LibGuides: Hispanic, Latin American and Portuguese Studies: Find primary sources (literary works, newspapers, archives, broadcasts)

Library

Primary sources and reference materials

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

Early European Books (EEB) This link opens in a new window
Books printed/published before 1701. Contains a number of titles in Spanish and Portuguese.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Printed works from the 18th century, including works written in Spanish and Portuguese.
ProQuest One Literature (including Literature Online) This link opens in a new window
Approximately 500,000 literary works from around the globe, including literature from Spain and Latin America. Select 'Browse' from the main menu then 'Works' to see a list of collections. Highlights include Latin American women writers, Latino literature and Teatro Español del Siglo de Oro (16th and 17th century Spanish literature).

Overview

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.

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.
Economist, the This link opens in a new window
**Note: you need to register with your UoB email account the first time you access this resource**. A weekly magazine-format newspaper which is also published digitally. Its primary focus is current affairs, international business, politics, and technology. The University of Bristol’s online subscription covers unlimited access to all articles at Economist.com, including blog content updated throughout the week.
Factiva This link opens in a new window
Get access to selected newspapers in Spanish and Portuguese via this resource. Search for content from a specific title or browse lists of titles per region. For guidance on how to find newspaper content, see the guide on the right of this page entitled 'Using Factiva to find international news'.
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.
PressReader This link opens in a new window
Digital newsstand featuring 7000+ of the world's most popular newspapers & magazines. Please send any feedback to: Subject-Librarians@bristol.ac.uk
Times Literary Supplement (TLS) Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
The TLS Historical Archive contains authoritative, expert reviews of books, films and music. Coverage includes the earliest issue from 1902 to 2014.
Times Literary Supplement (TLS) [2010 onwards] This link opens in a new window
This resource provides recent content of the TLS (2010 onwards).

Overview

These resources are excellent for finding authoritative definitions of words and prhrases, and for researching the lives and contexts of writers and historical figures.

Oxford Dictionaries This link opens in a new window
High quality bilingual dictionaries in the following languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Russian, and Spanish.
Oxford English Dictionary (OED) This link opens in a new window
Provides definitions of words in English and the development of their use.

Overview

Via these resources you have access to millions of freeview TV and radio programmes, newsreels and screened performances of threatrical works.

BBC Drama Films and Documentaries This link opens in a new window
Film adaptations of classic and contemporary plays.
BFI Player This link opens in a new window
Thousands of independent films from the UK and around the world.

You need to register with your UoB email address via the student URL: https://player.bfi.org.uk/students. Once you have submitted the form, select ‘University of Bristol’ from the Institution dropdown list and login with your UoB credentials when prompted. You can then simply login until with your individual email/password combination via the main BFI link above until 30/09/2024. You'll need to resubscribe each year by following the student link and selecting 'Already have an account? Sign in'. We recommend ticking the student newsletter box.

Please note:
• BFI Player is unavailable outside the UK
• Rentals and festival events are not included in the subscription offer
Box of Broadcasts (BoB) This link opens in a new window
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.
Kanopy This link opens in a new window
Movies, documentaries, foreign films, classic cinema, independent films and educational videos.
Socialism on Film This link opens in a new window
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.

Overview

These resources provide access to images of artworks, architecture, sculpture and related art forms.

ARTSTOR This link opens in a new window
Primary source database for works of art
VADS (Visual Arts Data Service) This link opens in a new window
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.

A M Search This link opens in a new window
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.
This resource is part of AM Search.
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
Primary source documents about Latin America and the Caribbean; academic journals and news feeds covering the region; maps and statistics; audio and video.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Includes significant resources on colonial history, sexuality and gender, and official documents on relations between Latin American countries and the USA. See the 'Collections' tab for a list of individual archives.
Border and Migration Studies Online This link opens in a new window
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.
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 State Papers This link opens in a new window
Primary source documents from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries. The earliest English settlements in North America, encounters with Native Americans, piracy in the Atlantic and Caribbean, the trade in slaves and English conflicts with the Spanish and French are all covered in this database.
Confidential Print: Latin America, 1833-1969 This link opens in a new window
Focuses on 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.
Decolonization: the politics of independence in former colonial territories digital archive This link opens in a new window
Material from 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.
Early Encounters in North America: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment This link opens in a new window
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.
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 Science and History (Wiley Digital Archives) This link opens in a new window
Environmental Science and History focuses on critical aspects of anthropogenic change through archival collections from: Royal Botanic Gardens (Kew Gardens); The National Archives (UK); The Commonwealth Forestry Institute; CABI (Centre for Agriculture and Bioscience International). It will enable the impacts of human activity on the natural world to be traced, researched, and analyzed through documents, images, data, maps, and photographs.

Please note: to access this from the Wiley Digial Archive homepage, go to 'Archives' by the search box and select from drop down menu.
Gale Research Complete This link opens in a new window
Includes Archives Unbound, with significant resources on colonial history, sexuality and gender, and official documents on relations between Latin American countries and the USA.
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.
Slavery, Abolition & Social Justice This link opens in a new window
Bringing together primary source documents from archives and libraries across the Atlantic world, this resource allows students and researchers to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice.
This resource is part of AM Explorer.
SUR, 1931-1992 This link opens in a new window
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: 1840 to Present This link opens in a new window
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. Includes some material from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal.

Printed primary sources

Search for primary sources among the Library's collections of printed editions of literary works, letters, diaries and facsimiles.

Guide to using Factiva for finding international news

Video recording with sound and optional subtitles. Click on the image below to watch the recording.

Locations of printed collections

Locations of printed collections relating to Hispanic, Portuguese and Latin American Studies in the Arts and Social Sciences Library

Special Collections

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.