Manuscript and printed textual material, photographic prints and negatives, slides, audio tapes, film, original and reproduction artwork, maps, scrapbooks, and historical and natural artifacts related to the history of African exploration and natural history, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, newsclippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa.
Scope and Contents note:
Manuscript and printed textual material, photographic prints and negatives, slides, audio tapes, film, original and reproduction artwork, maps, scrapbooks, and historical and natural artifacts related to the history of African exploration and natural history, dating primarily from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Includes correspondence, drafts of publications, diaries, account books, ephemera, posters, newsclippings, biographies, memoirs, portraits, and the former personal property of selected explorers, big game hunters, missionaries, pioneers, and naturalists in Africa. The Train Collection is particularly strong in archival materials on the following topics: the search for the source of the Nile and the progress of other exploring expeditions in Africa; the collecting of specimens of African animals, plants, and ethnological materials for zoos and museums (including a significant body of correspondence and photographs from the Smithsonian African Expedition in 1909-1910, led by President Theodore Roosevelt); and the growth of the African wildlife conservation movement. Besides Roosevelt, the major persons represented in the Collection include the journalist and explorer Henry Morton Stanley and members of his Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (Thomas Heazle Parke, Robert H. Nelson, James S. Jameson, John Rose Troup, William Bonny, William G. Stairs, Edmund Barttelot, and Arthur J. M. Jephson); the medical missionary Dr. David Livingstone and his father-in-law Robert Moffat; taxidermist Carl Akeley; zoologist Edmund Heller; hunter Frederick Courtenay Selous; artist and adventure writer A. Radclyffe Dugmore; explorers Samuel White Baker, Thomas Baines, Richard Francis Burton and E.J. Glave; anthropologist Paul Belloni du Chaillu; and royal traveler Edward VIII (later Duke of Windsor). Consult the finding aid for more specific information on materials relating to these persons and other people and organizations represented in the Collection.
Arrangement note:
Organized into ten series, primarily based on format or creator: I. Artifacts, 1663-1999; II. Works of Art, 1663-1999; III. Books, 1900-1986; IV. Edmund Heller personal papers, 1875-1939; V. Manuscripts, 1663-1992; VI. Maps, 1878; VII. Newspapers, 1888-1987; VIII. Robert Henry Nelson personal papers, 1795-1912; VIII. Photographs, 1874-1963; IX. Posters and broadsides, 1814-1955; X. Russell E. Train personal papers, 1956-2004.
Separated Materials note:
In addition to these archival and non-book materials, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries acquired more than 1500 printed books as part of the Russell E. Train Collection; these books are listed individually in the SIRIS (Smithsonian Institution Research Information System) online catalog.
Provenance:
Originally assembled by the Honorable Russell E. Train, a former judge, top administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, and a past president of the World Wildlife Fund, this collection was acquired by the Smithsonian Institution Libraries in 2004.
Rights:
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.
Topic:
Zoological specimens -- Collection and preservation -- Africa Search this
Engraving, "The summit of Kilima-njaro, a snow-clad mountain in Central Africa from a sketch by the Rev. Charles New, of the Livingstone Relief Expedition." approximately 1872
John Kirk handwritten bill of exchange for "Four Hundred and seventy nine pounds nine shillings and four pence being the full amount of expenses incurred on behalf of Dr. Livingstone's expedition up to this date 10th of June, 1870."
Ten-bore half stocked percussion shot and ball gun, made for the African trade, with the stock extended and native repairs with shrunken leather, and native brass wire. Manufactured by Hollis and Sons, approximately 1860
Livingstone, David, 1813-1873. 7 autograph letters including an Autograph letter signed to "My dear brother in the Lord" Mr. John Naismith Sr. of Hamilton, Lanarkshire
Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian. Libraries) Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Correspondence, 7.75 x 12.75 in.)
Container:
Item M081
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1841 December 2
Scope and Contents note:
7 autograph letters by David Livingstone include: an ALS to "My dear brother in the Lord" Mr. John Naismith Sr. of Hamilton, Lanarkshire], dated Kuruman 2 December 1841 (4 pages; Clendennen & Cunningham #38). Written on his return from his first journey into the interior and reporting on what he termed as "the land of the Shadow of Death". It includes a description of a tribe which has not seen a white man before.
General note:
With address panel. This letter is among the first twenty recorded from Livingstone on his arrival in Africa.
Collection Rights:
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.
Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian. Libraries) Search this
Extent:
7 Items (Correspondence, 33 x 20 cm)
Container:
Item M082
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1845 May 28
Scope and Contents note:
Livingstone recounts his experience with and recovery from a lion attack that left him with eleven ugly gashes and a shattered humerus. He describes the mission that he has established at Mabotsa, and asks Hayward to send him a copy of the Lancet or a newspaper sometime. Some persons or tribes named in the letter include Hancock, Houston, Mosilikatse, and Bamangwato.
General note:
Page 4 of the letter functioned as a self-envelope, addressed to Mr. Hayward (at various London-area locations handwritten and crossed-through: Ramsgate, Paddington, Bayswater); sent via a Liverpool ship, postmarked 21 No[vember] 1845; sent care of Rev'd Dr. Philip, Cape Town
Collection Rights:
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.
Russell E. Train Africana Collection (Smithsonian. Libraries) Search this
Extent:
1 Item (Correspondence, 23 x 19 cm)
Container:
Item M083
Type:
Archival materials
Date:
1847 August 9
Scope and Contents note:
Livingstone expresses concern for Fairbrother's afflictions. He mentions his lion attack. He describes the mission that he is setting up next to Kolobeng stream, and how his family has been doing. Some persons or tribes named in the letter include Mrs. Pyne; Mr. Edwards; Mosilikatse; Sewell; the Bakaa tribe; the Makalaka tribe; the Bakhatla tribe; the Bakwains tribe. Places mentioned include the valley of Mosega; Mabotsa; Kuruman; Lattakoo; Chonnane; and Kolobeng stream.
General note:
Page 4 of the letter functioned as a self-envelope, addressed to Rev. W. Fairbrother, care of Benjamin Pyne esq[ui]re, North Weald, Essex. "Care of Dr. Philip, Cape Town" has been crossed through. Sent via ship, postmarked May 9, 1848.
Collection Rights:
The collection is housed in the Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, which is open to researchers Monday through Friday in the afternoons, from 1:30 to 5:00 p.m.; morning visits are by appointment only. Please call (202) 633-1184 or email AskaLibrarian@si.edu for an appointment.
