This collection consists of 249 books and pamphlets relating to West Africa from the library of Dr Richard Savage OBE (1903-1993). Savage was born in Edinburgh to a Nigerian father and Scottish mother. His father, Richard Akinwande Savage (1874-1935), had studied medicine at Edinburgh University and went on to become a government doctor in Nigeria and Ghana as well as publishing newspapers and becoming a politician. Richard Savage was educated at George Watson's College, Edinburgh, and, like his father, he graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University. He subsequently pursued a medical career in Nigeria and Ghana. He served in Burma during the Second World War, becoming a major in the British Army, one of the first, if not the first, Black Africans to receive an officer's commission in the army. The collection consists mostly of 19th- and 20th-century publications, but also includes twelve works published before 1801, and six maps of Guinea dating from the 17th and the 18th century. It also contains works on the history and customs of the indigenous empires, descriptive accounts of the country, and journals of voyages of exploration and military expeditions.

Organisation

The books have been catalogued individually and have the shelfmark 'Sav.'.

Acquisition

The collection was presented to the Library by Dr Savage in 1988.

Related collections

The maps are held in the Library's map collections.