Recovering David Livingstone’s Faded Diaries and Letters at the National Library of Scotland in Edinburgh.

Picture from: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Library_of_Scotland#/media/File:National_Library_of_Scotland,_Edinburgh.JPG

Writing on whatever was available

During his travels in 1870 and 1871, David Livingstone ran short of notebooks and ink. He continued recording his experiences on printed book pages, newspapers, and other available paper, eventually using a reddish ink made from a local plant. Over time, fading handwriting and the printed text beneath it made parts of these documents difficult to decipher.

MegaVision’s contribution

The Livingstone Spectral Imaging Project brought together scholars, imaging specialists, and librarians to examine these challenging manuscripts. MegaVision’s EV multispectral imaging system was used to photograph Livingstone material at the National Library of Scotland under different wavelengths of illumination. Image processing then helped distinguish the handwriting from the underlying print and improve the visibility of faded text. This was digital recovery of information, rather than physical restoration of the original documents. The value lies in making additional manuscript evidence available for reading, comparison, and interpretation.

From difficult-to-read manuscripts to digital access

The project’s results are available through Livingstone Online, including critical editions of the 1870 and 1871 field diaries and the Letter from Bambarre. These resources bring spectral images together with transcriptions and contextual research, allowing readers to examine the documents alongside the scholarly interpretation.

Explore the spectral-imaging editions · Read the project introduction

Further Reading and News Coverage:

One of the pages from Livingstone’s Personal Documents. The left image was captured in visible light, the right image is a result of multispectral image analysis made from the series of images shot with the EV system. Made availble by The Livingstone Trust.

Dr Livingstone’s documents written with juice as ink on news papers barely visible

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