Finding aid of the Rom Landau Middle East
Collection
Processed by Don Walker
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University of the Pacific Library
3601 Pacific Ave.
Stockton, CA 95211
Phone: (209) 946-2404
Fax: (209) 946-2942
URL: http://www.pacific.edu/Library/Find/Holt-Atherton-Special-Collections.html
© 2006
University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Finding aid of the Rom Landau Middle East
Collection
Collection number: MSS 068
Holt-Atherton Department of Special Collections
University
of the Pacific Library
Stockton, California
- Processed by:
- Processed by Don Walker
- Date Completed:
- 1994
- Encoded by:
- Shan Sutton
© 2006 University of the Pacific. All rights reserved.
Descriptive Summary
Title: Rom Landau Middle East collection
Dates: ca.
1920-1970
Collection number: MSS 068
Creator:
Landau, Rom, 1899-
Collection Size: 67 linear feet
Repository:
University of the Pacific. Library. Holt-Atherton Dept. of
Special Collections
Stockton, California 95211
Abstract: The Landau Collection consists chiefly of Rom
Landau's personal library and other materials, notably clippings, periodicals
and government documents that he used in teaching coursework in Islamic Studies
at the University of the Pacific. The primary focus of these materials is
Morocco.
Physical location: For current information on the location
of these materials, please consult the library's online catalog.
Languages: Languages represented in the collection:
English Arabic French
Access
Collection open for research.
Publication Rights
Permission for publication is given on behalf of Special Collections as
the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply
permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the
researcher.
Preferred Citation
Rom Landau Middle East collection. MSS 068. Holt-Atherton Department of
Special Collections, University of the Pacific Library.
Biography / Administrative History
Rom Landau (1899-1974), author and professor of Islamic Studies, was
born in England of Polish-German parents. He studied philosophy, art, and
religion at various European schools and universities--notably in
Germany--taking no degrees and spending his early years traveling and working
as a sculptor. During the late 1920s and early 1930s Landau established a minor
reputation in Europe as a writer. His themes were art history, Polish
biography, and comparative religion. Landau's best known book from these years
bears the title God is my adventure (Knopf, 1935). He was a co-founder of the
World Congress of Faiths, London (1936).
Rom Landau first visited Morocco in 1924. From that time he became a
student of Islamic civilization. Landau taught himself Arabic and spent as much
time as he could afford living and traveling in North Africa and the Middle
East. In 1937 he visited King Ibn Saud, King Abdallah of Jordan, and other
secular and religious leaders of the Middle East. Landau subsequently published
a book, Arm the Apostles (1938), about this trip in which he advocates arming
the Arabs so that they might aid the British and French in the coming war with
Nazi Germany.
Landau served in the Royal Air Force (1939-41) and was a member of the
Arab Committee of the Intelligence Department of the British Foreign Office
(1941-45) during World War II. During this period he published (with A.J.
Arberry) the standard work Islam Today (Cambridge, 1943). Following the War,
Landau returned to North Africa where he established close personal ties with
Sultan of Morocco and other Arab leaders of liberation movements. Landau
discreetly supported these groups although his interest in the cause of Arab
independence would seem to have been motivated more by a traditionalist's wish
to slow the modernization and Europeanization of the region than to improve the
living standards of the common people.
Beginning in 1948 Rom Landau devoted his writing skills exclusively to
Morocco and Moroccan affairs. Over the subsequent five year period Landau
published Invitation to Morocco (1950); Moroccan Journal (1951); The Beauty of
Morocco (1951); The Sultan of Morocco (1952); Morocco (for the Carnegie
Endowment for International Peace, 1952); Portrait of Tangier (1953); and
France and the Arabs (1953). Later he would publish a study of Moroccan drama
(1956), biographies of King Mohammed V (1957) and Hassan II (1962), as well as
a History of Morocco in the Twentieth Century (1963). Landau also wrote
numerous essays and book reviews for The Reporter, The New Statesman, The
Spectator, and other British and American periodicals of the day.
Following a lecture tour to the United States (1952-53) Landau settled
in San Francisco where he was employed by Alan Watts' American Academy of Asian
Studies. The Academy soon affiliated with the University of the Pacific,
Stockton (1954), and Landau subsequently became a professor of Islamic Studies
at the University (1956-68). In 1962-63 he supervised the Peace Corps training
program that prepared volunteers for service in Morocco. Following his
retirement (1968), Landau settled in Marrakesh, where he lived until his
death.
Scope and Content of Collection
The Landau Collection consists chiefly of Rom Landau's personal library
and other materials, notably clippings, periodicals and government documents
that he used in teaching coursework in Islamic Studies at the University of the
Pacific. As might be expected, the primary focus of these materials is Morocco.
