Critically-Edited Archival Texts

Overview top

One More Voice publishes a selection of critically-edited and encoded archival texts (manuscripts and periodical press articles) alongside a set of curated historical artifacts. Each edited text and artifact is presented in a form ready for educational use, as noted on our home page. Additionally, the project helps contextualize these primary materials by providing an extended list of Victorian-era, book-length published works by non-European authors (mostly Anglophone).

The archival texts are available for viewing online in facsimile versions that approximate the textual, structural, and material characteristics of the originals. This strategy of representation underscores the fact that these are archival materials, but also seeks to establish some degree of continuity between the originals and the digital surrogates.

The entries below include the names of authors and other contributors, corresponding dates, and brief biographical statements. Where possible, author and contributor names are also linked to corresponding Wikipedia entries. Individuals are listed in order of appearance in the text. Bulleted information following the title of the archival item describes the form that the non-European contribution takes in the given item.

Users can also download relevant TEI XML files (and related XSL and CSS files) for all critically-edited archival texts from the One More Voice GitHub repo. If you use our critical editions in your own work, please credit our project as appropriate by using the citation template provided at the end of each item page.

Critically-Edited Archival Texts top

Selim Aga top
Selim Aga (c.1826-1875; Wikipedia) was a liberated slave and traveler from Kordofan in the Sudan who was educated in Scotland, accompanied British explorer Richard Burton as a valent on various West African journeys in the 1860s, and produced accounts of both his life and travels.

“The Niger Expedition.” Anonymous, co-author. The Preston Chronicle and Lancashire Advertiser (September 25, 1858): 3.

original letters, as combined, edited, and published in a British periodical

Andries Botha top
Andries Botha (dates unknown; Wikipedia) was a Gonaqua Khoe and appointed colonial official in South Africa's Kat River Settlement who served with British and Cape colonial forces against the amaXhosa in Hintsa's War (1834-5) and the War of the Axe (1846-7).

Letter to [Harry Smith]. June 23, 1850. Manuscript. CWM/LMS/South Africa/Incoming Correspondence/Box 25/File 4/Jacket B. University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

handwritten copy of manuscript letter

[British] Government; Said Bin Habeeb top
Said Bin Habeeb (dates unknown), an Arab trader, traveled widely in nineteenth-century East and Central Africa.

“Narrative of Said Bin Habeeb, An Arab Inhabitant of Zanzibar.” Transactions of the Bombay Geographical Society 15 (1860): 146–48.

oral narrative, as written down, edited, and published in a British geographical journal

Semane Setlhoko Khama top
Semane Setlhoko Khama (1881-1937; Wikipedia) was the queen or queen mother (“mohumagadi”) of the BaNgwato people of the Bechuanaland Protectorate (now Botswana), where she played a key role in promoting Christianity, advocating for temperance and women's education, and expanding the role of women in the church.

Letter to A.M. Chirgwin. 5 December 1934. Manuscript. CWM/LMS/South Africa/Incoming Correspondence/Box 97/Semane. University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

typewritten letter with signature in author's hand

James MacQueen; Lief Ben Saeid; Thomas Wogga top
James MacQueen (1778-1870; Wikipedia), a British “armchair geographer,” explored questions related to Africa. Lief Ben Saeid (dates unknown), an Arab trader, traveled in nineteenth-century East Africa. Thomas Wogga (dates unknown), an African traveler and former slave, traveled in nineteenth-century West Africa.

“Notes on African Geography.” Journal of the Royal Geographical Society 15 (1845): 371–76.

summarized data in a published periodical article written by a British geographer

Ncwadi top
Ncwadi (dates unknown) was a nineteenth-century leader (“ngkosi”) of the amaNgwane, a clan of the Zulu in South Africa.

“Gleanings and Glances” (Excerpt); “Letter from an African Chief.” Anonymous, co-author. The Illustrated Missionary News 28, no. 6 (June 1, 1894): 81, 93.

original letter, as edited and published in a British missionary periodical

NoSuthu top
NoSuthu (c.1805-1887) was the Great Wife of Soga, counsellor to Ngqika (the chief of the AmaGcaleka Xhosa), and mother of six children, including the Reverend Tiyo Soga (ordained missionary of the United Presbyterian Church); after her conversion to Christianity, she lived in the Tyumi Valley at the Glasgow African Missionary Station run by Reverend William Chalmers.

“Letter of Gratitude from a Kafir Woman.” Wesleyan Juvenile Offering: A Miscellany of Missionary Info, no. 89 (May 1, 1874): 54, 56.

original letter, as translated from Xhosa into English and published in a British missionary periodical

James Read, Jr. top
James Read, Jr. (c.1811-1894), a missionary and evangelical campaigner in the Cape Colony as well as the eldest son of prominent London Missionary Society missionary James Read, Sr., was a vocal activist for Khoe civil rights and an influential figure in the establishment of schooling in South Africa's Kat River Settlement.

Introduction to James Read, Jr. (c.1811-1894), with a Discussion of His Letter to J.J. Freeman, 23 May 1850. Jared McDonald, author.

