The Pasha’s archive was curated to shape how later historians wrote about him.

Evidence

St. John did not fall in the trap, however, and his book did not proceed chronologically following the Pasha from his childhood to his old age, the narration culminating with his different military adventures. More than a hundred years after his death, though, books are still being written which, having been based on an archival material that had been cleverly selected in the first place, appear as if they had been dictated by the Pasha himself, and in his own words. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 1685

Categorization

• SEED: Sketch: an essay on how Great Men curate their own paper trails, using Mehmed Ali’s dictated memoir and managed archive as the case study.
• XREF: connects to: Some Egyptian historiography is built from the Pasha’s own documents. — Khaled Fahmy, All the Pasha_s Men_ Mehmed Ali, his…, 983