South African watercolours, 1933
Scope and Contents
Forty-two prints of watercolours, 8½'' x 6½'', relating mainly to the Zambesi expedition of 1861-1865, including some captions and pencil notes.
Dates
- Creation: 1933
Creator
Conditions Governing Access
Unless restrictions apply, the collection is open for consultation by researchers using the Manuscripts Reading Room at Cambridge University Library. For further details on conditions governing access please contact mss@lib.cam.ac.uk. Information about opening hours and obtaining a Cambridge University Library reader's ticket is available from the Library's website (www.lib.cam.ac.uk).
Biographical / Historical
Thomas Baines (1822-1875), artist, was born in King's Lynn. He travelled to the Cape Colony in 1842, and accompanied the British army as its artist during the Xhosa War, 1848-1851. He was part of an expedition to North-West Australia in 1855, and in 1858 was the artist for the Zambesi expedition led by David Livingstone, with whom he travelled to Tete. He joined expeditions to the Victoria Falls in 1861 and to the goldfields of the Tati in 1868. Baines made maps of the routes he travelled and sketches of the scenery and people he encountered during his journeys. He died in Durban, Natal, on 8 May 1875.
Extent
1 envelope(s) (1 envelope) : photograph
Language of Materials
English
Former / Other Reference
MSS 1/5
Other Finding Aids
Donald H. Simpson, ed., 'The manuscript catalogue of the library of the Royal Commonwealth Society' (London, 1975), p. 112.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
The prints were taken from originals collected by Dr J.G. Gubbins in 1932 in his attempts to restore the Library of the University of the Witwatersrand, which had been destroyed by fire that year. They were presented to the R.C.S. by the University of the Witwatersrand Library Appeal Committee, 1933.
General
This collection level description was created by RAS using information from Donald Simpson's R.C.S. catalogue. The biographical history was compiled with reference to the entry on Thomas Baines in Leslie Stephen and Sidney Lee, eds, 'Dictionary of national biography', vol. I (London, 1908), pp. 913-914.
Originator(s)
Baines, Thomas, 1822-1875, artist and African explorer
Finding aid date
2004-01-22 13:56:55+00:00
Repository Details
Part of the Cambridge University Library Repository
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Cambridge CB3 9DR United Kingdom
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