Oates Collection (Special Collections)

About the Oates Collection

Robert Washington Oates

Robert Washington Oates (1874-1958) was born in London and educated in Belgium and Germany. He served in the First World War as a private soldier, at the same time amassing a considerable fortune through his financial interest in a firm of industrial chemists which supplied materials for military purposes. After the war he became an antique dealer and gained an international reputation in the antiquarian book-trade.

In 1954 Oates responded to an appeal to secure Gilbert White's home, The Wakes, as a permanent memorial to the naturalist and author who had lived there for most of his life. At The Wakes, he also established the Oates Memorial Museum and Library, which commemorated two members of the Oates family, his cousin, Captain Lawrence Oates (1880-1912), a member of the Scott's Antarctic Expedition and his uncle, Frank Oates (1840-1875), a naturalist and explorer who was one of the first Europeans to see the Victoria Falls. At that time, the Library was reported to amount to 40,000 books.

Two collections of books from the Library were acquired by the University in 1970.

Content

The collection is divided into the subject areas of slavery in the West Indies and travel in Africa. The collection on slavery includes publications on both sides of the debate such as Thomas Clarkson An Essay on the Comparative Efficiency of Regulation or Abolition as Applied to the Slave-Trade (1789) and The Slave-Trade Indispensable in Answer to the Speech of William Wilberforce ... 13 May 1789 (1790). There are also many pamphlets from the 1820s and 1830s on the question of abolition or voluntary manumission and describing the condition of slaves, especially in Jamaica. Books on the West Indies include descriptions of travels and voyages e.g. John Waller A Voyage in the West Indies (1820), natural history, the lives of the English colonists and histories e.g. Edward Long The History of Jamaica 3 vols.(1774).

The Africa and Rhodesia collection consists of books describing the experiences of European explorers, travellers and residents in Africa, such as John Duncan Travels in Western Africa in 1845 and 1846 (1847), Dennis Kemp Nine years at the Gold Coast (1898) and the two editions of Frank Oates' journals Matabele Land and the Victoria Falls (1881 and 1889).

Extent

225 books and pamphlets on the West Indies and the abolition of slavery, dating from the 18th and 19th centuries.
250 books on Africa and Rhodesia, published from the mid 19th century to the 1950s.

Using the Oates Collection

Access

The collection on slavery is held on closed access and material is fetched for use in the Archives and Rare Books Search Room on level 4 of the Hartley Library, which is on the Highfield Campus. The Search Room is open Monday - Friday 09.30-17.00. Appointments are not normally required, but you will need to show a form of ID on arrival at the Library and on entering the Search Room. Material cannot be produced without prior arrangement between 12.00 and 13.00.

      You can request material:

  • By phoning the Search Room on 023 8059 2721 or ext. 22721
  • By emailing archives@soton.ac.uk
  • By visiting the Search Room and completing a request slip

  The material on Africa is held in the stack and can be requested at the Loans Desk.

Catalogues

The Oates books are included in WebCat the University Library's online catalogue.  The WebCat Tutorial shows the most effective ways to search the catalogue. For basic searches use the 'words or phrase' option in Quick Search. To produce lists of items in the different parts of the collection, enter 'Oates Collection (Slavery)' or 'Oates Collection (Africa)' as a Quick Search.

Borrowing books

The slavery collection is for reference use only in the Archives and Rare Books Search Room; books from the collection on Africa can usually be borrowed for 3 weeks if you have a University ID/Library card.

Reprographic service

Bound volumes from the collection on slavery cannot be photocopied but you can request photographic or microfilm copies, subject to the age and condition of the item.

Related Collections

The microfilm Anti-Slavery Collection 18th-19th centuries from the Library of the Society of Friends is held on reels 40021403 to 40021645 and Slavery & Anti-Slavery Pamphlets from the Libraries of Salmon P. Chase & John P, Hale held in Dartmouth College Library on reels 40022192 to 40022204, both in the Microform Area on level 1.

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