What Are Primary Sources?
Primary sources are materials that provide direct evidence or firsthand testimony concerning the period or subject under investigation. The definition of a primary source may vary depending upon the discipline or context. Examples include:
- Diaries, letters, speeches, interviews, manuscripts
- Memoirs and autobiographies
- Records of organizations and government agencies
- Journal and newspaper articles written at the time
- Photographs, audio recordings, video recordings
- Public opinion polls conducted at the time
- Research reports or articles reflecting the results of scientific experiments or studies
- Works of art, architecture, literature, and music such as paintings, sculptures, musical scores, buildings, novels, poems, etc.
- Artifacts such as plant specimens, fossils, furniture, tools, clothing, etc. of the time under study
Secondary sources interpret or analyze an event or subject. Examples of secondary sources are biographies and journal articles written well after the event or time period under investigation.
(Original author, Meredith Kirkpatrick, 2021)
Archaeological Evidence
- African Rock Art Digital Library "The Rock Art Research Institute (RARI) has a substantial collection of historical documents, photographs, redrawings and slides in addition to its large working collection of slides, tracings and redrawings. Over time, many of the older slides started to change colour and deteriorate in quality, prompting a programme to preserve the historical documents, photographs and slides in RARI's possession and reduce their handling by researchers and visitors."
- Digital Bleek & Lloyd Collection - Studies of !kun and !xam Culture "This digital publication is part of a Llarec project to digitise, research and publish the Bleek and Lloyd Archive. The Digital Bleek and Lloyd includes scans of every page of the 110 Lucy Lloyd |xam notebooks, 17 Lloyd (mostly) !kun notebooks and 28 Wilhelm Bleek |xam notebooks. It also includes Jemima Bleek's solitary Korana and !kun notebook and four Lloyd Korana notebooks in the Maingard collection of the Library at the University of South Africa, as well as Dorothea Bleek's 32 notebooks. All the drawings and watercolours made by |han≠kass'o, Dia!kwain, Tamme, |uma, !nanni and Da are also in the digital collection. The digital archive includes a 280 000-word searchable index, cross-referenced and including notes and summaries for each of the stories listed. Notes in italics are direct quotes from the reports of Bleek and Lloyd in which they detailed the progress of their research."
African Texts & Manuscripts
- Ajami Research Guide "Ajami is a modified Arabic script that has been used for centuries to write many African languages including (but not limited to: Afrikaans (Arabic-Afrikaans), Fula, Hausa, Malagasy, Mandinka, Swahili, Wolof (Wolofal), and Yoruba." This library guide highlights ajami collections within Boston University; please note that most are not pre-colonial texts.
- [Chad / Niger / Nigeria] Old Kanembu Islamic Manuscripts - SOAS "The digital collection of Old Kanembu manuscripts provides an online access to one of the earliest written sub-Saharan languages in manuscript form. Old Kanembu written in Arabic script was a language of Qur’anic interpretation in the ancient Borno Sultanate. It has survived in marginal and interlinear annotations in the early Qur’an manuscripts dating from the 17th to 19th centuries and in various other religious texts dating from the 19th century to 1980’s... "
- [Ethiopia] Example of an Ethiopian Prayer Book, 15th Cent. Ge'ez Ethiopian Prayer Book Date: Early 15th c. Language: Ge'ez Rights: Public domain Repository: Walter Havighurst Special, Library at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio Digital Publisher: Miami University Libraries
- [Ethiopia] Muhammed Dawud's Collection of Islamic Manuscripts from Kemisse [c 11th century-21st century. British Library - Endangered Archives Program "The project identified six abandoned mosques in the towns of Cheno, Dera and in South Wallo, and 21 manuscripts were listed. Some manuscripts in a poor condition were relocated to the Gaceni District Culture and Tourism Bureau. Ten manuscripts have been digitised and copies deposited with the Institute of Ethiopian Studies, Addis Ababa University; Ethiopian Islamic Affairs Supreme Council; National Archive & Library Addis Ababa, and the British Library...."
- [Kenya] The manuscripts of the Riyadh Mosque of Lamu, Kenya "...The collection of approximately 130 manuscripts holds several unique copies and represents Islamic education in East Africa for the past few hundred years, with the manuscripts dating from 1837 to 1920 ..."
- [Mali] Exhibit: Ancient Manuscripts from the Desert Libraries of Timbuktu - Library of Congress "These ancient manuscripts cover every aspect of human endeavor. The manuscripts are indicative of the high level of civilization attained by West Africans during the Middle Ages and provide irrefutable proof of a powerful African literary tradition.... These manuscripts, surviving from as long ago as the fourteenth century, are remarkable artifacts important to Malian and West African culture. The exhibited manuscripts date from the sixteenth to eighteenth century. The manuscripts on view are from the Mamma Haidara Commemorative Library and the Library of Cheick Zayni Baye of Boujbeha, two of the most noteworthy institutions in the Timbuktu area. As part of its continuing effort to create a universal collection of recorded knowledge from all geographic areas and all historical eras, the Library of Congress is particularly proud to have the opportunity to exhibit these important cultural artifacts from Mali. The Library is also pleased that copies of these manuscripts will be deposited in its collections and will be available for use by researchers and scholars."
