LibGuides: English: Archival materials (historical documents, newspaper and periodical archives)

Library

Primary sources by period

On this page you will find historical documents and newspaper/periodical archives organised by the following time periods:

Before 1550

Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Covers the fifteenth to early twentieth centuries and includes correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
This resource contains full colour images of the original medieval manuscripts that comprise these family letter collections along with full text searchable transcripts from the printed editions, where they are available. The original images and the transcriptions can be viewed side by side.
Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window This project provides an extensive collection of manuscript materials for the study of medieval travel writing in fact and in fantasy. The core of the material is a collection of medieval manuscripts from libraries around the world and dating from the 13th to the 16th centuries. The main focus is accounts of journeys to the Holy Land, India and China.
Royal College of Physicians, 1200-2000 (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digital Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Includes a wide range materials such as manuscripts, personal papers and reports dating from the founding of the College to the turn of the millennium. They are likely to be of interest to students and researchers in the medical humanities.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Viewed through a largely colonial lens and covering the period from 1490 onwards, there is extensive coverage of topics such as the African coast; the Middle Passage; the varieties of enslaved experience (urban, domestic, industrial, farm, ranch and plantation); spiritualism and religion; resistance and uprisings; the Underground Railroad; the abolition movement; legislation; education; the legacies of enslavement and enslavement in the twentieth century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.

A M Search This link opens in a new window
Access to millions of pages of primary source collections, spanning content from the 15th-21st centuries.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Spans five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, and decades-long search and rescue attempts in this multi-archive collection dedicated to the history of exploration.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
This resource brings together in a single place a rich collection of primary source documents about Latin America and the Caribbean; academic journals and news feeds covering the region; reference articles and commentary; maps and statistics; audio and video; and more.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Enables researchers to examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries, Second Edition This link opens in a new window
The experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters which span 300 years. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
Sources from The National Archives covering the period 1606 to 1822. Includes original correspondence of the colonial governments with the Board of Trade, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, together holding responsibility for the British possessions in mainland North America and the Caribbean.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
Materials from the UK Colonial Office from the 17th to 19th centuries. Includes relationships with indigenous inhabitants of the region, the establishment of colonies, including early legislation, correspondence requesting provisions and soldiers for defence, as well as arrangements for the building of fortifications. Material throughout the early eighteenth century often specifies dealings with and punishment of pirates and privateering within the region. Later material details the abolition of slavery and the political, administrative and social impacts of abolition in the Caribbean.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Covers the fifteenth to early twentieth centuries and includes correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Electronic Enlightenment This link opens in a new window
A wide-ranging online collection of edited correspondence of the early modern period, linking people across Europe, the Americas and Asia from the early 17th to the mid-19th century.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
Digitised correspondence, diaries, government papers, business records, land transactions, legal documents, speeches, books and pamphlets relating to European colonialist settlement in areas of the world such as the Americas, Africa and Australia.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of archival sources, covering newspapers, legal sources and historical documents from around the world.
History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
Records of treatments, education, and forms of remediation. Reports and proceedings of organisations and institutions that sought to help or heal those with disabilities. Experiences of institutional discrimination, political exclusion, and social control under which disabled individuals struggled.
India, Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
History of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947, through the diverse manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-1900 This link opens in a new window
Individual experiences and personal narratives of ordinary seamen, merchants, whalers and pirates through journals, memoirs, ships’ logs and court records.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive This link opens in a new window
An important resource for understanding the workings of the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright provisions and the history of bookbinding. This collection includes rare documents dating from 1554 to the 21st century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Royal College of Physicians, 1200-2000 (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digital Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Includes a wide range materials such as manuscripts, personal papers and reports dating from the founding of the College to the turn of the millennium. They are likely to be of interest to students and researchers in the medical humanities.
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Parts I and II (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digital Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Documents, maps, photographs, expedition reports, manuscript materials and books from the late 15th to late 20th centuries. Useful for a broad range of subjects including Colonial, Post-Colonial & Decolonisation Studies; Environmental Degradation; Historical & Cultural Geography; Gender & Ethnic Studies.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Viewed through a largely colonial lens and covering the period from 1490 onwards, there is extensive coverage of topics such as the African coast; the Middle Passage; the varieties of enslaved experience (urban, domestic, industrial, farm, ranch and plantation); spiritualism and religion; resistance and uprisings; the Underground Railroad; the abolition movement; legislation; education; the legacies of enslavement and enslavement in the twentieth century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Slavery And Anti-Slavery: a Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Concentrates on the 17th to the late 19th centuries. We have access to parts 1 and 2.

