Structuring the 1870 Field Diary

State of the Manuscript, part II

Cite page (MLA): Wisnicki, Adrian S., et al. "Structuring the 1870 Field Diary." In Livingstone's 1870 Field Diary. Adrian S. Wisnicki and Megan Ward, dirs. Livingstone Online. Adrian S. Wisnicki and Megan Ward, dirs. University of Maryland Libraries, 2017. Web. http://livingstoneonline.org/uuid/node/9b55d92a-0b4f-4465-aa88-aef50b7ed339.


This section, the second of a six-part sequence, continues a comprehensive account of the 1870 Field Diary as a constructed and preserved object. The section explores the structure that Livingstone (and, later, others) imposed on the text and discusses other prominent textual features.

Structure of the 1870 Field Diary    Top

As detailed in the previous section, Livingstone created the 1870 Field Diary manuscript over a period of time and based on a series of complex decisions. This process, as studied through the leaves of the diary itself, provides important insights into Livingstone’s work as a traveler and writer. Below, we continue our analysis of the diary by now turning to the many ways that Livingstone (and, later, British archivists) structured his record of the field.

 

A Relational Document    Top

During his last journey (1866-73), Livingstone regularly copied his field diaries into a large journal, now known as the Unyanyembe Journal (1866-72). Livingstone’s diaries contain the occasional reference to his practice of “copying notes into journal” (1871n:[24], see also 1866c:[77], 1866d:[19], 1871n:[45]). At times, he carried this journal with him and so had easy access to it. However, during his 1869-71 travels, the journal remained in Ujiji, as we see in one of the documents included in this edition: “Retrospect to be inserted in the Journal if I get back to where it is left in Ujiji” (1870a:[1]).

An image of a page of the 10 March 1870 'Retrospect' (Livingstone 1870a:[1]), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 10 March 1870 'Retrospect' (Livingstone 1870a:[1]), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. Of the manuscripts encompassed by the present critical edition, this segment offers the most definitive statement as to the whereabouts of the Unyanyembe Journal during the period in question.

When Livingstone parted with Stanley on 14 March 1872, the former entrusted the now sealed journal to the latter’s care: “This Journal sent home from Unyanyembe by Henry M. Stanley” (1866-72:[7], cf. 1871n:47). The journal, in turn, ultimately became the basis of the published Last Journals (1874), as edited by Horace Waller.

An image of a page of Field Diary XIV (Livingstone 1871n:[24]), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of Field Diary XIV (Livingstone 1871n:[45]), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Images of two pages of Field Diary XIV (Livingstone 1871n:[24], [45]), details. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. In the first passage of 5 January 1872 (left; top in mobile), Livingstone records that he is copying his "notes" into his journal. In the second of 26 February 1872 (right; bottom), he notes that he is "writing Journal and Despatch." In both cases, these may be allusions to his copying over the 1870 Field Diary into the Unyanyembe Journal. It is not clear, however, whether the despatch is the letter to Lord Stanley in the 1870 Field Diary (see Livingstone 1870i:XLI-LXI).

As a result, the 1870 Field Diary, like Livingstone’s other final field diaries, is a relational document, i.e., a text Livingstone used and conceived of in relation to the journal. Moreover, the 1870 Field Diary makes repeated references to this relational status, as does the 1871 Field Diary.

For instance, the first gathering of the 1870 Field Diary ends with a note that it is “[t]o be copied into the Journal” (1870b:[70]). 1870e:X of the second gathering opens with this same note, while 1870h:XVII and XVIII begin by making the point more briefly: “to be copied.” Lastly, on 1870i:XXIII Livingstone has added the single word “copied” between two paragraphs, again apparently referencing the diary’s relational status.

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870e:X). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870e:X). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. This page opens with a note that the page is "to be copied into Journal."

In at least one significant instance, Livingstone also uses the 1870 Field Diary in a different relational manner – to serve as a draft copy of a despatch to Lord Stanley (15 Nov. 1870). This despatch occupies a significant portion of the second gathering (1870i:XLI-LXI), begins with a note that it is a “copy” (page 1870i:XLI), and ends with Livingstone recording that he “copied the foregoing despatch” (1870i:LXII).

