Travels in West Africa

1897

Special Collections DT471 K55 1897

London: Macmillan and Co.

Mary Kingsley (1862-1900) was the eldest child of George and Mary Kingsley. She did not attend school, but she read deeply in her father’s large library. When both of her parents died in 1892, she determined to travel to West Africa. She collected flora and fauna previously unknown in Europe, including three new species of fish that were named after her. While her solitary travels and strong opinions suggest that Kingsley was a kind of proto-feminist, she resisted labels like ‘New Woman’ and did not support women’s suffrage.