American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Includes digitized images of American magazines and journals published between 1740 and 1940. Titles include national and regional publications.
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Approximately 160 titles ranging in date from the 1730s to 1950s. The majority of titles are from Britain, though there is a growing number of Irish titles. This resource is notable as it covers regional news sources, and highlights local attitudes, cultures, and vernaculars. At present we have access to Parts 1-6.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Includes approximately 460 titles from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.
Burney Collection This link opens in a new window
A collection of newspapers and news pamphlets from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. English news media held by the British Library. Gathered by Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817), it includes material published primarily in London but also some regional English, Irish and Scottish papers, as well as some items from the British colonies in America, India, and the Caribbean.
Caribbean Newspapers, Series I: 1718-1876 This link opens in a new window
140 titles from 22 islands. This resource will be useful for researching colonial history, the Transatlantic trade in enslaved African people, international commerce and New World enslavement. Most of these newspapers were published in the English language, but a number of Spanish-, French-, and Danish-language titles are also provided.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
Periodicals published between 1685 and 1835. Topics include colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, the French and American revolutions, reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe, political debates, and London coffee house culture. The majority of the titles were published in Britain, though there is significant representation from other areas of the world including Canada, India, the Caribbean, Ireland and continental Europe.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Guardian/Observer Archive (1791-2003) This link opens in a new window
This archive contains digital images of the full text of the Guardian and Observer newspapers.
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
An archive of issues from 1785 to three years ago. No issues of The Times were printed between December 1978 and November 1979.