The presence of this letter, therefore, distinguishes the 1870 Field Diary from most of Livingstone’s other final diaries (excepting the 1871 Field Diary, which contains a draft of an unsent letter), but reiterates a practice seen in the Unyanyembe Journal, which contains copies of multiple letters. From a broader perspective, the letter thus underscores that Livingstone uses the 1870 Field Diary to store multiple kinds of information: it is a place to record observations that exist nowhere else; it serves as a temporary repository for notes that would be expanded and revised in the Unyanyembe Journal; and, at least in this instance, it also provides a backup copy of an important letter that might be lost in transit (also see The big stain).

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870j:LXII), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870j:LXII), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. This segment alludes to the fact that Livingstone copied over the Letter to Lord Stanley, which directly preceds this page in the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XLI-LXI).

(For more on the 1870 Field Diary’s relationship to Field Diary XIII, the Unyanyembe Journal, and the published version of the Last Journals, see Livingstone’s Composition Practices.)

 

Sequencing of Manuscript Pages    Top

Livingstone’s manuscript pages are put in order in four different ways. First, the pages that comprise the first gathering are, most obviously, bound together as a whole, presumably by Livingstone. Second, Livingstone has dated the entries in the first and second gatherings. Third, Livingstone has numbered the pages in the second gathering with Roman numerals from I to CI. Finally, a series of unidentified archivists has numbered the manuscript pages, although such numbering is not consistent.

Sequencing by date. As noted, Livingstone has dated the entries in both first and second gatherings of the 1870 Field Diary. Livingstone dates successive entries in the first gathering as 17 August 1870 and 24 August 1870. However, since the opening pages of this gathering are missing, it is reasonable to presume that there was at least one date preceding the above two dates.

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870j:LXII pseudo_v4_BY), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870b:[7]), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. A rare instance of a dated entry in the first gathering of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870b).

Livingstone dates the pages of the second gathering with a range of dates running from 18 August 1870 to 22 March 1871. (Note: the 1871 Field Diary picks up the thread directly afterward, with its first entry dated 23 March 1871.) In other words, there is an overlap between the dating of the first and second gatherings. The overlap suggests that the first gathering might be treated as a separate document, one intermediate between Field Diary XIII and the 1870 Field Diary – although we have not taken this course in the present edition.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871b:LXXXVII  pseudo_v4_BY). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871b:LXXXVII pseudo_v4_BY). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. By this point, Livingstone had run out of space in Field Diary XIII (Livingstone 1869) and so was using the 1870 Field Diary both for reflection and to record each passing day. As a result, this page contains entries for all the dates in the following sequence: 17-20 February 1871.

Date-keeping in the second gathering is not continuous, at least initially. From August 1870 to the end of January 1871, Livingstone writes a dated entry only every few days or, sometimes, every few weeks (for instance, there is no dated entry for September 1870, although one of the missing pages transcribed by Agnes does mention a September date; see 1870d:{21}). This seemingly sporadic dating in fact works in tandem with Field Diary XIII, as we discuss elsewhere (Livingstone’s Composition Practices).

Specifically, Field Diary XIII serves Livingstone as a calendar, where he records a date (if nothing else) for each successive day, while he uses the 1870 Field Diary to expand upon particular ideas. However, once Livingstone runs out of space in Field Diary XIII (mid February 1871), the last pocket-book remaining to him in Manyema, the function of the 1870 Field Diary changes. Although Livingstone continues to use the 1870 Field Diary for longer entries, after 8 February 1871 the dating becomes nearly continuous to the end of the diary.

A spectral image of a page of the 10 March 1870 'Retrospect' (Livingstone 1870a:[7] ICA_pseudo_1), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 10 March 1870 'Retrospect' (Livingstone 1870a:[7] ICA_pseudo_1), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. In contrast to the 1870 Field Diary, Livingstone dates the 'Retrospect' at the end rather than at the beginning.

Livingstone’s imposition of dates in both the first and second gatherings takes a rather straightforward form. Not every page of the diary contains a date. The date always heads or precedes the given diary entry (by contrast, Livingstone dates the 10 March 1870 “Retrospect” [Livingstone 1870a] at the end of the document). Sometimes Livingstone writes out the full date: “17th August 1870” (1870b:[7]) “16th January 1871” (1871a:LXXVI [v.1]). Sometimes he uses only the day and month: “19th Octr [1870]” (1870h:XVII), “10th Decr [1870]” (1870j:LXIX), “13th Feby [1871]” (1871b:LXXXVI).

