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Published online by Cambridge University Press: 25 April 2022
The African Studies Association gives its Presidents no formal guidance on the content or presentation of their addresses, but my predecessor Rowland Moss suggested that one method was to chose a title first and write the address afterwards. In my case, the major part of the title was easy to decide on, since it was as the representative of SCOLMA, the Standing Conference on Library Materials on Africa, that I first joined the A.S.A. Council in 1964. I do not, however, intend to speak about SCOLMA in any detail, since I have done so on more than one occasion; my aim is to look at the materials which one might find in a major library on Africa and consider how they came to be written, the categories into which they fall, and the way in which they reflect changing attitudes to Africa.
Among works found particularly useful in preparing this address are Eldred Jones, The Elizabethan Image of Africa, Richmond, Va., 1971; P. D. Curtin, The Image of Africa: British ideas and action 1780-1850, 1965) Douglas Grant, The Fortunate Slave, 1968; A. J. Barker, The African Link: British attitudes to the Negro in the 17th and 18th Centuries, 1978. Footnotes have been added where the work mentioned has not been adequately cited in the text. Books are published in London unless otherwise stated.
2 Simpson, D. H. “Fifteen years of SCOLMA” (African Research and Documentation, 13 (1977) 1-6).Google Scholar
3 Letts, Malcolm (ed), Mandeville's Travels, 1933, vol.1, 33.Google Scholar
4 Martyr, Malcolm, trans. Eden, Richard, The Decades of the New Worlde of West India, 1955.Google Scholar
5 Hakluyt, Richard, The Principal Navigations, Voyages, Traffiques and Discoveries of the English Nation, 1589 and 1599-1600; Leo Africanus, trans. Pory, John, The History and Description of Africa, 1600 (also Hakluyt Society 3 vols, 1896).Google Scholar
6 Jobson, Richard, The Golden Trade; or, a discovery of the River Gambia … , 1623, reprint with introduction by Rodney, Walter, Dawsons 1968.Google Scholar
7 Purchas, Samuel, Hakluytus Posthumus: or Purchas his Pilgrimes, 1625 (also Hakluyt Society 20 vols 1905-7)) in this edition Leo appears in vol.5 and Jobson in vol.9).Google Scholar
8 Lancelot Addison, A discourse of Tangier under the government of the Earl of Teviot, 1685; Chappell, E. (ed), The Tangier Papers of Samuel Pepys, 1935.Google Scholar
9 Dictionary of National Biography, vol. XIV, 908-911; Ogilby, John, Africa: being an accurate description …, 1670.Google Scholar
10 Jobson, op cit, 112.
11 Churchill, A. & J., A Collection of Voyages and Travels, 6 vols, 1732; T. Astley, A new General Collection of Voyages and Travels, 4 vols, 1745-47; W. Bosman, A New and Accurate Description of the Coast of Guinea, 1705; J. Barbot, A Description of the Coasts of North and South Guinea, 1732; W. Snelgrave, A New Account of some parts of Guinea and the Slave Trade, 1734! ”. Smith, A New Voyage to Guinea, 1745.Google Scholar
12 Atkins, J., A Voyage to Guinea, Brasil, and the West-Indies, 1735.Google Scholar
13 See also D. Grant, op cit.
14 Letters of the late Ignatius Sancho, an African, 5th ed, 1803; Cuguano, O., Thoughts and Sentiments on the evil and wicked traffic of the slavery and commerce of the human species, 1787; The Interesting Narrative of the Life of Olaudah Equiano, or Gustavus Vassa, the African, written by himself, 2 vols,1789. (Reprints of these, with new introductions by Paul Edwards, were published by Dawsons, 1968-69.) For the epitaph on Equiano's daughter at Chesterton, see “Afric's Sun-burnt Race” (Royal Commonwealth Society Library Notes, no.222, April June 1977, p.4.)Google Scholar
15 Cowper, W., A subject for conversation, 1792; T. Pringle, Poetical Works, 1837; J. Montgomery, The West Indies, and other poems, 1810.Google Scholar
16 Wadstrom, C. B., An Essay on Colonisation, 2 vols, 1794-95; Capt. P. Beaver, African Memoranda; relative to an attempt to establish a British Settlement on the Island of Bulama …, 1805; H. C. Luke, A Bibliography of Sierra Leone, 2nd ed, Oxford, 1925, 98-105.Google Scholar
17 Adanson, M., Histoire naturelle du Sénégal, Paris 1757; Voyage to Senegal, 1759.Google Scholar
18 Proceedings of the Association for Promoting the Discovery of the Interior Parta of Africa, 2 vols, 1810; Bruce, J., Travels to Discover the Source of the Nile, 5 vols, Edinburgh 1790; J. Rennell, Elucidations of African Geography, 1793.Google Scholar
19 Bowdich, T. E., Mission from Cape Castle to Ashantee, 1819; J. Dupuis, Journal of a residence in Ashantee, 1824.Google Scholar
20 Oven, W. F., Narrative of Voyages to explore the Shores of Africa, Arabia, and Madagascar, 2 vols, 1833; T. Boteler, Narrative of a Voyage of Discovery to Africa and Arabia, 2 vols, 1835.Google Scholar