1800 to 1900

Historical archives
Newspapers and periodicals

A M Search This link opens in a new window
Access to millions of pages of primary source collections, spanning content from around the world from the 15th-21st centuries.
Africa and the New Imperialism: European Borders on the African Continent, 1870-1914 This link opens in a new window
European colonisation across the African continent in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century through the rare printed works, diaries and journals, correspondence, maps, photographs, and film footage.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Spans five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, and decades-long search and rescue attempts in this multi-archive collection dedicated to the history of exploration.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
This resource brings together in a single place a rich collection of primary source documents about Latin America and the Caribbean; academic journals and news feeds covering the region; reference articles and commentary; maps and statistics; audio and video; and more.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
This database enables researchers to examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries, Second Edition This link opens in a new window
This collection includes the immediate experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters which span 300 years. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
Colonial America This link opens in a new window
Sources from The National Archives covering the period 1606 to 1822. Includes original correspondence of the colonial governments with the Board of Trade, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, together holding responsibility for the British possessions in mainland North America and the Caribbean.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
Materials from the UK Colonial Office from the 17th to 19th centuries. Includes relationships with indigenous inhabitants of the region, the establishment of colonies, including early legislation, correspondence requesting provisions and soldiers for defence, as well as arrangements for the building of fortifications. Material throughout the early eighteenth century often specifies dealings with and punishment of pirates and privateering within the region. Later material details the abolition of slavery and the political, administrative and social impacts of abolition in the Caribbean.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Covers the fifteenth to early twentieth centuries and includes correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Electronic Enlightenment This link opens in a new window
A wide-ranging online collection of edited correspondence of the early modern period, linking people across Europe, the Americas and Asia from the early 17th to the mid-19th century.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Environmental History: Colonial Policy and Global Development, 1896–1993 This link opens in a new window
This collection consists of two parts:
Records from the UK Colonial Office and Foreign Office from 1896 to 1965 which cover the environmental impact of colonialism, including forestry; irrigation; soil surveys; tropical disease; agriculture; mining; industry; land use; conservation; trade; and commodities such as oil, cocoa, animal hides and skins, minerals, and timber.
Records from the Department of Technical Co-operation and successive Overseas Development bodies. Covers postcolonial aid and development, disaster response, urbanisation, energy and natural resources, international relationships, science and technology, climate, pollution, and international development programmes.
Everyday Life & Women in America This link opens in a new window
Thousands of images of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing a wide variety of nineteenth and early twentieth century issues. Prominent areas include conduct of life and domestic management literature, providing insights into the daily lives of women and men, as well as emphasising contrasts in regional, urban and rural cultures.
This collection is part of AM Search.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
Digitised correspondence, diaries, government papers, business records, land transactions, legal documents, speeches, books and pamphlets relating to European colonialist settlement in areas of the world such as the Americas, Africa and Australia.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of archival sources, covering newspapers, legal sources and historical documents from around the world.
Gender: Identity & Social Change This link opens in a new window
Documents representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present. Topics include women's suffrage, the feminist movement, the men’s movement, employment, education, the body, the family, and government and politics.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
Records of treatments, education, and forms of remediation. Reports and proceedings of organisations and institutions that sought to help or heal those with disabilities. Experiences of institutional discrimination, political exclusion, and social control under which disabled individuals struggled.
India, Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
History of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947, through the diverse manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-1900 This link opens in a new window
Individual experiences and personal narratives of ordinary seamen, merchants, whalers and pirates through journals, memoirs, ships’ logs and court records.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive This link opens in a new window
An important resource for understanding the workings of the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright provisions and the history of bookbinding. This collection includes rare documents dating from 1554 to the 21st century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
London Low Life This link opens in a new window
This collection covers various aspects of London life: working-class culture, street literature, popular music, urban topography, ‘slumming’, prostitution, the Contagious Diseases Act, the Temperance Movement, social reform, police and criminality.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Nineteenth Century Literary Society This link opens in a new window
Approximately 1,400 items from the archive of the historic John Murray publishing company. Primary source materials span the entirety of the long nineteenth century and document the golden era of the House of Murray from its inception in 1768.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Power to the People: Counterculture, Social Movements, and the Alternative Press, 19th-21st Century This link opens in a new window
Archives from several sources in the UK and USA documenting movements connected with social justice, grassroots politics and the counterculture from the nineteenth through to the twenty-first centuries.
Royal College of Physicians, 1200-2000 (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digital Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Includes a wide range materials such as manuscripts, personal papers and reports dating from the founding of the College to the turn of the millennium. They are likely to be of interest to students and researchers in the medical humanities.
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Parts I and II (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digital Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Documents, maps, photographs, expedition reports, manuscript materials and books from the late 15th to late 20th centuries. Useful for a broad range of subjects including Colonial, Post-Colonial & Decolonisation Studies; Environmental Degradation; Historical & Cultural Geography; Gender & Ethnic Studies.
Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century (Archives of Sexuality and Gender) This link opens in a new window
Provides access to primary sources collated by prominent sex researchers and sexologists, community activists, official organizations, social reformers, and individuals. Covers the period between the 19th and 21st centuries. Note: this resource contains some graphic and potentially distressing material.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Viewed through a largely colonial lens, there is extensive coverage of topics such as the African coast; the Middle Passage; the varieties of enslaved experience (urban, domestic, industrial, farm, ranch and plantation); spiritualism and religion; resistance and uprisings; the Underground Railroad; the abolition movement; legislation; education; the legacies of enslavement and enslavement in the twentieth century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Slavery And Anti-Slavery: a Transnational Archive This link opens in a new window
Concentrates on the 17th to the late 19th centuries. We have access to parts 1 and 2.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
Accounts by women of their travels across the globe from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. A wide variety of forms of travel writing are included, ranging from unique manuscripts, diaries and correspondence to drawings, guidebooks and photographs. Subjects covered including architecture; art; the British Empire; climate; customs; exploration; family life; housing; industry; language; monuments; mountains; natural history; politics and diplomacy; race; religion; science; shopping; war.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window
Victorian Popular Culture is a portal comprised of four modules, presenting the darkened halls, small backrooms, big tops and travelling venues that hosted everything from spectacular shows and bawdy burlesque, to the world of magic, spiritualist séances, optical entertainments and the first moving pictures.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.