Most often, especially after 8 February 1871, when the dating becomes nearly continuous, he uses only the date: “17th [February 1871]” (1871b:LXXXVII), “3d [March 1871]” (1871e:XCI). With only one exception – “Decr 23d 1870” (1870k:LXXIII) – he always follows the order of day, month, year; the month may be written in full or abbreviated. Finally, in one instance he includes the day of the week – “16th Friday [February 1871]” (1871b:LXXXVI) – and in one instance he gives a date range rather than a single date for a dated entry: “17th -18th [March 1871]" (1871e:CI).

Bonus: Download a document that presents, sequentially, all dates for dated diary entries as extracted from our transcription of the 1870 Field Diary.

Sequencing by Roman numerals. In addition to dates, Livingstone orders the pages of the second gathering by using Roman numerals. Usually these numerals appear in the upper left-hand corner of the page, directly preceding the text (XXXVI which appears in the upper-right margin of the relevant page [1870i:XXXVI] is the only exception) and are often of a slightly larger size than the rest of the text on the page. Sometimes a period or a dash follows the numeral, sometimes not. The numerals may be underlined, overlined, both, or neither.

Pages V-IX and XV-XVI are missing, so we do not know how the numerals appeared on those pages. Page LXXVII also appears to be missing, but in this case the unbroken sequence of undertext pages in this segment of the diary suggests that Livingstone may have forgotten to create this page; alternately, since Livingstone has not numbered the verso of 1871a:LXXVI [v.1], that page may be page LXXVII (but see below).

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XXI). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XXI). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. The page is the only one in the 1870 Field Diary where Livingstone writes a Roman numeral both at the beginning and at the end of the text.

The numerals in the second gathering run from I to CI, with a few exceptions (the pages of the 1871 Field Diary, therefore, follow directly, being numbered CII to CLXIII). Livingstone has not numbered the first page of the second gathering (1870c:I), although its placement on the manuscript leaf that includes pages II, III, and IV suggests that the relevant page is indeed page I. The numeral LV appears twice, on both the recto and verso of the given leaf (1870i:LV [v.1], LV [v.2]), although the number on the verso appears to be an after-the-fact addition (see below). Uniquely, numeral XXI appears both at the beginning of the relevant page (1870i:XXI; upper left-hand corner, in a form that suggests Livingstone forgot it initially, then wrote it into the available space) and at the end (lower right-hand corner).

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:LIV PCA_pseudo_34I). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:LIV PCA_pseudo_34I). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. As the spectral image shows, this page experienced significant saturation that wiped away some of the text, especially in the upper left-hand corner. To compensate, Livingstone reinked some of the text in that spot, including his Roman numeral.

The available evidence suggests that Livingstone wrote the numerals at a variety of times relative to the main text. Usually, he wrote the numerals concurrently with the main text, as the layout of the page and placement of the numeral makes clear in the relevant cases. In some instances, however, it appears that Livingstone pre-numbered his pages (cf. the 1871 Field Diary), as the placement and layout suggest concurrent composition, but the ink used to write the numeral differs from the main diary text (e.g., 1870i:XXVII, XXXI, XXXII).

In other cases, the numerals appear to be an after-the-fact addition, as they are crammed into the available space and sometimes written in a different shade of ink (1870i:XXI, XXXVI, XXIX, LX; 1871b:LXXX) or, in a one instance, appear to be in Zingifure, a local seed-based ink (1870i:LV [v.2]). Finally, Livingstone seems to have reinked a few numerals that became smeared due to page saturation (e.g., 1870i:XLIV, LIV; 1870k:LXXV).

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870f:[XIV v.2] pseudo_v4_BY). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871a:[LXXVI v.2] ICA_pseudo_1). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Spectral images of two pages with maps from the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870f:[XIV v.2] pseudo_v4_BY, 1871a:[LXXVI v.2] ICA_pseudo_1). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. In contrast to his usual practice in the second gathering of the 1870 Field Diary, Livingstone did not write Roman numerals on these two pages. The character of the ink on the first (left; top in mobile) suggests that it was written concurrently with the text on the other side (Livingstone 1870f:XIV [v.1]). The character of the ink on the second (right; bottom) is neither consistent across the page, as this spectral image shows, nor with the ink of the diary entry on the other side of the page (Livingstone 1871a:LXXVI [v.2]), making it unclear when Livingstone drew this map.

Additionally, the versos of both 1870f:XIV [v.1] and 1871a:LXXVI [v.1] present unusual cases, as both versos (respectively, 1870f:[XIV v.2] and 1871a:[LXXVI v.2]) contain maps and are not numbered. This may indicate that Livingstone drew these maps on the undertexts before composing the diary, which he then did not consider as including the maps; or he may not have numbered these pages because they contain maps rather than diary text proper; or one or more other reasons.

