Today was the day of hot and cold discoveries. The Royal Geographic Society holds many artifacts relating to Livingstone (Africa aka Hot) & Shackleton (Arctic aka Cold). Eugene Rae guided us through many stories and various artifacts. It was all very intriguing.
The Geographical Society of London was founded in 1830 with the aim of scientific geography or exploration. The goal was to bring back accurate information that could be stored and/or published. Some of the expeditions that started here include finding the source of the Nile River, the Northwest Passage, Mt. Everest, and exploration of both poles.
The Royal Geographic Society holds more than 2 million items, half of which are maps. They hold the largest private map collection in Europe. This collection also contains over 2000 atlases. There are also 500,000 photos in the collection. These photos help document the late 19th and early 20th centuries. There is also a large collection of about 20,000 glass lantern slides. The library holds approximately 250,000 volumes; 150,000 of which are books. The rest are other bound items. The archives holds over 1000 meters if letters, diaries, and log books in boxes. This also contains correspondence between geographical societies. There are many collections on specific individuals an exhibitions or locations. The society holds about 1500 objects which hold the most interest and travel due to their nature. There is a large collection of periodicals and a collection of over 15,000 digitized photographs. Digitization is an ongoing process for the society. The librarian manages the Reading Room, looks after the artifacts, gives talks, and handles inquiries. All items that the society receives are exclusively through donations. They are very selective in the type of items they take in. They don't maintain a specific classification scheme. MARC is utilized for cataloguing purposes but otherwise everything else just has a specific shelf marker.
We got to see some fabulous items from some fabulous explorers. George Mallory is said together first person to climb to the top of Mt. Everest. We got to see visibly, glove, goggles, pocketbooks, and watch. Dr. Livingstone traveled through Africa in the search for the source of the Nile. He brought us some of the first published maps of Africa. Henry Stjanley was a journalist sent to find Dr Livingstone. Both Livinstone's and Stanley's hats are held at the Royal Geographic Society. Shackleton explored the Arctic. His hat, which just happens happens to be Burberry, still shows the message he wrote when he gave his hat to a friend.
Later that evening I went with a few friends to see a play at The Globe. We saw Shakespeare's " A Midsummer Night's Dream." It was an absolutely fabulous production. This show was much more traditional than the show we viewed with the Royal Shakespeare Company. I absolutely loved it! The actor who played Lysander was simply wonderful. He kept reminding me of a friend from college who is also an actor (SG - you know who you are if you read this blog). We went for a pint after the show. Fun times.
That is all for now...
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