Primary Sources for British & European History
Primary Sources for British & European History
Advice on Primary Source Research
General Digital Collections
Government, Legal, Church and Regal Sources
Historical Newspapers, Magazines and Other Periodical Publications
General Digital Collections
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Allied Propaganda in World War II and and the British Political Warfare ExecutiveFiles of the Political Warfare Executive (PWE) from the U.K. National Archives, along with the secret minutes of the special 1944 War Cabinet Committee "Breaking the German Will to Resist." Included here is all the correspondence, minutes and agents’ mission files along with a complete collection of all the airborne propaganda leaflets dropped over mainland Europe during the war by the British and American air forces. Includes leaflets, single sheets and miniature books.
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Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new windowAccess to all the Gale Primary Source Collections.
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British National ArchivesAccess to a wide range of British documents; includes finding aids for print and microfilm collections, as well as digital documents. To search for only digital items, limit to DocumentsOnline. To view digital items, add them to your "shopping cart" then download. Includes free and pay-per-view content.
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Defining Gender (1450-1910)This collection of original source material from British and European archives will enrich the teaching and research experience of those studying history, literature, sociology, education and cultural studies from a gendered perspective.
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Early English Books OnlineContains digital facsimile page images of works printed in English from 1470-1700. Includes the ages of Spenser, Shakespeare and of the English Civil War.
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Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Access to over 180,000 digitized books, pamphlets, and broadsides from 1701–1800, with over 32 million searchable pages. It is based on the English Short-title Catalogue (ESTC) of works from Britain, Ireland, the U.S., and British colonies.
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Empire Online
Primary source material focusing on colonial history, politics, culture and society, spanning 5 centuries of the rise and fall of empires around the world. Includes maps, manuscripts, pamphlets, paintings, drawings, and rare books.
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English Historical DocumentsContains expertly indexed and fully searchable primary documents from 500-1914. This is a perpetual package with unlimited simultaneous user access.
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EuroDocsTranscriptions, facsimiles and translations of primary documents from across Europe, covering history from the ancient to modern periods.
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German History in Documents and ImagesComprehensive collection of primary source materials documenting Germany's political, social, and cultural history from 1500-2000. Original German texts are accompanied by new English translations.
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Internet ArchiveA very large collection of historical documents from many eras; includes many early modern texts.
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Internet History SourcebooksPrimary sources covering the ancient, medieval history and modern periods. Includes Reformation and Renaissance texts. Hosted by Fordham University.
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Nineteenth Century Collections OnlineAccess to a curated list of primary sources from the 19th century, including monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other kinds of documents in both Western and non-Western languages.
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Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational ArchiveSlavery and Anti-Slavery contains books, pamphlets, newspaper and periodical titles, and major manuscript collections that explore the inner workings of slavery from 1492-1888.
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Witchcraft in Europe and AmericaA comprehensive collection that offers a broad range of documents, dated between 1500 and 1930. Included are many rare and fragile manuscripts containing eyewitness accounts and court records of the trials of witches. Documents are primarily in Latin, English, and German.
Government, Legal, Church & Regal Sources
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British Cabinet PapersBritish government documents, including papers, memos, minutes and reports covering all major British government decisions from 1915-1980. Topics covered include the Empire, decolonisation and the development of the Commonwealth; diplomacy, foreign policy and British involvement in the world wars.
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British Hansard 1803-2005The Official Report of debates in British Parliament, from the House of Commons and the House of Lords.
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British History OnlineA digital collection of some of the key primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles. Includes parliamentary documents, royal papers, church documents, amongst other things. Includes some pay-per-view content.
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CommonLiiA collection of legal documents from around the Commonwealth, include legal decisions as far back as 1220 CE.
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Connected HistoriesMajor British historical resources for the period 1500-1900. Includes Parliamentary, government, church/ecclesiastical and local records, British Museum images, history of science, and more.
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Proceedings of the Old Bailey 1674-1913Collection of criminal court proceedings of London's Old Bailey from 1674 to 1913, and of the Ordinary of Newgate's Accounts between 1676 and 1772. Includes trials & biographical details of men and women executed at Tyburn.
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Sadler ReportMore formally known as the 'Report from the Committee on the "Bill to regulate the labour of children in the mills and factories of the United Kingdom." Available via the HathiTrust.
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State Papers Online: 1509-1782
British state papers starting with Henry VIII's accession in 1509 through to the reign of George III. MRU access includes:
- Part I: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Domestic
- Part II: The Tudors, 1509-1603: State Papers Foreign, Scotland, Borders, Ireland and Registers of the Privy Council
- Part III: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Domestic
- Part IV: The Stuarts and Commonwealth, James I - Anne I, 1603-1714: State Papers Foreign, Ireland
- Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782, Part I: State Papers Domestic, Military, Naval and Registers of the Privy Council
- Eighteenth Century, 1714-1782, Part II: State Papers Foreign, Low Countries and Germany
Historical Newspapers, Magazines and Other Media
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19th Century British PamphletsPamphlets were an important means of public debate in British history and addressed important social, technological, political and environmental issues. This collection holds 26 000 significant 19th century pamphlets.
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British Caricature and SatireCollection of 184 British satirical prints dating from the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries.
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British Library Newspapers1732-1950. Content ranging from early tabloids to radical papers covering more than 160 newspaper titles from the eighteenth and nineteenth century. Publications span a vast range of national, regional, and local interests.
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Daily Mail Digital Archive1896-2004. Includes more than one hundred years of this major UK national newspaper, viewable in full digital facsimile form, includes advertisements, news stories, and images that capture twentieth-century culture and society.
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Economist Historical ArchiveEvery issue of The Economist from 1843 to 2013. The archive features full-colour images and browsability for each and every issue.
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Financial Times Historical Archive1888-2010. 1888-2010. Financial Times began as a City of London news sheet, covering international financial, economic and industry events from the late nineteenth and entire twentieth centuries to today.
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Illustrated London News Historical Archive (1842-2003)The Archive includes every published issue, from the first in 1842 to the last in 2003.
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Internet Library of Early JournalsIncludes Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Notes & Queries and Gentleman's Magazine, journals which included literary works and commentary/reviews.
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Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of LondonDating back to the 17th century, this is one of the world's oldest English-language scientific journals still in publication. Open access (free of charge) for issues from 1665 - 70 years ago.
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Punch Historical Archive (1841-1992) This link opens in a new windowPunch was a well known magazine of British wit and satire linked to campaigns for social justice and to British identity.
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Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals This link opens in a new windowA digital archive of 19th century periodicals covering topics such as politics, rural life, children's literature, leisure and humour.
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Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers CollectionA collection of early English newspapers, newsbooks, Acts of Parliament, addresses, pamphlets, and proclamations from London, British Isles, and colonies.
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Times Digital Archive: 1785-2014
An online, full-text facsimile of every complete page of every issue of The Times over a span of 200 years, from 1785 to 2014.
Alice Swabey
Contact:
Drop-in help Mondays 12-2 at the Library Service Desk. Appointments available via Google Meet or in-person. Email help is also available.
Email: aswabey@mtroyal.ca
Email: aswabey@mtroyal.ca