Contributing Institutions

Livingstone’s Manuscripts in South Africa (1843-1872)

Cite page (MLA): McDonald, Jared, and Adrian S. Wisnicki, eds. "Contributing Institutions." In Livingstone’s Manuscripts in South Africa (1843-1872). Jared McDonald and Adrian S. Wisnicki, dirs. Livingstone Online. Adrian S. Wisnicki and Megan Ward, dirs. University of Maryland Libraries, 2018. Web. http://livingstoneonline.org/uuid/node/a040e03f-f0e5-4f24-a3db-a52aafcc2e42.


This page provides short introductions to the six institutions that have contributed towards the present edition of Livingstone’s manuscripts in South Africa (1843-72). Each institution either provided digital copies of their original Livingstone letters or granted permission for their Livingstone letters to be digitized.

Brenthurst Library, Johannesburg    Top

Brenthurst Library. Copyright Jennifer Kimble. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Brenthurst Library. Copyright Jennifer Kimble. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported

Located in Johannesburg, the Brenthurst Library is a privately owned library which grew out of the personal Africana collections of Sir Ernest Oppenheimer and his son Harry Oppenheimer. In addition to its rare and collectible book holdings, the Brenthurst Library is also home to artworks, maps, and manuscripts. The library houses the largest single collection of Livingstone original letters in South Africa, amounting to 44 letters. The library also holds two signed copies of Livingstone’s Missionary Travels and Researches in South Africa and a fragment of the Missionary Travels manuscript.

 

Cory Library for Historical Research,
Rhodes University Library, Grahamstown
   
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Rhodes University campus. Copyright Jared McDonald. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Rhodes University campus. Copyright Jared McDonald. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported

The Cory Library is maintained by Rhodes University and is situated in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape province of South Africa. The library boasts a remarkable collection of works on the history of the Eastern Cape as well as strong collections of mission, church, agricultural, and Xhosa histories. The Cory Library has contributed three original David Livingstone letters to the present edition.

 

Graaff-Reinet Museum, Graaff-Reinet    Top

Graaff-Reinet Museum. Copyright Jared McDonald. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Graaff-Reinet Museum. Copyright Jared McDonald. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported

Established in 1956, the Graaff-Reinet Museum is one of the premier tourist attractions in the old Cape frontier town after which it is named. Many of the buildings which make up the Museum date back to the late 1700s and early 1800s, when the town was established. The museum is home to one original Livingstone letter.

 

Kimberley Africana Library, Kimberley    Top

Kimberley Africana Library. Copyright Shirley James. Used by permission
Kimberley Africana Library. Copyright Shirley James. Used by permission.

Originally founded as the Kimberley Public Library in 1887, the Kimberley Africana Library was relaunched in 1984 and is one of the best known research libraries in South Africa. The library’s collections include materials on the early history of Kimberley, the diamond mining industry which gave birth to the town, and the archaeology and geology of the Northern Cape province of South Africa. The library holds five original Livingstone letters, dating from 1858 to 1863.

 

National Library of South Africa, Cape Town    Top

National Library of South Africa, interior. Copyright Adrian S. Wisnicki. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
National Library of South Africa, interior. Copyright Adrian S. Wisnicki. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported

The Cape Town campus of the National Library of South Africa is located adjacent to South Africa’s Parliament and within the grounds of Cape Town’s famous Company Gardens. The National Library’s collections include Africana, rare manuscripts, maps, newspapers, and government papers. The National Library has contributed Livingstone letters and a map, to the present critical edition.

 

University of Cape Town Library, Special Collections, Cape Town    Top

University of Cape Town, upper campus. Copyright Jared McDonald. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
University of Cape Town, upper campus. Copyright Jared McDonald. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported

The Special Collections of the University of Cape Town Library houses an impressive collection of printed and visual materials relating to Africa and African studies. The Special Collections unit has an active digitization project which is making its curated digital materials available on the library’s website. The Special Collections are home to five original Livingstone letters, dating from 1851 to 1863, all of which feature in the present edition.

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