21 T. Fowell Buxton, The African Slave Trade and its Remedy, l940.
22 C. Dickens, Miscellaneous Papers, edited by B. V. Matz, vol.1, 117-135.
23 The Friend of Africa, 1841-43; The Friend of the African, 1844-45.
24 J. Schon & S. A. Crowther, Journals of … the Expedition up the Niger, 1841, 1842; S. A. Crowther, Journal of an expedition up the Niger and Tschadda rivers, 1855; S. A. Crowther & J. C. Taylor, The Gospel on the Banks of the Niger, 1859; H. R. Lynch, Edward Wilmot Blyden: Pan-Negro Patriot 1832-1912, 1967; D. Nicol (ed), Africanus Horton: the Dawn of Nationalism in Modern Africa, 1969; Fyfe, C. H., “A. B. C. Sibthorpe: a neglected historian” (Eminent Sierra Leoneans, Freetown, 1961, 31-38).Google Scholar
25 Casada, J. A., Dr. David Livingstone and Sir Henry Morton Stanley: An Annotated Bibliography, New York 1976; “The David Livingstone Documentation Project” (Royal Commonwealth Society Library Notes, no.199, March 1974, 1-2).Google Scholar
26 The Taveta Chronicle, nos.1-25, 1895-1901; Mengo Notes, 1900-1901, continued as Uganda Notes (both issued in microfilm by E.P. Microform).
27 H. Kilham, Specimens of African Languages spoken in the Colony of Sierra Leone, 1828; S. W. Koelle, Narrative of an Expedition into the Vy Country of West Africa, 1849, and Polyglotta Africana, 1854; J. L. Krapf, A Vocabulary of Six East African Languages, Tubingen 1850, and A Dictionary of the Suaheli language, 1882.
28 Frank, C. N., “Bishop Steere and Kiswahili” (Tanganyika Notes and Records, no.32 (1952) 38-42); A. C. Madan, Kiungani; or, Story and History from Central Africa, 1887.Google Scholar
29 Bridges, R. C., “W. D. Cooley, the R.G.S. and African Geography” (Geographical Journal, vol.142 (1976) 27-27, 274-285).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
30 “Tagebuch von Jacob Wainwright” (Peterraann's Mitteilungen, vol.XX (1874) 187-93).
31 Casada, J. , “Verney Lovett Cameron - a Centenary Bibliography” (Royal Commonwealth Society Library Notes, nos.214-215 (1975)); J. Thomson & E. Harris-Smith, Ulu; an African Romance, 2 vols, 1888; H. H. Johnston, The Man who did the right thing, 1921; H. M. Stanley, My Kalulu; Prince, King, and Slave, 1873.Google Scholar
32 The Royal Gazette and Sierra Leone Advertiser, nos.1-457, 1817-1827, and Royal Gold Coast Gazette and Commercial Intelligencer, nos.l-52, 1822-23 (both available on Microfilm from E.P. Microform).
33 Peter C. Hogg, The African Slave Trade and its Suppression; a classified and annotated bibliography, 1973, 262-278.
34 See e.g. some of the material listed in R. L. Hess and D. M. Coger, Semper ex Africa: a bibliography of primary source material for nineteenth-century Tropical Africa, Stanford 1972.
35 Simpson, D. H., “A Bibliography of Emin'Pasha” (Uganda Journal, vol.24, no.2 (1960) 138-165); “Publicity's Light on ‘Darkest Africa'” (Royal Commonwealth Society Library Notes, no.174 (1971) 1-3); Iain R. Smith, The Emin Pasha Relief Expedition 1886-1890, Oxford 1972; Simon Gray, The Rear Column and other plays, 1978.Google Scholar
36 R. E. Dennett, Nigerian Studies, 1910, and other works.
37 Sir F. Jackson, The Birds of Kenya Colony and the Uganda Protectorate, 3 vols, 1938; Sir Geoffrey Archer and E. M. Godman, The Birds of British Somaliland and the Gulf of Aden, 4 vols, 1937-61.