The ink used to create these two maps further complicates the situation. The ink on 1870f:[XIV v.2] appears to be the same as on the recto, suggesting sequential composition (as do, incidentally, internal reference between the map on the verso and text on the recto). The ink on the 1871a:[LXXVI v.2] appears to be different from the recto and, indeed, from other pages directly before and after in sequence, suggesting that this page was written at a different time (for more on the topics covered in this paragraph and the previous, see Preliminary Composition and Additions and Reinking and Revisions).

Sequencing by archival numbers. This method of sequencing disrupts the three previous schemas, resulting from the dispersal of the 1870 Field Diary. As it exists today, the diary is scattered among three repositories: The British Library, the David Livingstone Centre, and the National Library of Scotland. As a reflection of this, each of the three sets of repositories holdings also bear one or more archival number sequences, all in gray pencil. These archival numbers impose a fourth type of ordering on the pages of the 1870 Field Diary.

The British Library pages (1870c:I-IV) appear on the recto and verso of a single leaf (f. 169) as part of manuscript volume under shelfmark Add. MS. 50184. As a result, an unknown archivist has numbered the upper right-hand corner of the recto of this leaf (1870c:IV of Livingstone’s diary) as “169.” On this same leaf, the text “57B” appears circled and at a diagonal in the upper left-hand corner (under Livingstone’s “IV”), but the significance of this text is unknown.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870f:XIV [v.1] pseudo_v1). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870f:XIV [v.1] pseudo_v1). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. This page has two archival numbers added in another hand, in the upper and lower right-hand corners.

The majority of pages held by the David Livingstone Centre – all of the first gathering (1870b, DLC shelfmark: 297a); and parts of the second gathering (1870h:XVII-XX, DLC shelfmark: 297d; and 1870j:LXII-LXIX, DLC shelfmark: 297e) – do not bear any sort of archival numbers. However, one or more unknown archivists have numbered the pages 1870b as follows:

  • XIV [v.1]: “1” (upper right-hand corner), “3” (lower right-hand corner)
  • [XIV v.2], verso: “2” (lower left-hand corner, if the page is viewed on the horizontal axis, with the rivers running down from the top of the page)
  • LXXVI [v.1], recto: “4” (upper right-hand corner)
  • [LXXVI v.2], verso: “7” (upper right-hand corner, if the printed text on the page is turned right way up)

Finally, the National Library of Scotland has placed all its leaves of the 1870 Field Diary under the shelfmark MS. 10703. The majority of these leaves (1870e, 1870i, 1870k, 1871b), on the recto sides only, bear archival numbers in the upper right-hand corner that run from “1” to “31.” The only exceptions to this rule are the two leaves from the Pall Mall Budget (1871e) which bear numbers in the upper right-hand corner on both the recto and verso sides, running from “32” to “35.” The “MS. 10703” shelfmark also appears on the first of the Pall Mall Budget leaves in the upper left-hand corner (or upside-down and in the lower right-hand corner, depending on how one orients the page).

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871e:XC ICA_pseudo_1), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871e:XC ICA_pseudo_1), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. An unknown archivist has added the National Library of Scotland shelfmark ("MS.10703") in the upper left-hand corner of this page.

 

Content and Structure    Top

The text of the 1870 Field Diary suggests that its main purpose is to serve as a longer record of Livingstone’s life in the field, a function that shifts the diary away from Livingstone’s other field diaries of the period and towards the more expansive Unyanyembe Journal. In actual fact, however, Livingstone uses the 1870 Field Diary to capture a heterogeneous set of materials, many of which bear no direct relation to the main dated entries. These materials complicate definitive generic categorization and include a copy of a letter, rough decontextualized field notes, maps, and calculations. The materials, like the dated entries and various numbering schemes, also play a role in structuring the final manuscript.

Letter to Lord Stanley. 1870i:XLI-LXI contain a copy of a letter that Livingstone drafted and subsequently sent to Lord Stanley during this period. This original of this letter (dated 15 November 1870 from “Manyuema country 180 miles say West of Ujiji”) survives and is held by the National Archives in Britain. In the nineteenth century, it was published still during Livingstone’s lifetime in Parliamentary Papers (Livingstone 1872a). The letter begins with an address to “The Right Honourable Lord Stanley” and concludes with Livingstone’s signature.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871i:XLI PCA_pseudo_32), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871i:LXI PCA_pseudo_32), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Spectral images of two pages of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871i:XLI, LXI PCA_pseudo_32), details. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. These two segments mark, respectively, the beginning and the end of the Letter to Lord Stanley of 15 November 1870, which Livingstone wrote in the 1870 Field Diary. The first segment (top) inlcudes Livingstone's address line and salutation to Lord Stanley. The second (bottom) contains Livingstone's closing signature.

