Rare Literature and Manuscripts

Odumodu’s Journey is one of the earliest novels written in Igbo language by Bell-Gam Leopold published in 1963 by Longman, London and translated for English readers by Frances W. Pritchett.

An anthology of modern Igbo verse edited by R.M Ekechukwu and translated to English by Frances W. Pritchett. It includes a glossary.

The Author of Omenuko is a biography about Pita Nwana, the author of the first Igbo novel Omenuko , a special man among men, a man who trusted his personal god and did a special work for the public without receiving any money.

An Igbo playlet by Enyinna Akoma published by Ibadan University Press in 1979 and translated by Frances W. Pritchett.

Odenigbo is a lecture series created by the Catholic Archdioceses of Owerri. It featured prof. Chinua Achebe as a guest speaker in  its 1999 series themed Echi Di Ime: Taa bu Gboo ( Tomorrow is Uncertain: Today is soon Enough)

The event brochure was translated from Igbo to English By Frances W. Pritchett.

Contains bonus ( Igbo Izugbe- standard Igbo, and Olu be – dialectal Igbo) documents of Prof. Chinua Achebe’s speech delivered in Igbo at the event.

A draft English translation of F.C Ogbalu’s Ilu Igbo: The Book of Proverbs by F.C Ogbalu,by Frances W. Pritchett.
Includes annotated and compiled list of books containing Igbo proverbs by Frances W. Pritchett.

Frances W Pritchett Speech at Society for Promoting Igbo language and Culture UNN 1979.

Igbo and English version.

Frances W. Pritchett writes about how she became interested in Igbo language after meeting and hosting a Nigerian Igbo student.

“In learning about a language one also learns about the culture that produced it–the beliefs, traditions, habits, attitudes, ways of making a living, interpretations of natural surroundings, ideas about marriage, children, etc. I discovered that my Eurocentric education had left me
sadly ignorant about Africa, so I began to educate myself by reading books by African writers. “Things Fall Apart,” by Chinua Achebe, had a great impact on me.I developed a desire to see for myself this milieu that was clearly so different from my own.”

Omenuko by Pita Nwana, was published after winning an all-Africa literary contest in indigenous African languages organized by the International Institute of African Languages and Culture. Pita Nwana was the first Igbo to publish fiction in the Igbo language. The first edition was in the Protestant Orthography, but it was soon issued in the other orthographies.

This edition was translated by France W. Pritchett.

The present Igbo dictionary is a much revised and expanded version of the Igbo dictionary published by Kay Williamson, Ethiope Press, Benin City in 1972. Professor Williamson died in early January 2005, with it
still unpublished. The revision was prepared in the 1970s and 1980s and was typed camera-ready in a manuscript submitted to the same publishers in 1983. The publishers first delayed in responding and then
finally admitted they had lost the copy. So only a photocopy of the original typed version exists.

A.W Banfield, who lived among the Nupe Tribe, wrote this book in 1905 in order to give the people of America an insight of that part of the great West Coast of Africa, known as Nigeria, and especially Northern Nigeria, which is Great Britain’s latest Protectorate. He also hoped it would aid the missionaries who came down to West Africa to convert the natives.

Written by Stephen Felix. A handbook on love, this drama deals on love and what it requires.