Foreword by Beverly Gray, Chief, African & Middle Eastern Division
Introduction and text by Joanne M. Zellers, African Area Specialist

• Foreword
• Introduction
• Overview
• Creative Expression, Culture and Society
• African Peoples' Encounters with Others
• Contemporary African States
• A Note to Researchers
• List of Sub-Saharan African Countries
• Selected Library of Congresss Publications on Africa
• Selected Writings About the Africana Collections
• Acknowledgments

Pictured on the Right: Purchased in Bangui, Central African Republic, in 1981, this example of an art form popular in West and Central Africa is designed in a geometric pattern. Butterfly wings in an abundant variety of colors are gathered by local artists who also fashion from them images of people, animals, or domestic rural scenes.
(African and Middle Eastern Division)