As subsequent text indicates, Livingstone handed the final version of the letter to the Arab trader Muhammad Bogarib for delivery “into the consul’s hands at Zanzibar” (1870j:LXII). Livingstone’s decision to draft the letter in the diary underscores the letters significance to Livingstone, as it was the only letter thus drafted although concurrently Livingstone wrote other letters to “Tom Agnes - Young Webb Oswell Dr Hamilton Sir Roderick Sir Bartle Frere - Tracey - Stearns of Bombay - Maclear = Bleek Brother John In Canada” (1870j:LXII).

Field notes. In composing the other field diaries from his last journey, Livingstone’s practice was to place random series of field notes at the end of his diaries. The 1871 Field Diary, for instance, which continues directly from the 1870 Field Diary and might be considered the second half of the latter, has such notes at the end. These field notes, often dated, might include lists of porters, rainfall measurements, vocabularies, stations on routes, illustrations, and a diverse range of other materials. Four pages of the 1870 Field Diary also contain these field notes.

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870h:XVII), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870h:XVII), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. In the middle of a diary entry, Livingstone boxes off a segment where he notes the names of three rivers.

The first set of such notes (1870h:XVII) takes the form of three river names that Livingstone has placed on a single line a box: “Lonzua Luaze Luanzo.” These rivers have no obvious connection to the surrounding text, but two of them do appear on the map that Livingstone has drawn lower down on the page.

The second set (1870h:XIX) appears above a double-line that separates out of the rest of the page’s text. In this case the notes take a more heterogeneous form: a note about an Arab trader (“Syde bin Salem Buraschid family Lumke”), an African word of indeterminate purpose (“Megongo”), and a few alternate African words for “fish” (“soga – Guke” and “sangaro”).

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XXVII). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XXVII). Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. On this page, in a section marked off with a horizontal line, Livingstone records vocabulary collected in Manyema.

The third set (1870k:LXXI) appears below a single line that also separates out the rest of the page’s text. In this case, the notes combine elucidation of familial relationships among a few Africans and, apparently, a brief outline of milestones on the travel routes to these individuals.

Finally, Livingstone again separates out the fourth set of notes (1870i:XXVII) above a single line. This set consists of three salutations, one from a Lualaba river population (“Ikwena alumwa”), two from a Manyema population (“a ko sema iamwu” to men, “Doshanga kakaka” to women).

Maps. The 1870 Field Diary contains three maps of various complexities. Livingstone created some of these maps concurrently with the diary entries; others may have been created earlier (see Sequencing by Roman Numeral). The first map (1870f:[XIV v.2]), which Livingstone sets at “about 1° South Lat[itude],” depicts a series of 10 rivers running west to east, all flowing “to Uerere Lake” in the east (the lake itself does not appear on the map). The map also includes a dotted line that marks the route of two Arab traders (Ramadan and Hassani) across these rivers and a series of boxed in annotations around the map.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871e:CI spectral_ratio), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871e:CI spectral_ratio), detail. Copyright National Library of Scotland. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. This unique segment of text contains a calculation in the upper left-hand corner, a sloping horizontal line, and a small map in the lower left-hand corner.

The second map (1870h:XVII) shows “River in Lake Tanganyika or Lacustrine River” and its major affluents. The map also marks the spot of Ujiji and the regions of Loanda, Uzige, Urundi, and Ugoma. The third map appears on the final page of the diary (1871e:CI) and consists only of a looping line for “Kanayumbe loop & river.”

(Note: Four pages of Livingstone’s diary [1870h:XVII-XX] are also composed on the back of Baker’s map of the Albert N’yanza [Livingstone 1870h:[map]], to which map Livingstone has added one set of calculations, but not otherwise marked.)

