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The libraries of the Fatimid caliphs in Egypt (r. 969–1171) are known to have been extraordinarily large, containing hundreds of thousands of volumes on all branches of knowledge. Of these fabled manuscripts, only a handful are known to survive. It has long been assumed that a substantial number of the secular manuscripts would have been illustrated, as many later Islamic manuscripts are illustrated, but no examples are known to have survived, although somewhat more than 150 paper fragments bearing images have been attributed to the period, as well as representations in other media, ranging from carved ivories to ceramics. In the absence of surviving illustrated manuscripts, scholars have deployed several strategies to attempt to reconstruct the lost art of painting in the Fatimid period, most notably Richard Ettinghausen in his seminal 1942 article "Painting in the Fatimid Period" and Ernst Grube in a subsequent series of articles and chapters. This article examines the evidence and explores how scholars have interpreted it within the broader contexts of representation and manuscript illustration in Islamic art. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The bomb-peak signal preserved in the Arches® cotton paper was used to detect art forgeries imitating the work of Chinese artist T'ang Haywen (1927–1991). The dating of seven legitimate T'ang Haywen art pieces showed that the timing of the paper production was consistent with the artist's use of Arches® paper starting in the early 1980s. The measured F14C of the paper from the 14 suspected forged paintings shows that the support material was produced in the last decade (2008–2011), therefore the art pieces could not be genuine T'ang Haywen works. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a case study to assess the possibilities and limitations of determining the exact age of paper, we measured radiocarbon (14C) concentrations in bulk-paper cellulose and starch extracts from 20 known-age paper samples of the last 65 yr. As expected, 14C concentrations in single-seasonal grown starch extracts are in reasonably good agreement with post-bomb atmospheric 14C. In contrast, 14C concentrations in bulk-paper cellulose indicate apparent admixtures of tree-ring fibers spanning up to >50 yr. In a forensic investigation, combining 14C results from single-seasonal components like starch with those from long-lived fibers, could potentially enhance the precision of paper production-date estimates for samples made after 1955. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hybrid material based on halloysite nanotubes (HNTs) and sodium perfluorooctanoate (NaPF8) was used as a consolidant for paper treatment. The consolidation efficiency was determined by thermogravimetry as well as by paper grammage determination. Morphological analysis of the treated paper was performed by means of scanning electron microscopy while the effect of modified HNTs on the thermal behaviour of the cellulose fibres was investigated by differential scanning calorimetry which determined the combustion enthalpy of the paper.Water contact angle measurements were performed to study the paper wettability. The physico-chemical properties investigated (mesoscopic structure, thermal stability and wettability) of the treated paper were correlated successfully with the consolidation loading and, consequently, to the affinity between the fluorinated modified HNTs and the fibrous cellulose structure. This study proposes a new green protocol for paper consolidation based on natural tubular nanoparticles with a flame retardant effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Comparative writing about the history of science and technology in different cultures tends to assume that differences in the ways in which these cultures write their histories are not important. But this is unlikely to be the case. The comparative lack of historical writing about printing in China by European standards should not in itself lead us to conclude that print only played a minor role there, any more than the tendency to downplay the importance of paper among historians of the European book means that its use in Europe was less significant than in other cultures. That in China the relative balance of the historical record is the opposite of the one that we tend to assume on the basis of the European experience is demonstrated here by contrasting the dearth of information about early printing with the commemoration even of relatively marginal cultural figures through the traditional Chinese historiography of paper making. But only tentative suggestions can be made as to why these differences in historical writing may have occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article discusses the book "A New Map of the World," by Ian Linden. Linden has already moved on since writing the book, and if the book has emphases and approaches in it that are not mine, the development the paper seems to show brings people into almost complete agreement. Linden now, for example, draws into the analysis the enormously significant cases of India and China, which together make up about 40% of the world's population. Nor does he now lay so much emphasis on the Asian collapses of 1978.

The article offers information on the guidelines in submitting papers to "Ethics & International Affairs." journal. The aim of the journal is to help close the gap between theory and practice by publishing original essays that integrate rigorous thinking about principles of ethics and justice into discussions of practical issues related to current policy developments, global institutional arrangements, and the conduct of important international actors.

The article offers information on the untitled pencil drawing of Edmund Monsiel. In year 1942, Monsiel hid in the windowless attic of his brother's house in Lublin, Poland because he knew that the Nazis will arrest him. During his stay there, he started to draw on scraps of paper depicting agglomerations of wild figures and strong features of human faces. The small scales of drawings express obvious religious elements, which represent Christ, God or Devil, have swarmed in a sea of chaotic details. Key information regarding his schizophrenia condition is presented.