| Order number: |
CWM Map E 1:5 (1A) (oversize)
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| Summary: |
H77.5 x W66cm, paper. Drawn and annotated by David Livingstone; shows the river Zambezi and its tributaries; also Lake Ngami [later Botswana] and Barotseland [later western Zambia].
Livingstone's original manuscript sketch map of the Zambesi River drainage area. Its compilation was based almost exclusively on information provided by the indigenous peoples. This manuscript map has an interesting history. On its completion in 1851, Livingstone sent it by messengers to his father-in-law, Robert Moffat, requesting Moffat to forward the map to the LMS in London. Robert Moffat had the map copied by his son Robert Junior - see CWM Map E 1:5 (1B) - and presumably kept the original, which was again picked up Livingstone when he travelled southwards via Kuruman to Cape Town in 1852. In Cape Town, Livingstone presented the original map to the Rev William Thompson, agent of the London Missionary Society (LMS), who in turn left it to his son, the Rev Ralph Wardlaw Thompson, Foreign Secretary of the LMS from 1880 to 1914. Wardlaw Thompson had the map displayed in Livingstone House, the Headquarters of the Society, in London SW1. During World War II, German bombs destroyed Livingstone House. The remains of the map were recovered from the ruins and the fragments carefully pieced together. As is evident, it was seriously damaged and sections were missing. In November 1955 this partially reconstructed map was presented on permanent loan to the acting Prime Minister of the then Federation of Rhodesia and Nyassaland (now Zimbabwe), Sir Roy Welensky. After the Federation was dissolved in 1964, the map was returned to London where it is now kept in the LMS Archives of SOAS on permanent loan from the Council for World Mission.
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| Extent: |
1 item
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| Admin history: |
David Livingstone served as a missionary in Africa with the London Missionary Society from 1840 to 1857. During this time he undertook a number of expeditions into previously unmapped territory. Details of his journeys were documented in his work, Missionary travels and researches in south Africa : including a sketch of sixteen years' residence in the interior of Africa, and a journey from the Cape of Good Hope to Loanda, on the west coast, thence across the continent, down the river Zambesi, to the eastern ocean (London : John Murray, 1857). |
| Custodial history: |
See description for the history of this map. The map was conserved in 2007, prior to its inclusion in 'Objects of Instruction: Treasures of the School of Oriental and African Studies', held at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, 11 Oct-15 Dec 2007. |
| Acquisition: |
Transferred to SOAS Library from the Council for World Mission headquarters in 2007.
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| Access status: |
Restrictions
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| Access conditions: |
Apply to the CWM Archivist for permission to view the map
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| Copyright: |
Copyright held by Council for World Mission |
| Language: |
English
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| Copies: |
Digital version available online at SOAS Digital Collections |
| Related material: |
For the printed map of South Eastern Africa, which is thought to have been used as a backing for this original, see CWM Map E 1:8 (3).
For the copy of the map made by Robert Moffat Junior, see CWM Map E 1:5 (1B). |
| Format: |
Archive
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