣṣah ilá Miṣr wa-Lubnān, 1974.The UT Libraries was able to acquire this book through the Public Law 480 “Books for Food” program managed by the Library of Congress. The Arab Development Institute Fund supported the acquisition––and, significantly––the cataloging of this volume as well. These small artifacts are evidence that these programs, funds, and relationships existed.
Interested to learn more about PL 480 and the history of U.S. university library collections? See:
Michael Albin, et al., “Area Studies, the Cold War, and the History of the US Academic Library Collections,” panel discussion at the Middle East Institute's Oman Library, Zoom, 22 June 2022: https://youtu.be/7JwtuC-9UCQ
Alex Boodrookas (2019) "Total Literature, Total War: Foreign Aid, Area Studies, and the Weaponization of US Research Libraries," Diplomatic History, 43:2, 332–352, DOI: 10.1093/dh/dhy073
Michael Degerald (2021) "Trading Wheat for Books in the Cold War: Public Law 480 (Food for Peace) and Its Connection to Middle East Studies," Middle East Critique, 30:3, 245-264, DOI: 10.1080/19436149.2021.1957301