From Roanoke to Gravesend

11 Mar 2010

It's a bonus month for Archive and Library research as we've published two items this month, and they really couldn't be more different.

In the rare books corner we have an introduction to one of the stars of our collection: Theodor de Bry's A briefe and true report of the new found Land of Virginia. This is one of the first and most well-known titles in the Grand Voyages collection. The text and images published by the engraver de Bry form one of the earliest anthropological accounts of Native Americans.

And so from Roanoke Island in the sixteenth century to Gravesend Reach at the end of the nineteenth: from the archive collection we have a diary kept by the clergy of St Andrew's Waterside Church Mission. The mission was responsible for serving the spiritual needs of those who worked or passed through the lower Thames area, and the diary reveals some interesting connections to other museum collections and key figures in the Museum's history.

Renee (Digital Resources Libarian)