African American Newspapers, Series 1 and 2 This link opens in a new window
Includes approximately 300 digitised newspapers from 1827 to 1998. Coverage spans life in the Antebellum South; the spread of abolitionism; growth of the Black church; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Jim Crow Era; the Great Migration to northern cities, the West and Midwest in search of greater opportunity; rise of the NAACP; the Harlem Renaissance; the civil rights movement; and political and economic empowerment.
African Newspapers: The British Library Collection This link opens in a new window
19th century titles from several countries, including Egypt, Djibouti, Malawi, Mauritius, Morocco, Saint Helena, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and South Africa. Topical coverage includes European exploration of Africa, colonial exploitation, economics, Atlantic trade, the mapping of the continent, early moves towards self-governance, the growth of South Africa and much more.
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Includes digitized images of American magazines and journals published between 1740 and 1940. Titles include national and regional publications.
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Approximately 160 titles ranging in date from the 1730s to 1950s. The majority of titles are from Britain, though there is a growing number of Irish titles. This resource is notable as it covers regional news sources, and highlights local attitudes, cultures, and vernaculars. At present we have access to Parts 1-6.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Includes approximately 460 titles from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.
Caribbean Newspapers, Series I: 1718-1876 This link opens in a new window
140 titles from 22 islands. This resource will be useful for researching colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, international commerce and New World slavery. Most of these newspapers were published in the English language, but a number of Spanish-, French-, and Danish-language titles are also provided.
Colonial Legacies: Empire & Commonwealth Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Approximately 30 periodicals on the history of the British Empire, decolonization, and the history and culture of former colonies, spanning the late 19th century onwards. The archive includes British publications about the empire and titles published in countries including Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea.
Country Life Archive, 1897-2005 This link opens in a new window
Covers the period from 1897 to 2005 and includes art, architecture, antiques, landscapes, stately homes and country pursuits such as shooting and hunting. UK focus.
Daily Mail Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Covers the period from 1896 to 2004.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
Periodicals published between 1685 and 1835. Topics include colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, the French and American revolutions, reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe, political debates, and London coffee house culture. The majority of the titles were published in Britain, though there is significant representation from other areas of the world including Canada, India, the Caribbean, Ireland and continental Europe.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Music, Radio and The Stage This link opens in a new window
Archives of 15 trade and popular magazines covering all aspects of the music industry, theatre and broadcast radio in the US and UK covering the period 1880-2000.
Financial Times Digital Archive 1888-2016 This link opens in a new window
Especially useful for studying economic and business history.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of archival sources, covering newspapers, legal sources and historical documents from around the world.
Guardian/Observer Archive (1791-2003) This link opens in a new window
This archive contains digital images of the full text of the Manchester Guardian/Guardian and Observer newspapers.
Harper's Bazaar Archive, The This link opens in a new window
Includes the US (1867 to the present) and UK (1930-2015) editions, and focuses on fashion, culture, and society.
Indigenous Newspapers in North America This link opens in a new window
Coverage includes reporting by and for indigenous communities through national periodicals, local community news and student publications, and spans 1828 to 2016. Bi-lingual and Indigenous-language editions are represented, such as Hawaiian, Cherokee and Navajo languages.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times This link opens in a new window
Coverage is from 1859 to 2020.
Leftist Newspapers and Periodicals This link opens in a new window
English-language publications spanning 1845 to 2015 covering Communist, Socialist and Marxist thought, theory and practice, primarily in the USA.
New York Times Archive This link opens in a new window
Coverage from 1851 until four years ago.
Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Includes titles with large circulation figures and less well-known titles published by African Americans, Native Americans, women's rights groups, labour groups, and the Confederacy.
ProQuest Black Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
A selected number of leading newspapers published by and for African American communities in major US cities. Coverage varies from title to title but the most up to date content is from 2010.
Punch Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Complete archive of this prominent satirical magazine. Coverage from 1841 to 1992.
The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2021 This link opens in a new window
Coverage up to 2016.
Telegraph Historical Archive (1855-2016) This link opens in a new window
Coverage from 1855 to 2000.
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
An archive of issues from 1785 to three years ago. No issues of The Times were printed between December 1978 and November 1979.
Times of India, 1838-2010 This link opens in a new window
Coverage is from 1838 to 2010.
Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
Issues of American Vogue from 1892 to the present. Focuses on fashion, culture and society.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
A selection of leading women's interest consumer magazines from the UK and USA. Coverage ranges from the 1840s to 2005 though time spans for individual titles vary.

