"Bamum manuscript collection of the Archives du Palais des Rois Bamoun (APRB) in the Royal Palace of Bamum Kings in Foumban, Cameroon [c1896-1975]"

This fonds consists of digital surrogates of the Bamum manuscript collections of the Archives du Palais des Rois Bamoun. The three divisions within the Archives - Modern Archives, Reserve Archives and Museum Collection - are represented here, consisting of correspondence, journals, official palace records, calendars, maps, scientific and medical papers, and illustrations. The records were created and received by the Bamum royal family c1876-1975. A range of languages and scripts are represented in the archive, predominantly the variants of Bamum writing system - Lewa, Mbima, Nyi Nyi Nfa, Nyi Nfa Mfw Rii, Nyi Mfw Rii Men, A Ka Or Ku, and Mfemfe - alongside English, French and Arabic. Shumom, the artificial language invented by Bamom Ibrahim Njoya, also occurs within the documents. Many of the documents are transliterations in Bamum, Arabic and Latin scripts.