2006, 2014

World Refugee Day: The archive of the Western Sahara Campaign

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|20th June 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

To coincide with World Refugee Day (20th June), today we are highlighting the archive of the Western Sahara Campaign available to the public at Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library. World Refugee Day is a yearly event dedicated to raising awareness of the situation of refugees throughout the world. Background The Western Sahara conflict is a longstanding dispute in North Africa between the state of Morocco (which views the disputed-territory

0606, 2014

New Rare Book: Kinshūdan or 錦繡段 by Ten’in Rytaku, 1422-1500

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|6th June 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

Today we’re highlighting a new transfer to the SOAS Library rare book collection – Kinshūdan (錦繡段) by Ten’in Rytaku, 1422-1500 (龍沢, 1422-1500); SOAS Library Classmark: EF.c.351.c.59 /127896. The work, Kinshūdan, is a Japanese edition, published in Osaka in 1701, of a collection of Chinese poems, originally published in 1483. This work is in Chinese script, with additional notes and kaeriten by Utsunomiya Ton’an, ?1633- ?1707 (宇都宫遯庵, ?1633- ?1707). This

2305, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: ‘Afterlife’

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|23rd May 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives has been running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, over the past 6 months, and has just closed its doors to the public. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. The history of how Livingstone’s life has been remembered and reinterpreted is a complex and changing one. Initially missionaries

1605, 2014

The Christian Aid archive: The origins of Christian Aid Week

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|16th May 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

To coincide with Christian Aid Week – taking place this year between the 11th and 17th May – we highlight today some of the fascinating sources in the archive of Christian Aid which document the origins of the event. The archive, containing the historical records of the charity, is available here at Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library. Christian Aid Week is the annual fundraising drive, which sees millions of

1205, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: The ‘Bombay Africans’

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|12th May 2014|Collections & Research|2 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until 17 May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. As the British Navy began to crack down on the East Coast slave trade, they were faced with the question of what to do with the hundreds of young enslaved

0705, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: Map-making

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|7th May 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until 17 May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. Livingstone’s maps, reports and published narratives of his travels gave the world their first view of the interior of south-central Africa and changed people’s perceptions of that continent. By looking

0105, 2014

The Movement for Colonial Freedom & Liberation archive

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|1st May 2014|Collections & Research|1 comments

In celebration of May Day or International Workers’ Day we are today highlighting the archive of the Movement for Colonial Freedom and its successor Liberation available to researchers at Archives & Special Collections, SOAS Library. A brief history of the Movement for Colonial Freedom & Liberation The Movement for Colonial Freedom (MCF) was a leading anticolonialist campaign group and civil rights advocacy organisation. Founded in 1954, as an amalgamation of

3004, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: ‘Missionary Travels and Researches’

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|30th April 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until 17 May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. On his return to Britain at the end of 1856, Livingstone published an account of his cross-continental African travels with a leading publisher of travel literature, John Murray. Missionary Travels and

2404, 2014

Chinese Maritime Customs

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|24th April 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

We are lucky enough to hold several collections of paper and individual manuscripts which relate to the Chinese Maritime Customs at SOAS. The Chinese Maritime Customs Service (Imperial Maritime Customs Service until 1912) was arguably one of the greatest administrative achievements of the twentieth century. Established, and largely run by foreign consuls, the Customs Service grew to become one of the most important bureaucracies in China helping to shape Chinese history over

2104, 2014

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: Livingstone the doctor

By Special Collections, SOAS Library|21st April 2014|Collections & Research|0 comments

The Life and Afterlife of David Livingstone: exploring missionary archives is running at the Brunei Gallery, SOAS, until 17 May 2014. This blog series highlights some of the fascinating stories and archives selected for the exhibition from the collections at SOAS Library. David Livingstone was one of the first medical missionaries to enter Southern Africa. He was a skilled physician-surgeon, whose medical expertise and reputation was also the means by which he