However, the collection also contains considerable material on the other
nations of French North Africa, Algeria and Tunisia, and, a smaller body of
books, pamphlets, and documents on other Islamic nations and on
Israel/Palestine. The time period of greatest emphasis is the twenty-five years
immediately following World War II (1945-1970).
Arrangement
Collection is arranged in four series: I. Manuscript Materials; IIA.
Printed Matter on Morocco; IIB. Printed Matter on Muslim Lands; and III.
Materials Unrelated to Islam or the Middle East.
Indexing Terms
The following terms have been used to index the description of this
collection in the library's online public access catalog.
Muhammad V, King of
Morocco, 1909-1961
Hassan II, King of
Morocco, 1929-
Bourguiba, Habib,
1903-
Nasser, Gamal Abdel,
1918-1970
Islam
Art, Islamic
Israel-Arab conflicts
Algeria - History - Revolution,
1954-1962
Morocco - Description and
travel
Morocco - History
Morocco |- Kings and rulers
Tunisia - Description and
travel
Tunisia - History - 1956-
Middle East - Politics and
government
Middle East - Economic conditions -
1945-
Africa, French-speaking West -
Politics and government - 1960-
Egypt - History - 1952-
Pakistan - Description and
travel
Container List
Series I: Manuscript Materials
Box 1: Personal Papers (biographies, correspondence,
etc.)
Box 4: Morocco (clippings, notes, government papers,
etc.)
Box 4A: Morocco newspaper clippings
(1951-1962)
Box 5: Muslim countries materials (clippings, notes,
government papers, etc.)
Series IIA: Printed Matter on Morocco
Box 1: 19th Century Books
Box 2: Morocco, Description and Travel, A-L
Box 3, Morocco, Description and Travel, M-Z
Box 4: Morocco, Fine Arts
Box 5: Morocco, History, A-L
Box 6: Morocco, History, M-Z
Box 7: Morocco, Politics and Government
Box 8: Morocco, Other Topics
Box 9: Moroccan Periodicals
Box 10: Moroccan Government Publications, French
Protectorate
Box 11: Moroccan Government Publications, Royal
Decrees,etc.
Box 12: Moroccan Government Publications, Embassy in
France,1962-64
Box 13: Moroccan Government Publications, Embassy in
France,1965-1967
Box 14: Moroccan Government Publications, Embassy in
Washington D.C.
Box 15: Moroccan Government Publications, Ministere de
l'Information
Box 16: Moroccan Government Publications, Ministere de
l'Information, Maroc Documents
Box 17: Moroccan Government Publications, Ministere des
Affaires Etrangeres
Box 18: Moroccan Government Publications, Presidence du
Conseil
Box 19: Moroccan Government Publications,
Ministries
Box 20: Moroccan Government Publications, Bibliographie
Nationale du Maroc
Box 21: al-Istiqlal (newspaper)
Box 22: Moroccan Publications in Arabic
Series IIB: Printed Matter on Muslim Lands
Box 1: 19th Century Books
Box 4: Middle East General Topics, A-L
Box 5: Middle East General Topics, M-Z
Box 7: Sub-Saharan Africa
Box 9: T.E. Lawrence ("Lawrence of Arabia")
Box 10: Arab Countries, Algeria
Box 11: Arab Countries, Egypt
Box 12: Arab Countries, Tunisia
Box 13: Arab Countries, including Aden, Iraq, Jordan,
Lebanon, Mauritania, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Syria and Yemen
Box 14: Non-Arab Countries, Iran
Box 15: Non-Arab Countries, Israel/Palestine
Box 16: Non-Arab Countries, Turkey
Box 17: Non-Arab Countries, including Kashmir, Indonesia,
Malaysia, and Pakistan
Box 18: Europe and American Periodicals on the Muslim
World
Box 19: European and American Periodicals on the Muslim
World, Realities
Box 20: Arab Periodicals in European Languages
Box 21: Arab Periodicals in European Languages
Box 22: el Moujahid, 1956-1962 (Algerian
newspaper)
Box 23: Resistance Algerienne, 1956-1957
Box 24: el-Amal, 1966-Mar 1967 (Tunisian
newspaper)
Box 25: el-Amal, April-June 1967
Box 26: el-Amal, July-September 1967
Box 27: el-Amal, October-December 1967
Box 28: Miscellaneous Muslim Periodicals in
Arabic
Box 29: Tunisian Periodicals in Arabic
Series III: Materials Unrelated to Islam or the Middle
East
Box 1: Philosophy, Psychology and Religion
