Livingstone diary project up for award

Published on 07/02/2013 12:00

A PROJECT which used 
cutting-edge science to recover the lost words of David Livingstone is in the running for an award.

A diary written 140 years ago by the Scots explorer about a massacre of 400 slaves he witnessed in Africa was revealed by experts at the National Museum of Scotland.

The manuscript, kept at the David Livingstone Centre in Blantyre and written in ink made by berry seeds, deteriorated rapidly and became virtually invisible to the naked eye.

The 18-month project – Livingstone’s 1871 field diary – has been nominated in the best professional resource category in the Digital Humanities 2012 Awards.