The archive comprises original manuscript material concerning the travels of James Bruce of Kinnaird in North Africa and Ethiopia, from 1762 to 1774. Bruce (1730-1794) was originally posted as British consul-general at Algiers, though his diplomatic service concluded in 1765. Over the next 10 years, Bruce traveled in North Africa to document the antiquities, flora, and fauna of the region. Bruce then traveled to Ethiopia to document the source of the Nile. The bulk of material concerns Bruce's search for the source of the Nile and his records of Ethiopia's flora and fauna. Some portions also cover Bruce's diplomatic work and his travel and documentation of architectural antiquities in North Africa and Ethiopia.

The archive includes approximately 1,500 items, including correspondence, manuscript writings or notes, records, manuscript maps, volumes of diaries or day books, and an assortment of passports and other official documents.

Approximately 900 drawings by Luigi Balugani and James Bruce, formerly in the archive, have been transferred to the Department of Prints and Drawings at the the Yale Center for British Art. About 300 of the transferred drawings include significant textual annotations by Balugani.

Botany > Africa, North.

Botany > Ethiopia.

Natural history > Africa, North.

Natural history > Ethiopia.

Africa, North > Antiquities.

Africa, North > Description and travel.

Ethiopia > Antiquities.

Ethiopia > Description and travel.

Ethiopia > History > 1490-1889.

Diplomats - Great Britain.

Correspondence.

Diaries.

Drawings (visual works)

Maps.

Notebooks.