This essay examines Heinrich Barth's account in light of contemporary debates on the production of anthropological knowledge, textual representations, and "culture" as an organizing concept in North American anthropology. It consists of two parts. The first reflects on Barth's ethnography in the context of the 19th century human sciences while the second considers his representations of a dynamic Africa and his production of anthropological knowledge in relation to recent critiques of ethnographic methods. The analysis presented here is based on the three-volume English Centenary edition of "Travels and Discoveries" published in 1965.