Charles Gabriel Seligman (1873-1940) was a British ethnographer who conducted field research in New Guinea, Sarawak, Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka), and Sudan. Trained as a medical doctor, in 1898 he joined an expedition organized by Cambridge University to the Torres Strait, the body of water that separates the island of New Guinea from Australia. The purpose of the expedition was to document the cultures of the Torres Strait islanders, which were rapidly disappearing under the influence of colonization. In 1904, Seligman was one of three members of the Cooke Daniels Ethnographic Expedition to British New Guinea, funded by Denver, Colorado department store owner William Cooke Daniels. The Melanesians of British New Guinea contains a detailed record of much of Seligman's anthropological research conducted during the expedition. Seligman's findings demonstrated the striking physical and cultural differences between the western Papuans and his main preoccupation, their eastern neighbors, who had been more influenced by Melanesian immigration. The book established Seligman's reputation as an anthropologist, and remains an important source for the study of the traditional culture of the peoples of present-day Papua New Guinea. The book includes photographs, drawings, maps, and a glossary of indigenous terms.

The Mafulu: Mountain People of British New Guinea by Robert Wood Williamson is about Williamson's experience of the native tribes living in New Guinea. Contents: "CHAPTER I Introductory CHAPTER II Physique and Character CHAPTER III Dress and Ornament CHAPTER IV Daily Life and Matters Connected with It CHAPTER V Community, Clan, and Village Systems and Chieftainship CHAPTER VI Villages, Emone, Houses and Modes of Inter-Village Communication CHAPTER VII Government, Property and Inheritance CHAPTER VIII The Big Feast."

The British Museums uniquely important Melanesian collection is pre-eminent among early collections, and the 20,000 items it comprises are core to understanding the cultures of the western Pacific.