Primary sources include works of literature, newspaper archives, images, and films. Reference materials include dictionaries and encyclopedias.
You have access to a wide range of digital sources, and also printed materials in the main collections and our Special Collections.
Digital primary sources
Rare and hard-to-access printed sources, tracing the history of printing in Europe.
Over 180,000 titles published during the 18th Century, including critical information in history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, and science.
Latin American Drama contains plays written by Latin American playwrights in the 19th-21st centuries. Besides serving as a rich resource for literature scholars, the collection also supports the study of American history, ethnic diversity, immigrations issues, and political history.
An excellent resource for literary study and research, including references to scholarly books, theses, journals and other critical materials, and approximately 500,000 literary works from around the globe. Highly recommended for in depth research.
Note: ProQuest One Literature incorporates Literature Online (LION)
You have access to a wide range of online newspapers. A very handy overview of our newspaper content provides access to individual resources. See the list below for details of selected titles.
Created in cooperation with the American Antiquarian Society, this collection provides students and scholars with access to more than 150 years of Caribbean and Atlantic history, cultures and daily life. Featuring more than 140 newspapers from 22 islands. Most of these newspapers were published in the English language, but a number of Spanish-, French-, and Danish-language titles are also provided.
Database from Dow Jones which includes industry data drawn from international news sources. Includes full-text access to news sources such as Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
Company snapshot section includes latest news, key developments such M&A/ownership changes and new products, peer comparison, financial reports for public companies.
Industry snapshot section includes approximately 30 industries globally and provides targeted news, reports, charts, analysis and financial data.
Independent Voices is an open access digital collection of alternative press newspapers, magazines and journals, drawn from the special collections of participating libraries. These periodicals were produced by feminists, dissident GIs, campus radicals, Native Americans, 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.
Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world's most popular newspapers & magazines. Please send any feedback to: Subject-Librarians@bristol.ac.uk
The TLS Historical Archive contains authoritative, expert reviews of books, films and music. Coverage includes the earliest issue from 1902 to 2014.
The TLS Historical Archive contains authoritative, expert reviews of books, films and music. Coverage includes the earliest issue from 1902 to 2014.
This resource provides recent content of the TLS (2010 onwards).
This resource provides recent content of the TLS (2010 onwards).
These resources are excellent for finding authoritative definitions of words and prhrases, and for researching the lives and contexts of writers and historical figures.
High quality bilingual dictionaries in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
High quality bilingual dictionaries in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Provides definitions of words in English and the development of their use.
Provides definitions of words in English and the development of their use.
Via these resources you have access to millions of freeview TV and radio programmes, newsreels and screened performances of threatrical works.
Film adaptations of classic and contemporary plays.
Film adaptations of classic and contemporary plays.
Enables staff and students to record and watch freeview broadcasts, create clips from new and archived TV and radio broadcasts, and embed them into Blackboard/ presentations. Please note: it can only be accessed in the UK. It is each user’s responsibility to ensure that the materials made available are used strictly within the terms and conditions of the licence.
Enables staff and students to record and watch freeview broadcasts, create clips from new and archived TV and radio broadcasts, and embed them into Blackboard/ presentations. Please note: it can only be accessed in the UK. It is each user’s responsibility to ensure that the materials made available are used strictly within the terms and conditions of the licence.
Movies, documentaries, foreign films, classic cinema, independent films and educational videos.
Movies, documentaries, foreign films, classic cinema, independent films and educational videos.
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
This collection of films from the communist world reveals war, history, current affairs, culture and society as seen through the socialist lens. It spans most of the twentieth century and covers countries such as the USSR, Vietnam, China, Korea, much of Eastern Europe, the GDR, Britain and Cuba.
These resources provide access to images of artworks, architecture, sculpture and related art forms.
Primary source database for works of art
Primary source database for works of art
A portfolio of visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in teaching, learning and research in the UK.
A portfolio of visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in teaching, learning and research in the UK.
See also the Newspapers/periodicals tab for newspaper content.
Access to millions of pages of primary source collections, spanning content from the 15th-21st centuries.
Age of Exploration 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 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 Unbound provides access to rare primary source documents topically focused into digital collections covering US foreign policy, civil rights, global affairs, colonial studies, British history, Holocaust studies, LGBT studies, Latin America and Caribbean studies, Middle East studies, political science, religious studies, and women’s studies. Includes over 340 collections.