1900 onwards

Historical archives
Newspapers and periodicals

1980s Culture and Society This link opens in a new window
Zines, newspapers, ephemera, oral histories, films and photographs from collections in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, and Canada. Includes diverse perspectives through materials produced by grassroots organizations and under-represented groups alongside government records and mainstream media to present the key social, cultural, and political concerns of the 1980s.
A M Search This link opens in a new window
Access to millions of pages of primary source collections, spanning content from the 15th-21st centuries.
Africa and the New Imperialism: European Borders on the African Continent, 1870-1914 This link opens in a new window
European colonisation across the African continent in the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century through the rare printed works, diaries and journals, correspondence, maps, photographs, and film footage.
Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
Spans five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes, and decades-long search and rescue attempts in this multi-archive collection dedicated to the history of exploration.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Amnesty International Archives: Human Rights This link opens in a new window
Documents, reports, ephemera and other materials covering the period from 1961 to 1991. Useful for researching key political events, global social change, human rights, state violence, political prisoners, minority rights.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
This resource brings together in a single place a rich collection of primary source documents about Latin America and the Caribbean; academic journals and news feeds covering the region; reference articles and commentary; maps and statistics; audio and video; and more.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
This database enables researchers to examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries, Second Edition This link opens in a new window
This collection includes the immediate experiences of approximately 500 women, as revealed in over 100,000 pages of diaries and letters which span 300 years. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
Decolonization: the politics of independence in former colonial territories digital archive This link opens in a new window
This database brings together material from within former British colonies and Commonwealth nations, alongside some from former French and Portuguese territories, to provide primary source material created for local audiences during a period of enormous global change.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Covers the fifteenth to early twentieth centuries and includes correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
Brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources including scholarly essays, maps and an interactive chronology.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Environmental History: Colonial Policy and Global Development, 1896–1993 This link opens in a new window
This collection consists of two parts:
Records from the UK Colonial Office and Foreign Office from 1896 to 1965 which cover the environmental impact of colonialism, including forestry; irrigation; soil surveys; tropical disease; agriculture; mining; industry; land use; conservation; trade; and commodities such as oil, cocoa, animal hides and skins, minerals, and timber.
Records from the Department of Technical Co-operation and successive Overseas Development bodies. Covers postcolonial aid and development, disaster response, urbanisation, energy and natural resources, international relationships, science and technology, climate, pollution, and international development programmes.
Everyday Life & Women in America This link opens in a new window
Thousands of images of monographs, pamphlets, periodicals and broadsides addressing a wide variety of nineteenth and early twentieth century issues. Prominent areas include conduct of life and domestic management literature, providing insights into the daily lives of women and men, as well as emphasising contrasts in regional, urban and rural cultures.
This collection is part of AM Search.
First World War, The This link opens in a new window
Documents, art works and photographs of artefacts from museums and libraries in the UK, USA, Germany and Belgium. Coverage includes personal narratives, propaganda materials and visual resources with an emphasis on the global nature of the conflict.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement & Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
Digitised correspondence, diaries, government papers, business records, land transactions, legal documents, speeches, books and pamphlets relating to European colonialist settlement in areas of the world such as the Americas, Africa and Australia.
This resource is part of AM Search.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of archival sources, covering newspapers, legal sources and historical documents from around the world.
Gender: Identity & Social Change This link opens in a new window
Documents representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present. Topics include women's suffrage, the feminist movement, the men’s movement, employment, education, the body, the family, and government and politics.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
India, Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
History of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947, through the diverse manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Life at Sea: Seafaring in the Anglo-American Maritime World, 1600-1900 This link opens in a new window
Individual experiences and personal narratives of ordinary seamen, merchants, whalers and pirates through journals, memoirs, ships’ logs and court records.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Literary Print Culture: The Stationers' Company Archive This link opens in a new window
An important resource for understanding the workings of the early book trade, the printing and publishing community, the establishment of legal requirements for copyright provisions and the history of bookbinding. This collection includes rare documents dating from 1554 to the 21st century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Mass Observation Online (1937-1967) This link opens in a new window
Mass Observation Online makes available personal diaries, surveys, and other materials to provide records of public opinion and reactions to events and trends from 1937 to 1967. Has the potential to provide useful contextual information for literary study and research.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Mass Observation Project (1981-2009) This link opens in a new window
The Mass Observation Project makes available personal diaries, surveys, and other materials to provide records of public opinion and reactions to events and trends from the 1980s to 2009. It includes topics such as the Falklands War, clothing, attitudes to the USA, reading and television habits, morality and religion, and Britain's relations with Europe. Has the potential to provide useful contextual information for literary study and research.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Political Extremism and Radicalism, Part 1: Far-Right and Left Political Groups in the U.S., Europe, and Australia in the Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
Covers mainly the USA and the UK with smaller collections from continental Europe and Australia. The focus of the collection is on anti-Catholic, anti-Semitic, anti-war, communist or socialist, creationist, environmentalist, hate, holocaust denial, new left, survivalist, white supremacist, and white nationalist publications and ephemera from the early 20th century to 2010.

