Walker Library: *English Language & Literature: Primary Sources

Digital Collections & Historical Documents

American Periodicals Series This link opens in a new window
Indexing and page images of magazines and newspapers, 1740 and 1900.
Includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from colonial days to the dawn of the 20th century.
The journals in this collection cover three broad periods:
• 89 journals published between 1740 and 1800 offer insights into America's transition from colonial times to independence.
• The first 60 years of the 19th century became the golden age of American periodicals, with general interest magazines, children's publications, and more than 20 journals for women.
• 118 periodicals published during the Civil War (1861-1865) and Reconstruction (1865-1877) eras reflect the nation in turmoil and growth, and titles from the 1880s through 1900 capture the settling of the West and the emergence of modern America.
Ben Jonson Online (Cambridge Edition) This link opens in a new window
Fully searchable online version of the Cambridge Edition of the Works of Ben Jonson.
Contains contextual and critical material not present in the print edition, including analytical essays, documentary records, music sources, a performance archive and an interactive timeline.
British Literary Manuscripts Online: Medieval and Renaissance This link opens in a new window
British manuscripts dating from roughly 1120 to 1660, including letters, poems, stories, plays, chronicles, religious writings, etc.
ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online) This link opens in a new window
A large digital collection of full-text searchable 18th century books.
EEBO (Early English Books Online) This link opens in a new window
Page images of almost every work printed in the British Isles and North America as well as works in English printed elsewhere from 1470-1700.
Content includes digitized images of all the works listed in these key bibliographic records of English literature: The Short-Title Catalogue (Pollard & Redgrave, 1475-1640); The Short-Title Catalogue II (Wing, 1641-1700); The Thomason Tracts; and the Early English Books Tract Supplements, as well as original almanacs, pamphlets, musical scores, prayer books and other intriguing primary sources. See ProQuest's EEBO LibGuide for more content details and a user guide.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
Rare journals printed between c1685 and 1835.
Content details
Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800 with AAS and LCP Supplements This link opens in a new window
Digital collection of books, pamphlets, and broadsides printed in America, 1639-1800. Includes Series I: Supplement from American Antiquarian Society, 1652-1800 and Series I: Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia, 1670-1800
More about Evans, the AAS Supplement, and the Library Company of Philadelphia supplement.
Literary Manuscripts - The Leeds Collection This link opens in a new window
Complete images of 190 manuscripts of 17th and 18th century verse held in the Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds.
The manuscripts range from contemporary copies of poems by writers like Colvil, Dryden, Fairfax and Pope to popular tags and epitaphs. Many of the manuscripts are miscellanies and commonplace books which have never previously been indexed. One example is Lady Hester Pulter's Poems breathed forth by the nobel Hadassas - a collection of poetry, c.1645-1665, comprising a single volume and several loose sheets, predominantly in a scribal hand with insertions and revisions in two other hands, one perhaps autograph. It also includes part of a novel, The Unfortunate Florinda. Another example is a poetical commonplace book, in several hands, c.1740-1804, partly compiled by Eliza Marriott.

Particularly noteworthy for illustrations are Lt 50, William Tipping’s collection of religious poetry and accompanying pasted woodcuts; Lt 76, Translations from Ovid’s Metamorphoses; and Lt 68, Patrick Carey’s love poetry Ballades dedicated to the Lady Victoria
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
Collection of manuscripts on European travel writing, 13th to 16th centuries.
North American Women's Letters & Diaries This link opens in a new window
Diaries and letters of American women, 17th to 20th centuries. Some page images and some transcribed text.
Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window
Resource for the study of popular entertainment in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Four sections:
* Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema
* Music Hall, Theatre and Popular Entertainment
* Circuses, Sideshows and Freaks
* Spiritualism, Sensation and Magic
See Nature and Scope for more information.

Historical Newspaper Databases

Newspapers.com Library Edition This link opens in a new window
Access to 4,000+ historical newspapers dating from the early 1700s into the 2000s. Contains full runs and portions of runs of well-known, regional and state titles to small local newspapers in the United States and other countries.
Watch a short video on using Newspapers.com
Newspapers.com LibGuide (support and training)
Title List (World Collection(Excel)
Title List (Southeast Collection(Excel)
Eight Centuries (formerly 19th Century Masterfile) This link opens in a new window
Database covering Anglo-American primary source material dating from 1106 until 1960, aggregating indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids. Provides access to articles, newspapers, books, U.S. patents, government documents, and images, with links to full-text where available.
8C includes Poole's Index to Periodical Literature; Niles' Register; American Memory; links to images in ArtSTOR; plus many more. See full content list (click on Resource Descriptions)

Accessible Archives
Accessible Archives makes available vast quantities of archived historical information, previously furnished only in microformat, hard copy form or as images only.