- [Mali] Tombouctou Manuscripts Project Established in 2003 to research and document manuscript tradition in Africa. "Researchers are involved in the ongoing translation of materials from the Ahmed Baba and Mamma Haidara collections. Thus far, due to researchers’ individual areas of focus, there has been an emphasis on the translation of manuscripts related to fatawa (Islamic legal rulings), Sufi practises and women. A collection of these translations are in preparation for publication. Registered users can access manuscript translations via the Database."
- [Nigeria] National Archives Kaduna, Arabic Manuscript Collected from Northern Nigeria [18th century-20th century] "The Arabic Manuscript Collection range in date from the early 18th century to the early colonial era or specifically to the 1930s, and they include local chronicles, private correspondence, legal documents, and religious literature. Within the Arabic Manuscript Collection there are series of records collected from specific parts of Northern Nigeria like Kaduna, Sokoto and Kabba. Extent and format of original material: 15,925 items in paper format."
- [Middle Nile/ Nubia/ Sudan/ Egypt] Fontes Historiae Nubiorum Textual sources for the history of the Middle Nile Region between the eighth century BC and the sixth century AD
Early Western Accounts of Africa: Available Online
- John Thornton's African Texts (1500-1700 Kingdom of Kongo) This site is an attempt to create a paradigm for historical editing, annotating and translating written texts relating to African History. It arose out of my observations about editing, but particularly about my own experience editing Giovanni Antonio Cavazzi’s “Missione evangelica” an important text concerning the Kingdoms of Kongo and Ndongo which he finished writing in 1668.
- African Peoples' Encounters With Others - Library of Congress Guide Overview guide to early interactions between Africans and Europeans. Includes images and maps. **Use this as a tool to find keywords to aid you in your research.
- European Exploration of Africa (New World Encyclopedia) General overview of early European exploration and subsequent colonization of Africa. **Use this resource as a tool for finding keywords and names to search in greater depth using other resources on this guide.
- European Travel Accounts of Africa - Guide, Bryn Mawr College List of 65 early explorers and their published works. **Use this bibliography as a tool to find the books themselves (many are in the public domain and freely available online).
- Europeana Europeana Collections provides access to over 50 million digitised items – books, music, artworks and more – with sophisticated search and filter tools
- Internet Archive "The Internet Archive, a 501(c)(3) non-profit, is building a digital library of Internet sites and other cultural artifacts in digital form. Like a paper library, we provide free access to researchers, historians, scholars, the print disabled, and the general public. Our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge."
Early Western Accounts of Africa: BU Databases (login required)
- British History Online This link opens in a new window
- British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
- Hathi Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
- JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Early Maps of Africa
- Afriterra Online Map Collection The Afriterra library is the most complete assembly in North America for original rare maps focused on early Africa. Some facts about the collection: 5,000 original rare maps, engravings, archive papers and rare book text and references, covering seven languages (English, Latin, Dutch, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian). Dates of origin from 1480 to 1900. Palm-size to wall-size; small regional scale to continental scale Maps of mountains, deserts, scenes, villages, and pathways. Maps of Rivers: Gambia, Senegal, Niger, Congo, Orange, Zambezi, and Nile. Maps and Description of Regions: Gambia, Senegal, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Gold Coast, Ivory Coast, Slave Coast, Grain Coast, Cameroon, Zaire, Angola, South Africa, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Ethiopia, Nubia, Egypt, Libya, Morocco, Timbuktu. Locations of Kingdoms: Songhay, Asante, Dahomey, Oyo, Jolof, Dyula, Benin, Ife, Gao, Mali, Aja, Kong, Abrong, Mossi, Igbo, Yoruba, Hausa, Vili, Borno, Akan, Ghana, Ewe, Dagomba, Kasanje, Tuareg, Sahel, Mbundu, Zulu. Locations of Slave trade sites: Arguin, Goree, St. Louis, De los, Sherbro, Bance, Whydah, Elmina, Anomabe, Lagos, Bonny, Calabar, Biafra, Benguela, Loango, Cabinda, Luanda, St. Thomas, Fernando Po.
- Geographicus Rare Maps: Africa Antiquarian maps of Africa for sale; thumbnails allow for high resolution zooming.
- Historical Maps of Africa - Perry-Castañeda Library Map Collection Wide variety of maps, ranging from 1808 to 1978. Includes pre-colonial as well as colonial maps.
- Pre-1885 Maps of Africa Maps showing "the continent prior to the Berlin Conference of 1885, when the most powerful countries in Europe at the time convened to make their territorial claims on Africa and establish their colonial borders at the start of the New Imperialism period."
Head, African Studies Library
Beth Restrick
Contact:
African Studies Library
6th floor, Mugar Memorial Library
Mon-Fri, 9am- 5pm
6th floor, Mugar Memorial Library
Mon-Fri, 9am- 5pm
617-353-3726
Subjects: African Studies