This book is about discoveries made in the course of carrying out research on African literatures in well-stocked archives in various parts of the world. Many of the essays collected here deal with early publications and manuscripts by now-famous writers from West, East, and South Africa that were found in libraries, publishing houses, newspaper offices, and philanthropic institutions not only in Africa but in Europe and America as well. It was possible to glean significant new information about these writers and their works by gaining access to such rich archival resources. The second part of the book describes samples of the African holdings at the Harry Ransom Center at the University of Texas at Austin, where similar records enable scholars to conduct fruitful research on a wide range of African literatures. Catalogues of the major collections can be found online, and fellowships are available to those who wish to study certain of these materials.
