Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2022 June 13

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June 13

Help transcribing English handwriting

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)

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)

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)

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

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

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)

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)

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)

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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

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)

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