Databases/Websites/Newspapers for Primary Sources
This collection of databases is but a small sample of what UD subscribes to. For a full list of what we have, go to our "Databases" page and search for "Arts & Humanities Databases" from the "Browse by Subject" list.
- British and Irish Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new windowBritish and Irish Women’s Letters and Diaries from 1500-1950 (BWLD) includes the immediate experiences of 430 authors and 60,000 pages of individual women’s rare, personal perspectives on world history. When complete, the collection will include more than 100,000 pages of primary materials spanning more than 300 years. Each source has been carefully chosen using leading bibliographies. The collection also includes biographies and an extensive annotated bibliography of the sources in the database.
- Early English Books Online This link opens in a new windowEarly English Books Online contains about 100,000 of over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640 (STC I) and Donald Wing’s A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, and of English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641 to 1700 (STC II). EEBO also includes the Thomason Tracts, a compendium of broadsides on the English Civil War printed between 1640 and 1661.
- Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window150,000 books published in Great Britain and the colonies during the 18th century. The collection is an ongoing project based on The English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), a union list of the holdings of the British Library and 1,500 libraries worldwide.
- Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new windowThis link provides you with the ability to search across over 20 primary source collections provided by Gale, including: 17th-18th Century Burney Collections, Witchcraft in Europe and America, and more!
- Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new windowThe Making of the Modern World digital collection presents books, serials, political pamphlets, broadsides, government publications, proclamations, and ephemera focusing on economics, political science, history, sociology, banking, finance, transportation and manufacturing. The collection is comprised of many rare titles and first editions in languages other than English including French, German, Portuguese, Scandinavian, Italian and Spanish. (This is a part of the Gale Primary Source Collection)
- U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new windowParliamentary Papers are the most detailed primary source for 19th-century Britain, its colonies, and the wider world. They are the working documents of government for all areas of social, political, economic, and foreign policy. They influenced public opinion and social and political philosophy, and provided a forum for the ideas of hundreds of thinkers, among them Jenner, Arnold, Trollope, Mill, Faraday, Babbage, Telford, and Brunel.
- Witchcraft In Europe and America This link opens in a new windowArchives Unbound presents focused digital collections of historical documents on discrete, specialized topics. It is also an integrated platform that combines these digital archives into a single cross-searchable interface.
This is by no means a comprehensive list of online collections of primary sources. Try using Google to search for collections that are publicly available at other institutions.
- Internet Archive This link opens in a new windowThe Internet Archive is a non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more. It was founded to build an Internet library, with the purpose of offering permanent access for researchers, historians, and scholars to historical collections that exist in digital format.
- Avalon ProjectDocuments of law, history, and diplomacy from 4000 BCE to present day.
- British History OnlineA digital library that brings together both primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland, focusing primarily on the period between 1300 and 1800.
- Digital BodleianA rich digital library that provides digitized primary sources for medieval history.
- EuroDocs- European HistoryEuroDocs is a great resource that pulls together primary sources on European History. This site is broken down by country, making it extremely helpful if you are looking for smaller countries in Europe.
- European History Primary SourcesSimilar to EuroDocs, European History Primary Sources provides a list of sources broken down by each country.
- The European LibraryAlthough no longer updated, this portal offers links to collections in 48 libraries in Europe.
- European Reading Room - Library of CongressThe Library of Congress has a vast amount of European collections and includes links to other European research institutions.
- GallicaFrom the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, this site provides free access to a large collection of digitized books and journals.
- Imperial War MuseumThis museum has a wide variety of digitized primary sources, including pamphlets, photographs, sound archive, and more.
- London Lives, 1690 to 1800240,000 workhouse records, criminal registers, coroners’ reports, court orders, and other documents, ranging from the late 17th to the early 19th centuries.
- Primary Sources for European HistoryThis is a large list of free primary source resources grouped together by country or time period.
- A Vision of Britain Through TimeA digital collection that includes statistics, travel narratives, news, and more on Britain starting in 1801 until today.
- British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new windowDigital collection of national and regional newspapers in Victorian Britain. The papers in the collection were selected by an editorial board from the British Library. They provide a broad yet detailed view of British life in the 19th century: from business to sport, from politics to entertainment and the arts. This invaluable collection is made up of daily and weekly publications and reflects Britain’s growing role as a major power in the 19th century world.
- Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new windowA full-text, fully searchable digital archive of nearly 1,270 newspapers and news pamphlets from the United Kingdom. Collected by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817), this collection represents the largest single archive of 17th and 18th century news media available from the British Library.
- Gale Primary Sources: Newspapers This link opens in a new windowSearch 11 collections of U.S. and U.K. historical newspapers and magazines from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
- Times Digital Archive, 1785-2019 This link opens in a new windowComplete digital edition of The Times (London), and its predecessor title Universal Daily Register (1785-1788). Full facsimile images of either a specific article or a complete page are available. The entire newspaper is captured, with all articles, advertisements, and illustrations/photos divided into categories to facilitate searching.
- The GuardianA newspaper created in Manchester in the 1950s.