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June 13[edit]

Help transcribing English handwriting[edit]

Can you help reading the lines written on the top of the second page of the pdf embedded here (one on the left, one on the right)? https://www.archives.gov.il/product-page/2335939

Thanks. trespassers william (talk) 17:18, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The first part says "Agreed map - sent by Findlay & Gray." Underneath that it says "Agreed by ?? Owen (2/8/06)". The part on the right is written in capitals & is pretty straightforward - "Agreed map" July 1906, Taba Section (enlarged). --Viennese Waltz 17:39, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I think "Agreed by Tewks ?? Owen". I think the ?? is some kind of abbreviation, maybe with a slash in the middle, but nothing in wikt:Category:English_terms_spelled_with_/ seems to fit. Is it a really badly written "c/o", for "care of"? No, you don't really agree "care of" somebody, you agree "on behalf of" somebody. Is it some kind of military rank? It looks like "a/c" which means "account", but that makes no apparent sense. Might be an f rather than a slash, but that gives me "ofc", for "of course", which still makes no sense. If it's an ampersand, it looks entirely unlike the other ampersand. Card Zero (talk) 17:47, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed by Turks (something / something) Owen". --Amble (talk) 17:48, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Looks more like "Tuke" to me. Deor (talk) 17:54, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Findlay: diplomat Mansfeldt Findlay; Grey: Foreign Secretary Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon; Owen: army officer and Sudan Agent Roger Carmichael Robert Owen. See section "The Taba crisis of 1906" in [1]. --Amble (talk) 18:07, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Perhaps the abbreviation in the middle is ofc for "officer". I see from your link that he would indeed be agreeing with the Turks. Card Zero (talk) 18:15, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I suggest it's an abbreviation for "Lieutenant Colonel Owen". Whatever it's meant to be, it isn't written clearly. --Amble (talk) 19:42, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Owen was a major in 1906, see British Military Intelligence in the Palestine Campaign, 1914-1918 (p. 29, note 21). Alansplodge (talk) 13:22, 14 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

You are technically correct — the best kind of correct! —Amble (talk) 14:51, 14 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

I wonder if it's either "etc." or the equivalent "&c.", if someone else was also expected to agree. --174.95.83.56 (talk) 01:08, 14 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Semantically, it makes sense if the scribble stands for "as per". --Lambiam 23:05, 16 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks. I couldn't read "Turks" alone. Based on an unrelated map I saw today, maybe "o/c" stands for "on conversation."

But what about the first line? "Agreed map - ???? by Findlay". Could be "Sinai"? But a verb would be more fitting. trespassers william (talk) 20:07, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

As User:Viennese Waltz says, that's definitely "sent by". --Amble (talk) 20:10, 13 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The negotiations appear to have been moderated per the attestation (p. 116) by two Turkish army staff officers and R C R Owen for the British, with his rank being given as "o/c" (officer in command). 2A00:23C5:C719:7201:1A:5EB9:69D5:D178 (talk) 16:18, 17 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Actually "officer commanding" to be pedantic. Alansplodge (talk) 12:37, 20 June 2022 (UTC)[reply]