In 1909, scientists Herbert Lang and James P. Chapin, as well as numerous assistants, set out into the remote Central African Congo River basin to explore and catalog the many extraordinary plant and animal species found within. This fabulous new Web sitefrom the American Museum of Natural History details the six-year expedition that resulted in the first comprehensive study of the Congo basin....

Especially for the armchair explorer, the Smithsonian Institution Libraries has selected materials for this web exhibition from its Russell E. Train Africana Collection. Documenting European explorations of Africa from the late 18th through the 19th century, some of the artifacts pre-date photography. At that time, it was important for expeditions to include an artist, who could record what was...