Africa Through Western Eyes

Scope

The first two parts of Africa Through Western Eyes are based on the unique holdings of the Royal Commonwealth Society Library, now housed at Cambridge University Library. This collection is especially strong for Nigeria, Uganda, South Africa, Congo, and Kenya. Some of the collections featured are:

• 41 notebooks of Cuthbert Christy, the explorer, featuring accounts of his experiences in Nigeria, 1896-1899, in Uganda, 1902-1903, the Congo, 1903-04 & 1912-1916; Calabar & Benin, 1909, East Africa, c 1910, and recording his work for the International Commission of Enquiry looking into slavery in Liberia.
• African diaries of A R H Mann recording a journey in 1935 from London, via Egypt, to the Sudan, Kenya, Uganda, Belgian Congo, French Equatorial Africa, the Cameroons and South Africa.
• Letterbooks and diaries of Sir John Hawley Glover describing the Ashanti campaign, 1873-1874
• 5 volumes of notes concerning the local history, customs and administration of Senegambie
• Reminiscences of Philip Louis Tengely about life in Benin, Accra and Sierra Leone at the turn of the century
• An account of a journey in French West Africa, c 1901, by S Forbes White
• George K Baskerville’s manuscript history of missionary activity in Uganda, 1876-1927
• T O Fraser’s Boer war diary and Charles du Val’s “The News of the Camp”, issued during the Siege of Pretoria (the only complete collection)

—-Publisher’s Note in Guide to Microfilm Collection