In the course of my research into some of the extraordinary explorers and scientists of the 19th century who helped develop our understanding of natural world by travelling to the wildest places in Africa to collect animals, birds, insects and even human specimens, I stumbled on a story so extraordinary, that  I felt had to write a book about it.

I found myself drawn towards an expedition put together by the famous explorer Henry Morton Stanley to rescue an enigmatic naturalist from the heart of Central Africa in 1887.  The expedition is  known to history as the Emin Pasha Relief Expedition (EPRE) and despite his Turkish sounding name, "Emin" was Eduard Schnitzer, born a Jew in Protestant Germany before converting, first to Lutherism and then Islam.  He was on the run from family responsibilities in Germany when he became trapped in one of the most remote places in Africa by the Mahdi, who had just captured Khartoum and killed General Gordon.

The story is of more than just historical interest and  involves contemporary themes of race, slavery, violence, and media manipulation. It transpires that what we thought we knew about our pre-colonial past is not "the whole truth" and is certainly a lot more complicated than we ever suspected.

This part of my website is devoted to aspects of my research and is drawn almost exclusively from original source material, much of which has been overlooked even by academics who have written at length about the expedition.  

"In Darkest Africa" was the book Stanley wrote about the expedition and in this section, I briefly explain his version of events and introduce the main characters. 

"The Expedition Route" is my attempt to explain one of the most mystifying decisons taken in the course of preparation for the expedition by looking at the evidence critically, rather than blindly accept Stanley's obviously illogical account.

"Stanley, Slaughter and Slavery" was something of a diversion from the main thust of my book, but it was the result of research I was doing at a time when the Black Lives Matter movement was in the news and I thought it might be useful to give some context to the British relationship with slavery in Africa during the last decades of the 19th century.  Trigger warning - I challenge the cosy notion that Stanley was in any moral sense "Africa's Greatest Explorer" or that he had any positive impact on the history of the continent.

"Stanley's brushes with the Law".  It may not be so remarkable that Stanley's uncompromising personality got him involved in litigation, but even I was surprised to uncover his involvement in the development of not one, but two milestones of English Law - the "Mareva" injunction and the libel defence of Innocent Dissemination.  

"The Research" I have set out some specific aspects of my research as a starting point for others who may be interested enough to follow the footprints of Stanley and his men through the jungle.  These include the archives where original material can be found; Jameson's birds; Jameson's people; a short bibliography, timeline and a cast list. 

Some links and pages in this part of my website may not work on a smart phone, but they will on an iPad, laptop and pc.

I have not yet published my book but will do so when I can convince a publisher that it is of more general interest.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

I have to pay tribute to the meticulous work carried out by the specialist curators, experts and staff at the National Collections in England, Ireland, Belgium and Africa who have helped and guided me through my research.

I write at a time when Britain and Europe seem unsure of how to deal with our shared past, but this is exactly why our archives are so terribly important, since they are the most reliable repositories of scientific knowledge and history.  They provide the assurance that  mere "assertion", "personal truth" and "alternative facts" are no substitute for "the truth".

Every generation lives an experience that has been shaped and influenced by the past - we are where we are precisely because of the actions and failures of our ancestors.  A large part of history can seem shameful or appalling when judged by modern sensibilities, but it is always wrong to suppress, alter or turn a blind eye to what happened simply because we feel uncomfortable about it. 

If history has any value other than as a collection of colourful tales, it should teach us how to avoid repeting the past mistakes.  My personal position is that it is only when we know the truth about what happened that we stand any chance of learning lessons for the future, and that all attempts to rewrite the past as we would have preferred it to have been, are profoundly mistaken.

Four curators need special mention, but of course each is part of a team of equally dedicated professionals.

Mathilde Leduc-Grimaldi is the marvelous curator of Henry Morton Stanley's Archives and Collections at the Royal Museum for Central Africa and she has been truly inspiring - shaping and encouraging my research along the way.

Max Barclay is Senior Curator of Coleoptera at the Natural History Museum in London and he and his team have guided me through the beetles - it cheers me up that that Max claims not to know anybody who does not love these "creepy crawlies", and his enthusiasm is infectious.

Hein van Grouw is Senior Curator, Bird Group Dept of the Natural History Museum in Tring.  It was his encouragement  that started me off exploring the collection of bird skins and opened my eyes to the value of museum labels.

Philip Grover is Assitant Curator of the Photograph and Manuscript Collections at the Pitt Rivers Museum in Oxford, and he and his colleagues have been incredibly generous allowing me access to Jameson's original papers and preparing the blog on Jameson's bird collecting.

Strictly speaking, Sir Brian Barttelot  is the custodian of his family's archive rather than an academic curator, but he trusted me with unrestricted access to his family's papers.  By cross-checking this archive with the evidence from multiple other sources, Edmund Barttelot comes across as a far nicer and more principled man than Stanley could ever claim to be.

Special thanks too to Christopher Thirsk, who has expanded my knowledge of 19th century firearms and hunting techniques and thrown light on museum collections and archives that would otherwise have baffled me. 

Marcus Rutherford 2024