Professor William R. Polk, a name familiar to most members of the
list, has decided to sell his library, which he would prefer to go to
an academic institution. He has asked me if I would bring this to the
notice of relevant librarians, so I hope that list-members will
accept this as a legitimate use of Lis-Middle-East.
Professor Polk writes
"The collection has been made over nearly 60 years and comprises
roughly a thousand books and off-prints in Arabic, Turkish, Persian,
Hebrew, Russian, French, English and German. Many of the items are, I
believe, otherwise virtually unobtainable or very rare.
There is a certain coherence to the collection that should ideally be
preserved; it was purchased as I set out to write various books or to
teach courses. That of course is not necessary, but for an
institution it may be an advantage. I was saddened when the library
of my colleague Gustav von Grunebaum was broken up and heartened when
that of my teacher and friend, Sir Hamilton Gibb, was kept as a unit.
I presume, however, that in almost any collection, there would be
some duplication that would have to be winnowed.
As I say, the whole collection amounts to about a thousand items,
Some of these are multiple volumes (for example, a run of the Middle
East Journal from the first issue is treated as one item). Also I
have not itemized pamphlets and off-prints of which, naturally, I
have a large number. Except for these, the whole collection is
itemized and described (condition, date, publisher, subject,
language, etc) and is available by e-mail or on a floppy disk."
Anyone wishing further information should contact Professor Polk
directly either by e-mail at:
[log in to unmask]
or by writing to him at:
669 Chemin de la Sine,
06140 Vence,
France (where the collection is housed.) or by phoning him on:
(33) 493581627.
Do not contact me - I am merely passing the message on.
Paul Auchterlonie.
----------------------
Paul Auchterlonie
Librarian for Middle East Studies
University of Exeter
Old Library
Prince of Wales Road
Exeter EX4 4PX
U.K.
Tel.: 01392 264051
Fax.: 01392 263871
E-Mail: [log in to unmask]
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