Note: this collection contains material which is offensive and may distress some readers.
Royal College of Physicians, 1200-2000 (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digital Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Includes a wide range materials such as manuscripts, personal papers and reports dating from the founding of the College to the turn of the millennium. They are likely to be of interest to students and researchers in the medical humanities.
Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), Parts I and II (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digial Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.

Documents, maps, photographs, expedition reports, manuscript materials and books from the late 15th to late 20th centuries. Useful for a broad range of subjects including Colonial, Post-Colonial & Decolonisation Studies; Environmental Degradation; Historical & Cultural Geography; Gender & Ethnic Studies.
Sex & Sexuality This link opens in a new window
Provides access to primary sources collated by prominent sex researchers and sexologists, community activists, official organizations, social reformers, and individuals. Covers the period between the 19th and 21st centuries. Note: this resource contains some graphic and potentially distressing material.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century (Archives of Sexuality and Gender) This link opens in a new window
Made up of more than five thousand rare and unique books covering sex, sexuality, and gender issues across the sciences and humanities and throughout history.
The Sixties: Primary Documents and Personal Narratives, 1960-1974 This link opens in a new window
Diaries, letters, autobiographies and other memoirs, written and oral histories, manifestos, government documents, memorabilia, and scholarly commentary from the USA during the 160s and first half of the 1970s.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Viewed through a largely colonial lens, there is extensive coverage of topics such as the African coast; the Middle Passage; the varieties of enslaved experience (urban, domestic, industrial, farm, ranch and plantation); spiritualism and religion; resistance and uprisings; the Underground Railroad; the abolition movement; legislation; education; the legacies of enslavement and enslavement in the twentieth century.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Struggles for Freedom: Southern Africa This link opens in a new window
This collection focuses on Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe, and covers colonial rule, dispersion of exiles, international intervention, and the worldwide networks that supported successive generations of resistance in these countries.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
Accounts by women of their travels across the globe from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. A wide variety of forms of travel writing are included, ranging from unique manuscripts, diaries and correspondence to drawings, guidebooks and photographs. Subjects covered including architecture; art; the British Empire; climate; customs; exploration; family life; housing; industry; language; monuments; mountains; natural history; politics and diplomacy; race; religion; science; shopping; war.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Women in The National Archives This link opens in a new window
Original documents cover the campaign for women's suffrage in Britain, 1903-1928 and the granting of women's suffrage in colonial territories, 1930-1962.