African American Newspapers (History Commons) This link opens in a new window
19th century African American newspapers in full-text searchable form with page images.
Select Titles in Collection:
The Bee
The Christian Recorder
The Colored American/Weekly Advocate
Frederick Douglass' Paper
Freedom's Journal
The Langston City Herald
The Louisianan
The Nashville Globe
The National Era
The North Star
Provincial Freeman
The Semi-Weekly Louisianian
The Tulsa Star
...and more

Afro-American newspaper archives
This collection of historic African-American newspapers will be expanded over time. Coverage is primarily 20th century.
Center for Research Libraries
The Center for Research Libraries (CRL) has extensive runs of newspapers from around the world many of which cannot be located elsewhere in the US. They are great about allowing people to borrow long runs of a paper on microfilm for extended periods of time. Place requests through Interlibrary Loan.
Chronicling America
View content from historic newspapers pages from 1777-1963 or use the U.S. Newspaper Directory to find information about American newspapers published between 1690-present.
Google Newspaper Archive
Digital scans of historical newspapers from around the world.

Historical Atlanta Constitution This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of The Atlanta Constitution newspaper, 1868-1984.
Historical Chicago Defender This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of the Chicago Defender newspaper, 1900-1975.
Historical Commercial Appeal (Memphis) This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of the Commercial Appeal newspaper, 1847-present, with page level scans and downloadable PDFs.
Historical Knoxville News Sentinel This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of the Knoxville Sentinel Newspaper, 1887 to present, with page level scans and downloadable PDFs.
Historical Nashville Tennessean This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of The Nashville Tennessean newspaper, 1812-2002.
Historical New York Amsterdam News This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of the New York Amsterdam News, 1922-1993.
Historical New York Times This link opens in a new window
Full text digital archive of The New York Times, 1851-2018
Historical Norfolk Journal and Guide This link opens in a new window
Fulltext access to the Norfolk Journal and Guide newspaper, 1921-2003. This historical newspaper provides genealogists, researchers and scholars with online, easily-searchable first-hand accounts and unparalleled coverage of the politics, society and events of the time.
Historical Wall Street Journal This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of The Wall Street Journal newspaper, 1889-2004
Historical Washington Post This link opens in a new window
Fulltext digital archive of the Washington Post newspaper, 1877-2004.
Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 This link opens in a new window
Cover-to-cover, full-color online archive includes every issue published.

Life Magazine
Digital version of all issues of LIFE magazine from 1935-1970. An invaluable resource for studying American culture during this time period.

ProQuest News & Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Search several historical newspapers at once, including The Nashville Tennessean, The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, along with current papers from the Southeastern U.S.
Includes:
The Atlanta Constitution (historical)
Chicago Defender (historical)
Nashville Tennessean (historical and current)
New York Amsterdam News (historical)
New York Times (historical)
Norfolk Journal and Guide (historical)
The Wall Street Journal (historical)
The Washington Post (historical)
U.S. Southeast Newsstream (300 current titles)
Ethnic NewsWatch (39 historical titles)
Times (London) Digital Archive, 1785-2010 This link opens in a new window
Every complete page of every issue in full-text searchable format.
Sunday Times (London) Digital Archive, 1822-2006 This link opens in a new window
More than 600,000 full-text searchable pages, including all supplements.
*Despite the similarity of names, The Sunday Times was an entirely separate paper from The Times until 1966, when both papers came under common ownership. To this day, The Sunday Times remains editorially independent from The Times, with its own remit and perspective on the news.
Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive, 1902-2019 This link opens in a new window
Complete online facsimile edition of every issue through 2019.

Images

Artstor This link opens in a new window
Digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and science. Please note this warning for users who have a photosensitive seizure disorder.
Warning:
Content that flashes at certain frequencies can trigger seizures in individuals who have photosensitive seizure disorders. A small number of videos on Artstor display flashing at higher than recommended frequencies for viewers with such disorders. Artstor is currently exploring remediation. To avoid seizure, users with photosensitivity should contact Artstor support for more information prior to viewing videos.

The ARTstor Digital Library is a nonprofit resource that provides over 2.5 million digital images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and sciences with an accessible suite of software tools for teaching and research.

What is a primary source?

"A primary source provides direct evidence or firsthand testimony concerning the period or subject under investigation... Examples [for the humanities] include:

Diaries, letters, speeches, interviews, manuscripts
Memoirs and autobiographies
Records of organizations and government agencies
Journal and newspaper articles written at the time
Photographs, audio recordings, video recordings
Public opinion polls conducted at the time"

Taken from the Boston University Libraries guide to primary sources

Barnum & Bailey Poster -- 1916

The Barnum & Bailey Greatest Show on Earth... Bears that Dance. (1916?)

Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window
Four sections:
* Moving Pictures, Optical Entertainments and the Advent of Cinema
* Music Hall, Theatre and Popular Entertainment
* Circuses, Sideshows and Freaks
* Spiritualism, Sensation and Magic
See Nature and Scope for more information.

About Us

*English Language & Literature: Primary Sources

Digital Collections & Historical Documents

Historical Newspaper Databases

Images

What is a primary source?

Barnum & Bailey Poster -- 1916