Some Papers Pertaining to al-Muntada al-Adabi in the
                     Library of the Hoover Institution

	Among the documents to be found in the Middle East Collection in 
the Library of the Hoover Institution in Stanford, California is a 
collection of unpublished papers and manuscripts pertaining to al-Muntada 
al-Adabi, a literary club or forum, founded by Arab students in Istanbul 
in 1909.(1)

	Although these papers are a primary source for the study of the 
origins of Arab nationalism, their existence in an American library is 
generally unknown. With the purpose, therefore, of bringing these papers 
to the attention of students of modern Arab history, I have prepared the 
following list of the most important items to be found among them.

I. Official Documents of the Club.

	1. Daftar al-Muswaddah. Minutes of the meetings of the Executive 
Committee (Hay'at al-Idarah) held during the period extending from 5 
Muharram 1329 (6 January 1911) through 6 Dhu al-Hijjah 1329 (28 November 
1911). Several pages, covering those meetings held between 8 Muharram and 
9 Rabi` al-Awwal, are missing.  Among the members of the Executive 
Committee mentioned in the minutes are: `Abd al-Karim al-Qasim al-Khalil, 
first president; Sayf al-Din al-Khatib, second president; Yusuf 
[Mukhaybir] Sulayman [Haydar], Najib al-Hakim, Fadl Allah al-Mufid, 
Ibrahim Adham al-Wa`iz, `Afif al-Sulh, Najdat al-Sukuni, Jamil 
al-Husayni, Bahjat Mardum, Rashid al-Mar`ashi, and `Ali Naji.

	2. Hectograph master of the bylaws of the Club containing articles 
21-101. The articles are given under various chapter headings as follows:

	a) al-Fasl al-Thalith: Idarat Jam`iyat al-Muntada al-Adabi 
(articles 26-47).
	b) A`da' al-`Umdah (articles 48-70).
	c) al-Fasl al-Rabi`: al-Hay'ah al-`Umumiyah (articles 75-101).

	3. Draft of bylaws containing 22 articles listed under the 
following headings:

	a) Sunduq al-Tasarruf wa-Ghayatuh (articles 1-3).
	b) al-Ashum (articles 4-9).
	c) al-Aqrad (articles 10-15).
	d) al-`Umdah al-Idariyah (articles 16-19).
	e) al-Hay'ah al-`Umumiyah (articles 20-22).

	4. Bylaws of al-Nadi al-Adabi al-Filastini in Jerusalem, 
containing 30 articles.

	5. A roster of the students living in the Istanbul hostel of the 
club for the year 1329.  Among the names listed are: Tawfiq Abu al-Huda, 
`Arif `Arif, and Rushdi Malhas.

	6. A list of the original members of the Club (in Turkish). 
Included in the list are: `Abd al-Karim al-Qasim al-Khalil, Sayf al-Din 
al-Khatib, Jamil al-Husayni, Yusuf Sulayman, Rafiq Rizq Sallum, `Arif 
`Arif, and Jawdat al-Qandusi.

	7. Seven letters or drafts of letters pertaining to club affairs.


II. Drafts of Speeches, Articles and Letters.  Twenty-four items on 
political, social, and patriotic subjects.


III. Personal letters. Forty-seven items among which are the following:

	1. Two letters from `Abd al-Karim al-Qasim al-Khalil, one written 
to a certain Tahir and undated, the other to Mu`in [al-Madi] and dated 4 
Sha`ban 1330 (?).

	2. A letter from Yusuf Sulayman to `Abd al-Karim [al-Qasim 
al-Khalil] dated 11 Mayis 1328 and written from Beirut.  At the end of the 
letter is a note to `Abd al-Karim from Mu`in al-Madi.

	3. Thirteen letters from `Isa al-Qandusi in Jerusalem to his 
brother Jawdat al-Qandusi in Istanbul, The earliest letter is dated 10 
Shubat 1327, the last 24 Mart 1329.


 			      Footnote

	1. Information on this club and other Arab nationalist clubs and 
associations of the same period can be found in George Antonius, The Arab 
Awakening, G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1938, pp. 101-121; and in Âlayh Divan-ı 
Harb-ı Örfisinde Tatkik olunan mesele-i siyasiye hakkında izahat, 
published by the Dördüncü Ordu-yi Humayun, İstanbul, Tanin Matbaası, 1332.  
French and Arabic versions of the latter work were also published under 
the titles La Vérité sur la question Syrienne. Stamboul, Imprimerie 
Tanine, 1916; and Idahat `an al-masa'il al-siyasiyah allati jara tadqiquha 
bi-Diwan al-Harb al-`Urfi al-mutashakkil bi-`Alayh, Istanbul, Matba`at 
al-Tanin, 1334.  For information on the Middle East Collection at the 
Hoover Institution see African and Middle East Collections: a Survey of 
Holdings at The Hoover Institution on War Revolution and Peace by Peter 
Duignan. Karen Fung, George Rentz, and Michel Nabti, Stanford, Calif., 
1971.  More recent information on the Middle East Collection may be found 
online at http://www.hoover.org/hila/collections/5676766.html.


Nicholas Heer 

1961 (updated 2008)