African American Newspapers, Series 1 and 2 This link opens in a new window
Includes approximately 300 digitised newspapers from 1827 to 1998. Coverage spans life in the Antebellum South; the spread of abolitionism; growth of the Black church; the Emancipation Proclamation; the Jim Crow Era; the Great Migration to northern cities, the West and Midwest in search of greater opportunity; rise of the NAACP; the Harlem Renaissance; the civil rights movement; and political and economic empowerment.
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Includes digitized images of American magazines and journals published between 1740 and 1940. Titles include national and regional publications.
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Approximately 160 titles ranging in date from the 1730s to 1950s. The majority of titles are from Britain, though there is a growing number of Irish titles. This resource is notable as it covers regional news sources, and highlights local attitudes, cultures, and vernaculars. At present we have access to Parts 1-6.
This resource is part of Gale Primary Sources.
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Includes approximately 460 titles from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth centuries. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.
Colonial Legacies: Empire & Commonwealth Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Approximately 30 periodicals on the history of the British Empire, decolonization, and the history and culture of former colonies, spanning the late 19th century onwards. The archive includes British publications about the empire and titles published in countries including Australia, New Zealand, India, Canada, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea.
Country Life Archive, 1897-2005 This link opens in a new window
Covers the period from 1897 to 2005 and includes art, architecture, antiques, landscapes, stately homes and country pursuits such as shooting and hunting. UK focus.
Daily Mail Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Coverage from 1896 to 2004.
History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
Records of treatments, education, and forms of remediation. Reports and proceedings of organisations and institutions that sought to help or heal those with disabilities. Experiences of institutional discrimination, political exclusion, and social control under which disabled individuals struggled.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive Cinema, Film and Television (1&2) This link opens in a new window
Archives of 22 influential trade and consumer magazines published in the UK and USA between 1905 and 2015.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive Rock, Folk and Hip-Hop This link opens in a new window
Includes the backfiles of magazines published between 1959 and 2020.
Entertainment Industry Magazine Music, Radio and The Stage This link opens in a new window
Music, Radio and the Stage includes 15 trade and popular magazines covering all aspects of the music industry, theatre and broadcast radio in the US and UK covering the period 1880-2000.
Entertainment Magazine Archive Video Gaming This link opens in a new window
Backfiles of more than 40 gaming magazines from the 1980s through to 2020. These titles cover a wide variety of consoles / platforms and aspects of the industry.
Financial Times Digital Archive 1888-2016 This link opens in a new window
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
A vast collection of archival sources, covering newspapers, legal sources and historical documents from around the world.
Guardian/Observer Archive (1791-2003) This link opens in a new window
This archive contains digital images of the full text of the Guardian and Observer newspapers.
Harper's Bazaar Archive, The This link opens in a new window
Includes the US (1867 to the present) and UK (1930-2015) editions, and focuses on fashion, culture, and society.
History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century This link opens in a new window
Records of treatments, education, and forms of remediation. Reports and proceedings of organisations and institutions that sought to help or heal those with disabilities. Experiences of institutional discrimination, political exclusion, and social control under which disabled individuals struggled.
Independent Historical Archive: 1986-2016 This link opens in a new window
Includes every issue of the centrist UK broadsheet The Independent and The Independent on Sunday from 1986 to 2016.
Independent Voices This link opens in a new window
An open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals from the USA. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native American communities, Chicano communities, anti-war activists, Black Power advocates, Hispanics, LGBT activists, the extreme right-wing press and alternative literary magazines during the latter half of the 20th century.
Indigenous Newspapers in North America This link opens in a new window
Coverage includes reporting by and for indigenous communities through national periodicals, local community news and student publications, and spans 1828 to 2016. Bi-lingual and Indigenous-language editions are represented, such as Hawaiian, Cherokee and Navajo languages.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times This link opens in a new window
Coverage is from 1859 to 2020.
Leftist Newspapers and Periodicals This link opens in a new window
English-language publications spanning 1845 to 2015 covering Communist, Socialist and Marxist thought, theory and practice, primarily in the USA.
Lexis+ This link opens in a new window
Coverage of up to date national and regional news sources in the UK.
LGBT Magazine Archive Collection One This link opens in a new window
Influential periodicals published by and for LGBTQ+ communities. Coverage is from the UK and USA and spans from the 1950s to 2015. Will be of particular interest to researchers working in gender/sexuality studies and related disciplines such as sociology, political science, psychology and arts and humanities.
LGBT Magazine Archive Collection Two This link opens in a new window
Archival runs of many of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. Includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles – The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. Chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community. In addition to LGBT/gender/sexuality studies, this material also serves related disciplines such as sociology, political science, psychology, health, and the arts. Some publications may contain explicit content.
Listener Archive, the 1929-1991 This link opens in a new window
A weekly magazine established by the BBC, with contributions and works by prominent literary figures.
Mirror Historical Archive, 1903-2000 This link opens in a new window

