Index

To

President’s Address

Trans. Devon. Assoc., vol.  X, (1878), pp. 29-50.

by

Sir Samuel White Baker, K.C.B., M.A., F.R.S., F.R.G.S.

Prepared by Michael Steer

The Devonshire Association’s 1878Presidential Address was presented at its July Paignton meeting. Sir Samuel Baker had been asked to give the presidential address since the previous President’s wife had recently died. Sir Samuel was a widely known explorer, officer, naturalist, big game hunter, engineer, writer and abolitionist. He also held the titles of Pasha and Major-General in the Ottoman Empire and Egypt. His fulsome and impressive biography is available in Wikipedia.
The Address is an entertaining and informative panorama promoting the idea of progress and improvement and presenting the triumph of science as a major political and cultural force. It, from a copy of a rare and much sought-after journal can be downloaded from the Internet Archive. Google has sponsored the digitisation of books from several libraries. These books, on which copyright has expired, are available for free educational and research use, both as individual books and as full collections to aid researchers.