Border and Migration Studies Online is a collection that explores and provides historical background on more than thirty key worldwide border areas, including: U.S. and Mexico; the European Union; Afghanistan; Israel; Turkey; The Congo; Argentina; China; Thailand; and others. Featuring at completion 100,000 pages of text, 175 hours of video, and 1,000 images.
Created in cooperation with the American Antiquarian Society, this collection provides students and scholars with access to more than 150 years of Caribbean and Atlantic history, cultures and daily life. Featuring more than 140 newspapers from 22 islands. Most of these newspapers were published in the English language, but a number of Spanish-, French-, and Danish-language titles are also provided.
The Colonial State Papers offers access to over 7,000 hand-written documents and more than 40,000 bibliographic records with this incredible resource on Colonial History. In addition to Britain's colonial relations with the Americas and other European rivals for power, this collection also covers the Caribbean and Atlantic world. It is an invaluable resource for scholars of early American history, British colonial history, Caribbean history, maritime history, Atlantic trade, plantations, and slavery.
This collection consists of the Confidential Print for Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Topics covered include slavery and the slave trade, immigration, relations with indigenous peoples, wars and territorial disputes, the fall of the Brazilian monarchy, British business and financial interests, industrial development, the building of the Panama Canal, and the rise to power of populist rulers such as Perón in Argentina and Vargas in Brazil.
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. After the Second World War decolonization movements around the world gathered pace, and from the small port colony of Aden to the vast Indian sub-continent, new borders were set and new nations built.
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment documents the relationships among peoples in North America from 1534 to 1850. The collection focuses on personal accounts and provides unique perspectives from all of the protagonists, including traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials, both men and women.
This resource 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.
Please send any feedback to: Subject-Librarians@bristol.ac.uk
Environmental Science and History focuses on critical aspects of anthropogenic change, with unique and rare archival collections from:
Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew Gardens); The National Archives (UK); The Commonwealth Forestry Institute; CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International).
The primary sources in WDA: ENV will enable the impacts of human activity on the natural world to be traced, researched, and analyzed through documents, images, data, maps, and photographs. WDA: ENV will create opportunities for new insights into the natural world, the ways anthropogenic activity has impacted climates, biodiversity, and ecological systems, and will describe early efforts to understand and mitigate or remediate the negative effects of human activities on the natural world.
Gale Reference Complete provides subscription access to the largest package or primary and secondary sources combining proprietary e-reference content from Gale. JCR-quality periodicals, literary criticism and full text literary works as well as rare primary source content from the vaults of the world's great libraries. Cross-search or browse the contents of over 1700 titles including: Encyclopaedias, almanacs, and specialized reference sources covering all subjects.
The Royal Geographical Society (with Institute of British Geographers) promotes the advancement of geographical science in all its aspects. The Society’s archive contains vast collections of documents, maps, photographs, expedition reports, manuscript materials and books, and span 500 years of geography, travel and exploration. The RGS holds one of the largest private map collections in the world. It includes one million sheets of maps and charts, 3000 atlases, 40 globes (as gores or mounted on stands) and 1000 gazetteers. The earliest printed cartographic item dates back to 1485.
Please send any feedback to: Subject-Librarians@bristol.ac.uk
SUR is one of the most important and influential literary magazines published in Latin America in the twentieth century. This collection includes images of the complete magazine, including covers, photographs and advertisements, more than 40,000 pages; a comprehensive electronic index of 6,300 entries, correcting mistakes and inconsistencies found in the index published in the magazine; and a set of images of manuscripts from the first issue as well as an unpublished set of letters by Victoria Ocampo.
Women and Social Movements, International is a collection of primary materials. Through the writings of women activists, their personal letters and diaries, and the proceedings of conferences at which pivotal decisions were made, this collection lets you see how women’s social movements shaped much of the events and attitudes that have defined modern life.
Search for primary sources among the Library's collections of printed editions of literary works, letters, diaries and facsimiles.
The Library has recently subscribed to PressReader. This includes around 7000 newspaper and magazine titles from around the world in many languages. Read the full text of the latest editions for many titles, and explore recent issues: for some titles the archive goes back several years.
The University's Special Collections encompass a wide range of material from different time periods and on numerous subjects.
Some material can be viewed online and you can consult physical items by appointment in the Special Collections Reading Room on the first floor of the Arts and Social Sciences Library.
Image: photograph of an artefact in Special Collections.