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Papers of John Hanning Speke including observation files, 'Explorations in Eastern Africa', 1859; copies of letters from the East African expedition to Philip Lutley Sclater and Sir William Hooker, Sep 1860, and to the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), 1 Oct 1860; observations and computations, Lake region and upper Nile, 1861-1863; 44 letters to the RGS, 1857-1864, from East Africa with some information on his second expedition with Richard Francis Burton, and from Wiltshire concerning his relations with Burton and the preparations for his proposed expedition with James Augustus Grant to the source of the Nile, and from East Africa reporting on the progress of that expedition; letter to Col Rigby from Khoko, 12 Dec 1860; letter to King Rumanika of Karagwé, Mar 1862; two letters from John Petherick, 24 Feb and 15 Apr 1863 concerning the aid he expected to receive from Petherick; coloured plates of birds noted in Africa by Wilhelm Ruppell and others with original watercolour sketches by Speke and Grant on blank verso pages, Speke's signature on the inside front cover is followed by a page of notes on the use of watercolours and a sketch of King M'tesa of Uganda; reprint from the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bengal, Vol 24, 'Report on a zoological collection from the Somali country by Edward Blyth, with additions and corrections by the collector' [Speke], edited by P L Sclater, London, 1860; letter, unfinished, to Mr. Tinne, from Neston Park, 1864; sketch maps of Lake Tanganyika and of Speke's route in 1857, (11 sheets, sheet 8 has a letter from Speke to the RGS from Unyanyembe, 20 Nov 1857, written on the back); volume entitled 'Extracts', containing a collection of press cuttings relating to the discovery of the source of the Nile by Speke and Grant and to Speke's death, 1863-1864 and volume entitled 'Record', containing extracts prepared by the Royal College of Arms for the Speke family.

Sketch of a dodo by Sir Peter Scott, made at RGS, 1958.

Library Manuscripts comprise manuscript items donated to the Royal Geographical Society. They are chiefly single files or a small number of items which are not large enough to warrant forming a special collection. The papers include, astronomical and meteorological observations, diaries, correspondence, notes, conference papers, reports, articles, photographs, sketches and maps covering all aspects of geography and exploration across the globe and date from 1691 to 1994. Highlights include:

Memorandum on a map of South America, by John Arrowsmith.

Papers of Maj R A Bagnold, 1929-1933, comprising positions, routes and heights in Egypt and letters from Bagnold.

Letters from Sir John Barrow to Lord Melville, 1935-1945 and letters to Barrow from Murzuq, 1822 and J D Dundas, 1818.

Papers of Dr Heinrich Barth, 1846-1952, letters and copy of a sketch map of Timbuktu.

Notes on heights of mountains in America by Capt F W Beechey, 1826.

Letters from the King of Siam to Sir John Bowring, 1855.

Letters relating to the British Arctic Air Route Expedition, 1928-1932.

Correspondence and reports of the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition to New Guinea, 1908-1911.

Papers of G Wyman Bury, 1913-1918.

Papers of Capt R F M Crozier, 1836-1906.

Account of a journey to Lhasa and central Tibet by Sarat Chandra Das, 1902.

Papers of Lt James Barker Emery, chiefly relating to Mombassa, 1822-1835.

Plan and elevation of the Screw Yacht FRAM as reconstructed in 1898.

'Narrative of a small party of HMS LEVEN under command of Lt C W Browns sent to explore the Zambesi by one of the survivors, a native of Angola', by Antonio Jozi, 1823.

Journal of Joseph Kaye's voyage from London to Genoa.

Papers and maps relating to William Kennish's exploration in South America for a canal route.

Papers relating to the Kufara expedition led by H W C J Penderel and P A Clayton to Gilf Kebir, 1933.

Papers relating to the Livingstone Award, 1875-1970.

H B Molesworth's diary of a journey to Mokalla (Mukalla), 1893.

Letters from Sir John Morrison to Henry Dundas and others concerning Persia and trade with Persia, 1783-1792.

Narrative of a shipwreck on the southern shores of Arabia by B A R Nicholson, 1836.
Correspondence of Walter Oudney, 1821-1823.

Papers of Adm Sir W E Parry, relating to the Arctic, 1819-1823.

Papers relating to the Pitcairn Islands, 1831-1885.

Annotated 'Code of Naval Signals' belonging to Adm Sir Home Popham, 1799.

Letter from Sultan Husain Sufrari, 1708.

Account of explorations on the coast of Patagonia by B Villarino, 1782.

Travel journals of J Washington, chiefly in South America, 1822-1829.

Letters to A F R Wollaston, 1896-1926.

Notebooks and travel diaries, describing fishing and hunting trips with some notes on birds observed in the following regions: Sweden and Norway, 1892-1899; Russian Lapland, Ireland and Denmark, 1901-1902; Russian Lapland, Norway and Denmark, 1902; Guadiana valley, Spain, 1905; Norway and Sweden, 1905; Spain: a travel diary including notes on cae dwellings and prehistoric remains, 1908; Romania, 1911; Algeria and Iceland, 1913; England and Scotland, 1915-1918; Scotland, 1919-1920; Scotland and Iceland, 1921; England and Iceland, 1922; Iceland, 1922; England, 1923-1924; Sweden and New Zealand, 1924-1925; England and Sweden, 1926; Iceland, 1927-1929; Iceland and England, 1929; Iceland, 1930; England and Ireland, 1931-1932 and England, 1932.