Letter to J.J. Freeman. 23 May 1850. Manuscript. CWM/LMS/South Africa/Incoming Correspondence/Box 25/File 3/Jacket D. University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

manuscript letter in author’s hand

Saleh Bin Osman top
Saleh Bin Osman (dates unknown), an Arab traveler, worked as a personal assistant to British-American explorer Henry M. Stanley during the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (1886-89).

Testimony. November 12, 1890. Translated by Edward J. Glave. Manuscript. M055. Joseph F. Cullman 3rd Library of Natural History, Washington, D.C.

testimony in manuscript form, as dictated to and translated by a British explorer

“The Story of My Life.” Translated by [E. J. Glave]. St. Nicholas: An Illustrated Magazine for Young Folks 18, no. 2 (May 1891): 795–98.

autobiographical narrative, as dictated to, translated by, and subsequently published by a British explorer in collaboration with British publishers

Sechele; David Livingstone top
Sechele (c.1810-1892; Wikipedia), a leader of the BaKwena in southern Africa, played a key regional role in extending commercial routes, spreading Christianity, and forming the Bechuanaland Protectorate. David Livingstone (1813-1873; Wikipedia) was a Victorian abolitionist, missionary, explorer, and writer who gained fame as the first European to cross Africa coast to coast (1852-1856) and visit what is now known as Victoria Falls (1855).

Letter to Robert Moffat 1. [October 1852]. Manuscript. CWM/LMS/Home/Livingstone Wooden Box/Item 71. University of London. School of Oriental and African Studies, London.

letter, as written down, annotated, and translated by a British explorer

Tiyo Soga top
The Reverend Tiyo “Zisani” Soga (c.1831-1871; Wikipedia) was the first ordained Xhosa missionary to the Xhosa people in South Africa; educated at Glasgow University and ordained in the United Presbyterian Church, he penned newspaper articles, letters, reports, and translations of The Pilgrim’s Progress and the Bible into Xhosa.

“Jubilee of the Venerable Patriarch Brownlee.” Anonymous, co-author. Kaffrarian Watchman 1:82 (February 14, 1867)

original speech, as edited and published within an article in a British periodical

Benjamin Stone; Apolo Kagwa top
Benjamin Stone (1838-1914; Wikipedia) was a politician and photographer who had a passion for documenting British heritage. Apolo Kagwa (1864-1927; Wikipedia) served as the chief minister (Katikiro) of Buganda (now part of Uganda) for over thirty years; he was also a prominent intellectual, ethnographer, and author.

“The Katikiro of Uganda and His Secretary.” In Sir Benjamin Stone’s Pictures: Records of National Life and History, by Benjamin Stone, 74. London; Paris; New York; Melbourne: Cassell and Company, Limited, 1906.

verbal quotations, as included in a section of a book by a British author

Jacob Wainwright top
Jacob Wainwright (c.1851/52-1892; Wikipedia), a traveler and explorer from the Yao of East Africa, accompanied British explorer David Livingstone during the last two years (1872-73) of the latter's final African journey.

Addition to David Livingstone's Field Diary XVII. April 28, 1873. Manuscript. 360. David Livingstone Centre, Blantyre.

addition in author's hand to a manuscript diary by a British explorer.

Inscription on the Tree at the Foot of which David Livingstone's Heart was Buried, May 4, 1873. Photograph of original inscription. No. 561464i. Wellcome Library, London.

original inscription in author’s hand

Extract from Diary. May-June 1873. Manuscript. 801. David Livingstone Centre, Blantyre.

manuscript diary in author’s hand

Letter to William O. Livingstone. October 1873. Manuscript. 836. David Livingstone Centre, Blantyre.

manuscript letter in author’s hand

Extract from Diary. [November 1873-February 1874]. Manuscript. 833. David Livingstone Centre, Blantyre.

manuscript diary in author’s hand

Letter to Joseph Moore. May 23, 1874. Manuscript. Acc.12444. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.

manuscript letter in author’s hand

Letter to Joseph Moore. July 10, 1874. Manuscript. Acc.12444. National Library of Scotland, Edinburgh.

manuscript letter in author’s hand

“Jacob Wainwright.” Wesleyan Juvenile Offering: A Miscellany of Missionary Info, no. 93 (September 1, 1874): 98–99.

autobiographical narrative, as published in a British missionary periodical

Horace Waller; Lindesay Brine; James Chumah top
Horace Waller (1833-1896; Wikipedia), a British abolitionist and missionary, served as the editor of explorer David Livingstone's posthumous Last Journals (1874). Lindesay Brine (1834-1906), a member of the Royal Navy, rose to the rank of Admiral and authored of several books related to his travels. James Chumah (1834-1906; Wikipedia), a traveler from the Yao of East Africa, was a liberated slave who accompanied Livingstone on his final travels and provided Waller with relevant information related to those travels.

“To the Editor of the Times.” The Times (April 10, 1874): 10.

original letter, as edited and published (alongside another letter from a British sailor) within a letter by a British abolitionist in a British periodical