Calculations. The 1870 Field Diary includes a handful of standalone calculations. The first set appears below the Baker map (Livingstone 1870h:[map]) and involves the latitudes of the villages Ujiji and Nyangwe and the Lindi River. The second set (1870i:LII) consists of three multiplication problems and appears to pre-date the main diary text as it lies below and perpendicular to that text. 1871b:LXXX has another multiplication problem, boxed off from the main text, but of the same ink and so, presumably written at the same time. 1871e:CI also has one simple calculation, partly boxed off, and involves the addition of pieces of cloth.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871a:LXXVI [v.1] pseudo_v1), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871a:LXXVI [v.1] pseudo_v1), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. The image foregrounds the variety of inks used in making the calculations on this page and suggests that the calcuations were made over a longer period of time.

Finally, 1871a:[LXXVI v.2] is a special case and contains a range of calculations in different inks, some of which appear to pre-date the main text. Most of these calculations involve subtraction of unknown purpose, with at least one involving degrees (see Additional Notes on the Undertexts for more on the calculations).

 

Additional Manuscript Features    Top

A few other manuscript features merit a brief mention. One such feature is Livingstone’s use of horizontal lines across the page to separate various parts of the text. Most often Livingstone uses these lines to mark where a new diary entry begins (1870i:XXIX, XXXII, LXV; 1870j:LXIX; 1870k:LXX, LXXXV; 1871e:XCVI, CI), sometimes to separate paragraphs (1870i:XXVI, 1870j:LXVII), and sometimes to section off text that breaks the flow of a given entry, such as a longer addition (1870e:XII, 1870i:XXIX) or a random set of field notes (1870h:XIX, 1870i:XXVII, 1870k:LXXI). The lines are usually straight and single, but in one instance Livingstone uses two lines (1870h:XIX) and in two cases the line slants around various bits of text (1871e:XCVI, second half of CI). As a whole, Livingstone’s use of such lines is the exception not the rule, and his decision when and not to use them appears random.

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XXXIX). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870i:XXXIX). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. On this page, Livingstone has marked off different segments of text with two separate horizontal lines.

The 1870 Field Diary also contains a handful of anomalous textual features. In a few cases, Livingstone boxes off a small segment of text, such as a note (1870b:[40]), annotations on a map (1870h:[map]), or a set of words (1870h:XVII). Two pages contain flourishes to correct ink flow (1870b:[7], 1871a:LXXVI [v.1]), a feature that becomes much more prominent in the 1871 Field Diary.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870b:[7] IC5). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870b:[7] IC5). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. The processed image of this page removes Livingstone main diary text and reveals the squiggle to correct ink flow that lies beneath that text.

Finally, Livingstone tends to fill all available space on a given page with text owing to the shortage of writing paper during this phase of his final travels. However, in a few instances Livingstone leaves a notable amount of blank space on the page without indication as to its purpose (see 1870b:[6], 1870i:LV [v.2], 1871a:[LXXVI v.2], 1871b:LXXXVI, 1871e:XC). Other than a minor calculation, Livingstone also leaves the entire surface of Baker’s map (Livingstone 1870h:[map]) unmarked (however, see the discussion in Third sub-gathering [Livingstone 1870h]).

An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871b:LXXXVI). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
An image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1871b:LXXXVI). Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. Contrary to his usual practice, Livingstone has left a significant section of this page blank and may have intended to add entries for the missing dates (14 and 15 Feb. 1871) at a later time – a point that also suggests that he may not have written all the entries of the 1870 Field Diary in strict chronological order.

It should also be noted that annotations in another hand appear on two pages of the diary (1870h:XVII, XVIII) plus just below Baker’s map (1870h:[map]). These annotations correlate Livingstone’s handwritten text with the text as published posthumously in the Last Journals (1874) and appear to be in the hand of Rev. James McNair, founder of the David Livingstone Centre.

A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870h:XVII IC3), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
A spectral image of a page of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870h:[map] ICA_pseudo_1), detail. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0/).
Spectral images of two pages of the 1870 Field Diary (Livingstone 1870h:Livingstone 1870h:XVII IC3, [map] ICA_pseudo_1), details. Copyright David Livingstone Centre. Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported. These two segments derive from the recto and verso of a single leaf and consist of additions made to the text in what appears to be the hand of Rev. James McNair.

These additional manuscript features underscore the many ways that the diary produces meaning and, in turn, the need for any critical analysis of the diary to be attentive to such elements.

*

The 1870 Field Diary, therefore, derives it structure from a variety of components, including its relation to other texts, diverse ordering schemes, the nature of its content, and other textual elements. The subsequent sections of this essay review the passage of the 1870 Field Diary across hands, space, and time, and end with a new history and chronology of the manuscript.

The Diary Across Hands, Space, and Time (1)

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