Papers of Harry Lewin Lee Pennell relating to his work as commander of the TERRA NOVA for Robert Falcon Scott's British Antarctic Expedition, 1910-1913, including sailing orders, 1911 and letters of proceedings, Jan-Mar, 1911; correspondence with members of the TERRA NOVA expedition while in Antarctica, 1910-1913; photocopy of a letter from the committee of the expedition to J J Kinsey; zoological log kept by Pennell, London to Melbourne, Jun-Oct 1910; annotated admiralty charts of the South Polar and Antarctica VIII, 1910 and photographs of Pennell, [1910-1916].

Journals, charts and other papers relating to A H Ninnis' commission as purser in SS AURORA on the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition, 1914-1916 and the Relief Expedition, 1916-1917.

The papers include diaries of the Imperial Trans-Antarctic expedition, 23 Dec 1914-12 Feb 1917, with a single volume typescript summary of the diaries; notebook entitled 'The Log of Taroona Camp, H E Wild and A H N with the 26 and stores for dog teams' including notes of equipment and stores for the dog teams; list of the dogs' names and a journal headed 'RMS Ionic, Hobart, Ocean Quay', 31 Oct-24 Dec 1914; copies of letters from Ninnis including to Ernest Shackleton, 6 Jan-5 Feb 1920 and to John Lachlan Cope, 9 Jun 1920; press cuttings, 1919-1920; papers reviewing Antarctic exploration achieved and proposals for another expedition under J L Cope in TERRA NOVA, for 1923; printed prospectus of Cope's Antarctic expedition; Ninnis' certificate of discharge made out at Wellington, New Zealand, Feb 1917; three large charts titled 'Map of the Antarctic East Longitude 150°-180° showing drift of SY Aurora', 1931 (the three are similar but two have small insets of landscape sketches); small chart entitled 'Map of the Bay of Whales', from a survey by Blackburn and Coman, Byrd Antarctic expedition, 1929-1930, with a second sketch map showing the route of Byrd's polar flight; three volumes of uncorrected typescript of High Latitude by J K Davis.

Papers and correspondence of Max Nicholson, 1928-1987, including papers relating to the first expeditions of the Oxford University Exploration Club, 1928-1929; the work of the Terrestrial Conservation Section of the International Biological Programme (IBP) in Azraq, Jordan, in Tanzania and Tunisia and in miscellaneous expeditions of the 1960s to 1980s linked with the IBP; correspondence relating to National Parks, papers relating to the Jordan International Biological Station; papers relating to the Darwin Station, 1962-1971; papers relating to work in Egypt, 1983-1984; Tunisia, 1967 and Yugoslavia; papers relating to the UN/FAO Survey Team in Kalat State, Baluchistan, 1952-1953; photographs, print and correspondence relating to a number of expeditions on conservation and birdlife, 1929-1987.

Papers of Eric Marshall including diaries on Shackleton's British Antarctic Expedition 1907-1909, aboard the NIMROD, including diaries 31 Dec 1907-22 Mar 1908, and 23 Mar-19 Sep 1908 and diary of the southern journey on the NIMROD expedition, 29 Oct 1908-11 Mar 1909; diaries, 25 Dec 1909-18 Mar 1911, on the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition to New Guinea, photographs from the British Ornithologists' Union Expedition to New Guinea, and correspondence between Marshall and Dudley Everitt, 1955-1959, concerning the expedition to New Guinea and the British Antarctic Expedition.

Diaries and notebooks of Col Corrie Hudson illustrated with watercolours recording his career in the Indian Medical Service, and his travels and observations, chiefly in North India and Kashmir, also in the Far East, Europe, Iran and the Gulf, 1899-1943 and photographs comprising: diary in India, China, Japan, Korea, Somaliland, Balkans, Muscat and Persia, 30 Mar 1899-29 Dec 1913; diary in Bombay, France, Kashmir and North India, 30 Dec 1913-1 May 1921; diary in India and the Persian Gulf, 2 May 1921-22 Dec 1932; diary in Egypt, Palestine, Turkey, Cyprus, Greece, Rhodes, Cornwall and Scilly Isles, 22 Dec 1932-3 Nov 1943; notebook containing watercolours of landscapes and maps and notes on the Himalayas and Kashmir; notebook of watercolours of birds in India and the UK together with some notes and anatomical drawings and photographs of Hudson, 1900-1927.

Papers of Alexander Douglas Mitchell Carruthers, 1904-1957, comprise travel diaries and notebooks from Syria and Lebanon, Central Africa, Turkestan and Arabia; correspondence, notes, published articles and cuttings about birds, mammals and other natural history topics.

Papers of Sir George Back, 1814-1878, including c. 250 letters addressed to Sir George Back by various correspondents (listed by name), 1848-1878; personal letters from Back to his family, 1813-1878; photocopies of extracts from Back's sketchbook and slides of his sketches from 1819-1822 expedition to Arctic; passports and framed letter with sketches of polar bear, 1874.