Use the diary viewer to explore transcriptions of the Joseph Mathia Svoboda Diaries. Each diary will include the SDP transcribed text as well as the original diary text for comparison.
Click on one of the diaries below to begin exploring. There is a “Help” button at the top of each page with instructions on how to use the diary viewer.
In many of the diaries, there are marginal notes in Arabic. These ink notes were written by the Baghdad historian Yaqub Serkis sometime after he received them from Alexander Svoboda, probably in the late 1920s. Because these notes are a later addition extrinsic to Joseph Mathia Svoboda’s writings, we have gathered them in an appendix where they are listed under unique identifiers – for example [A47_006_09:001] – recording the diary number, place in the diary, and numerical order.
For some of the diaries, we have prepared minimal notes and glosses as well as extensive word lists. For access to any of these additional materials, please reach out to us directly for more information.
For many of the diary transcriptions, we have provided live links to the original diary pages. To use these links, click on the page numbers in the left display panel.
In several of the diaries, pockets in the back covers hold a variety of memorabilia including newspaper clippings, pictures, and souvenirs. Some of the textual material has been transcribed and is visible in the HTML display. While this was not done consistently, the contents of the pockets are displayed in the images in ContentDM, along with the original diary images:
http://digitalcollections.lib.washington.edu/cdm/search/collection/iraqdiaries