38 S. Cole, The Prehistory of East Africa.
39 Sir H. R. Palmer, Sudanese Memoirs, 3 vols, Lagos 1929, and The Bornu Sahara and Sudan, 1936.
40 See M. Mahood, Joyce Cary's Africa, 1964; M. J. C. Echeruo, Joyce Cary and the novel of Africa, 1973. In recent years the value of novels of the colonial era for social and political history has been increasingly recognised, e.g. D. G. Killam, Africa in English Fiction 1884-1939, Ibadan 1968; M. M. Mahood, The Colonial Encounter: a reading of six novels, 1977.
41 H. C. Lukach, A Bibliography of Sierra Leone, Oxford 1910, 2nd ed. (as H. C. Luke) Oxford 1925; A. W. Cardinall, A Bibliography of the Gold Coast, Accra 1932.
42 Simpson, D. H., “H. B. Thomas” (Royal Commonwealth Society Library Notes, no.174 (1971) 1-3).Google Scholar
43 Gazetteers of the Northern Provinces of Nigeria, 1920-1934 (reprinted in 4 vols by Frank Cass 1972); C. W. Welman, The Native States of the Gold Coast, 2 vols, 1925-1930 (reprinted in 1 vol by Dawsons,1969).
44 E. B. Worthington, Science in Africa: a review of scientific research relating to tropical and southern Africa, 1938; S. H. Frankel, Capital Investment iri Africa, 1938.
45 Duffield, Ian, “The business activities of Duse Mohammed Ali” (Jour.Hist.Soc. of Nigeria, vol.IV (1969) 571-600).Google Scholar
46 Simpson, D. H., “The Royal Commonwealth Society and African Studies” (African Research and Documentation, nos.8-9 (1975) 66-68); D. H. Varley, African Native Music: an annotated bibliography, 1936, reprinted 1970; K. H. Drake, A Bibliography of African Education, Aberdeen 1942; Winifred Hill, The Overseas Empire in Fiction; an annotated bibliography, 1930.Google Scholar
47 Gray, S., “Sources of the First Black South African Novel in English” (Munger Africana Library Notes, no.37 (1976)).Google Scholar
48 Frewer, L. B., “Rhodes House Library: its function and resources” (Bodleian Library Record, vol.V, 1956).Google Scholar
49 Lugard, F. D., “The International Institute of African Languages and Cultures”, (Africa, vol.1 (1928) 1-12); Ruth Jones, “Forty-one years of African Bibliography” (Africa, vol.XLI (1971) 54-56); H. Gluckman, “Ruth Jones” (Africa, vol.XLIV (1974) 88).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
50 Perham, M., “The President's Inaugural Address” (African Affairs special issue on A.S.A. Conference 1965, 1-14); C. Fyfe (ed), African Studies since 1945: a tribute to Basil Davidson, 1976.Google Scholar
51 Simpson, D. H., “Library Materials on Africa”.(R. L. Collison (ed), Progress in Library Science, 1966, 69-82).Google Scholar
52 Julius Caezar, translated by Julius Nyerere, Nairobi 1963.
53 Kirk-Greene, A. H. M., “The Scramble for Africana” (African Affairs, vol.LXX (1971) 77-83).Google Scholar
54 A Guide to Manuscripts and Documents in the British Isles relating to Africa, 1971; Guides to Materials for West African History in European Collections, 1962.
55 Annual Reports of the Oxford Colonial Records Project, 1963-1972.
56 W. S. Byrne, Manuscript Collections (African and non-African) in Rhodes House Library Oxford: Supplementary accessions and cumulative index, Oxford 1978; earlier lists of Africana were published in 1968 and 1971.
57 For fuller information on the matters summarised in the remainder of this address see the items listed in footnotes 2 and 51, also J. D. Pearson and Ruth Jones (eds), The Bibliography of Africa: Proceedings and Papers of the International Conference on African Bibliography, Nairobi, 4-8 December, 1967, 1970; J. H. Mcllwaine (ed), Progress in African Bibliography; Scolma Conference 1977, 1977.