New Welsh Reader
Creative work from Wales and beyond, including poetry, short stories, essays, creative nonfiction, photography, illustration and pieces on the author process.

NB: access is not automatic. After clicking the link to the magazine, select 'Log in' then from the options above the login box, choose 'via institution'.

New York Times Archive This link opens in a new window
Coverage from 1851 to four years ago
Picture Post Historical Archive,1938-1957 This link opens in a new window
Photojournalism focusing on British life between 1938 and 1957.

Poetry London
Digital archive of the leading poetry magazine from its inception in the 1980s to the current issue.

ProQuest Black Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
A selected number of leading newspapers published by and for African American communities in major US cities. Coverage varies from title to title but the most up to date content is from 2010.
Punch Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Complete archive of this prominent satirical magazine. Coverage from 1841 to 1992.
Rand Daily Mail, 1902-1985 This link opens in a new window
Published daily in Johannesburg. This is the complete archive of a title which openly opposed apartheid was shut down by the South African authorities.
Rolling Stone Archive This link opens in a new window
Covers the period 1967 to the present and specialises in music, film and popular culture.
The Sunday Times Historical Archive, 1822-2021 This link opens in a new window
Telegraph Historical Archive (1855-2016) This link opens in a new window
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
The Times Digital Archive includes digital images of every issue from its launch in 1785. The last three years of issues are not included in this archive.
Times Literary Supplement (TLS) Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
Leading publication focusing on reviews of books, films and music, and essays. Coverage includes the earliest issue from 1902 to 2014.
Times Literary Supplement (TLS) [2010 onwards] This link opens in a new window
Leading publication focusing on reviews of books, films and music, and essays. Coverage ranges from 2010 to the present.
Times of India, 1838-2010 This link opens in a new window
Vogue Archive This link opens in a new window
Issues of American Vogue from 1892 to the present. Focuses on fashion, culture and society.
Women's Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
An archival research resource comprising the backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period.
Youth and Popular Culture Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
A selection of periodicals published in Canada, the UK and USA from 1940 to the present. Timespans of individual titles vary. Subjects include fashion, sexuality, music, sport and portrayals of youth in the media.