Short Title Catalogs are indexes that provide basic bibliographic information about and abbreviated titles for early printed materials. Many important STCs cover printed materials from the early modern and medieval periods of several European regions:
English Short Title Catalog (ESTC) - Covers printed materials from the beginning of printing in the British Isles, about 1472, to 1700.
Incunabula Short Title Catalog (ISTC) - Covers materials printed in Europe before 1500. This catalog has over 29,000 titles listed.
Universal Short Title Catalog (USTC) - Covers all books published in Europe between the invention of printing and 1600.
Good for: Researching early English literature and culture.
Contains: Most extant printed books in English published before 1700.
Dates covered: 1475-1700.
Good for: Researching 18th-century English literature and culture.
Contains: Most extant books published in English.
Dates covered: 1701-1800.
Good for: Evidence of changing views about gender, themed around conduct, domesticity, consumption and leisure, education, and the body.
Contains: Primary sources like correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
Dates covered: 1500s-1920.
Good for: Reading play scripts and scholarly books analyzing drama.
Contains: Scripts for over 1000 plays, from Aeschylus to the present day, including modern classics from Tom Stoppard, David Mamet, Caryl Churchill and many more.
Good for: Examining scripts of plays submitted for license in England before 1824.
Contains: Archive of plays, diaries, playbills, theatre records, and correspondence.
Dates covered: 1737-1824.
Plays
Good for: Reading play scripts and scholarly books analyzing drama.
Contains: Scripts for over 1000 plays, from Aeschylus to the present day, including modern classics from Tom Stoppard, David Mamet, Caryl Churchill and many more.
Production details
Bibliography & reference
Good for: Examining scripts of plays submitted for license in England before 1824.
Contains: Archive of plays, diaries, playbills, theatre records, and correspondence.
Dates covered: 1737-1824.
Streaming video
The full text of letters and diary entries, often from works that have been previously published as books containing collections of letters or diaries. Use the Browse indexes to find works about specific historical or life events.
Good for: Studying early modern governance, material culture, prominent families, and the organization of knowledge in health, medicine, humanities, and sciences.
Contains: Records, correspondence, and manuscript collections.
Dates covered: 1500-1700.
Good for: Exploring women’s letters and diaries to learn about historical events and details of daily life in the past.
Contains: Handwritten letters and diaries with a detailed index
Dates covered: 1770s-1970s
Use the date range limit to narrow your search to a relevant time period.
1690-1923
Historical newspapers from every state in the U.S.
1732-1950
National and regional British newspapers representing different political and cultural views.
Good for: Researching historical events through American newspapers, including Nevada newspapers.
Contains: Historical newspapers.
Dates covered: 1789-1963.
1603-1800
Newspapers, pamphlets, proclamations, and newsbooks from the British Library.
1672-1737
British newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets and broadsheets from the Bodleian Library.
1785-2019
The Times (London) newspaper.
search tips
Search for articles published in popular magazines and journals from different times in history.
1681-1920
Popular British periodicals mostly from the 19th century.
Good for: Finding out about 18th-century British and Irish culture through magazines and newspapers.
Contains: Literary, satirical, political, religious and theatrical publications from England, Ireland, Scotland, India and the Caribbean.
Dates covered: 1685-1835.
Looking for a particular magazine? Search for the title in the A-Z list to see if it is available in any database.
Collections of several types of primary sources curated around a topic or theme.
1493-1945
Primary sources from the Gilder Lehrman collection about American history from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century.
1400-1950s
Primary sources for American Indian history in the United States, Canada and Mexico. Manuscripts, artwork and rare printed books from pre-contact through the mid-20th century.
Good for: Exploring Chinese life and culture over the past 300 years.
Contains: Primary source documents like printed books, pamphlets, paintings, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers, and periodicals.
Dates covered: 1750-1980.
Good for: Primary source evidence of the British administration of the American colonies.
Contains: British government documents from the Colonial Office (CO 5).
Dates covered: 1606-1822.
Good for: Evidence of changing views about gender, themed around conduct, domesticity, consumption and leisure, education, and the body.
Contains: Primary sources like correspondence, advice literature, periodicals, ephemera and government documents.
Dates covered: 1500s-1920.
Good for: Studying early modern governance, material culture, prominent families, and the organization of knowledge in health, medicine, humanities, and sciences.
Contains: Records, correspondence, and manuscript collections.
Dates covered: 1500-1700.
Good for: Researching British trade and colonial rule in the Indian subcontinent.
Contains: British government records from the India Office.
Dates covered: 1599-1947.
Good for: Examining scripts of plays submitted for license in England before 1824.
Contains: Archive of plays, diaries, playbills, theatre records, and correspondence.
Dates covered: 1737-1824.
Good for: Exploring colonial history, politics, culture and society from British and European perspectives.
Contains: Primary sources from archival collections.
Dates covered: 1492-1969.
Good for: Studying European colonization in North America, Africa, and Australasia.
Contains: Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries, and government records.
Dates covered: 1650-1920.
Good for: Finding primary sources about the development of urban centers and of the restructuring of society that took place during the Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.
Contains: Government and archival collections
Dates covered: 1750-1916
1490-2007
Case studies documenting slavery in America, the Caribbean, Brazil and Cuba, along with material examining European, Islamic and African involvement in the slave trade.
Good for: Finding primary sources related to popular entertainment in America, Britain, and Europe.
Contains: Books, posters, scrapbooks, and optical toys.
Dates covered: 1779-1930.
Good for: Researching the Atlantic world and early Colonial period.
Contains: Archival collection (Ferrar Papers).
Dates covered: 1590-1790.
Digitized collections of books published during different time periods.
1749-1900
Printed menus, advertisements, cards, playbills, poems and other printed items never intended to last.
1820-1922
Pamphlets with advice and opinions about all kinds of 19th century controversies.
Good for: Reading publications that document early American history and culture.
Contains: Books, pamphlets, and broadsides.
Dates covered: 1639-1800.
Good for: Searching or reading early American publications.
Contains: Books, pamphlets, and broadsides.
Dates covered: 1801-1819.
Good for: Researching early English literature and culture.
Contains: Most extant printed books in English published before 1700.
Dates covered: 1475-1700.
Good for: Searching books published in England and America between 1475-1800.
Contains: Searchable texts.
Dates covered: 1475-1800.
Good for: Researching 18th-century English literature and culture.
Contains: Most extant books published in English.
Dates covered: 1701-1800.
Good for: Reading primary sources that document the evolution of feminist consciousness and the women's rights movement.
Contains: Books and periodicals.
Dates covered: 1543-1945.
Good for: Searching books and periodicals, including full text access to those in the public domain and limited search for those still under copyright.
Contains: Scanned books and periodicals
1600-1926
Cross-search five Making of Modern Law databases: Making of Modern Law: Foreign, Comparative and International Law 1600-1926, Making of Modern Law: Foreign Primary Sources, Making of Modern Law: Primary Sources 1620-1926, Making of Modern Law: Treatises, 1800-1926, and Making of Modern Law: Trials 1600-1926.
Good for: Finding primary source materials on exploration, trade, colonialism, slavery and abolition, the western movement, Native Americans, military actions and more.
Contains: Historical books, pamphlets, serials and other documents about North America, South America, Central America and the Caribbean.
Dates covered: 1500-1926
Digitized photos and art images.
These links allow you to search across multiple databases at the same time.
Good for: Searching across all collections of historical primary sources from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Contains: Primary sources held in libraries, museums and archives around the world.
