Good for: Finding the meaning, history, and pronunciation of words.
Contains: Authoritative, researched historical dictionary entries.
Good for: Exploring word histories from the early modern period.
Contains: Compilation of dictionaries.
Dates covered: 1480-1702.
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: Exploring African literature and culture through books originally published in the Heinemann African Writers Series.
Contains: Novels, plays, poetry, folk materials, and non-fictional accounts.
Dates covered: 1962-2003.
Good for: Studying plays by Black playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries.
Contains: Playscripts.
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.
Good for: Exploring firsthand travel accounts of British tourists in Europe before 1850.
Contains: Travel accounts.
Dates covered: 1550-1850.
Good for: Reading memoirs, letters, and essays by Latin American women.
Contains: Written works by Latin American women.
Dates covered: 1600-present.
Good for: Examining the writing process of Victorian authors.
Contains: Victorian literary manuscripts, including unpublished poems, working notebooks, holograph manuscripts and drawings, and early print editions.
Good for: Examining 17th- and 18th-century poetry in handwritten drafts and commonplace books.
Contains: Manuscripts and scrapbooks.
Dates covered: 1660-1830.
Good for: Documents revealing the history of the book trade and printing/publishing community.
Contains: Primary sources from the Stationers Company in London.
Dates covered: 1554-2007.
Good for: Studying journeys to central Asia and the Far East.
Contains: Manuscripts from European travelers.
Dates covered: 1200s-1500s.
Good for: Reading or performing Shakespeare's plays and consulting scholarly editions.
Contains: Modern spelling and critical reference editions of Shakespeare's plays.
Good for: Finding plays written by women in the United States and Canada.
Contains: Plays.
Dates covered: 1770-present.
Good for: Studying women's writing in the British Isles.
Contains: Manuscripts written or compiled by women.
Dates covered: 1500s-1600s.
Good for: Studying literary manuscripts, art, letters, and diaries from Romantic writers.
Contains: The manuscript collections of the Wordsworth Trust.
Good for: Studying Shakespeare's plays in performance using evidence from prompt books.
Contains: Prompt books, primary sources like correspondence, photos, and playbills.
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.
Good for: Reading or performing Shakespeare's plays and consulting scholarly editions.
Contains: Modern spelling and critical reference editions of Shakespeare's plays.
Production details
Good for: Learning about design concepts for various performance types.
Contains: Books, periodicals, archival material, and instructional videos.
Good for: Records and plans about the modern reconstruction of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.
Contains: Performance and architectural archives.
Dates covered: 1997-2016.
Good for: Studying Shakespeare's plays in performance using evidence from prompt books.
Contains: Prompt books, primary sources like correspondence, photos, and playbills.
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.
Good for: Documents revealing the history of the book trade and printing/publishing community.
Contains: Primary sources from the Stationers Company in London.
Dates covered: 1554-2007.
Good for: Finding scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare’s plays.
Contains: Index of scholarship, performance reviews, recorded performances, and more.
Dates covered: 1966-present.
Streaming video
Good for: Watching educational videos including the BBC Shakespeare series and A History of American Indian Achievement.
Contains: Streaming videos.
Good for: Viewing theater productions and documentaries about theatrical productions.
Contains: 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: Researching the lives of women in Great Britain and Ireland.
Contains: Women's letters and diaries.
Dates covered: 1500-1900.
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
Good for: Exploring the lives and experiences of North American women.
Contains: Diaries, journals, and letters.
Dates covered: 1770-1950.
Use the date range limit to narrow your search to a relevant time period.
Good for: Accounts of life, culture and historical events reported in newspapers from every U.S. state.
Contains: Historical newspapers.
Dates covered: 1690-1923.
Good for: Finding newspaper reports about life, culture and historical events published in England, Ireland, Northern Ireland, Wales, and Scotland.
Contains: National and regional newspapers representing multiple political and cultural views.
Dates covered: 1732-1950.
Good for: Researching historical events through American newspapers, including Nevada newspapers.
Contains: Historical newspapers.
Dates covered: 1789-1963.
Good for: Researching British essays, news and events from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Contains: Newspapers, pamphlets, proclamations, and newsbooks.
Dates covered: 1603-1800.
Good for: Researching British essays, news and events from the 17th and 18th centuries.
Contains: British newspapers, periodicals, pamphlets, and broadsheets.
Dates covered: 1672-1737.
Good for: Learning about life and trade in colonial America.
Contains: The South Carolina Gazette newspaper.
Dates covered: 1732-1775; 1777-1780.
Good for: Finding articles from The Times (London).
Contains: The Times newspaper.
Dates covered: 1785-2019.
search tips
Search for articles published in popular magazines and journals from different times in history.
Good for: Searching articles published in popular 19th century magazines, newspapers, and journals in the United States.
Contains: Periodicals.
Dates covered: 1684-1912.
Good for: Searching American magazines and journals published mostly before 1900.
Contains: Magazines and journals.
Dates covered: 1740-1940.
Good for: Studying Hispanic culture in the United States.
Contains: Publications in Spanish and English.
Dates covered: 1750-present.
Good for: Searching articles in magazines about British culture and society.
Contains: Popular British periodicals, mostly from the 19th century.
Dates covered: 1681-1920.
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.
Good for: Evidence about the lives of African Americans in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Contains: Government records of individuals including military service records, court documents, and emancipation and manumission papers.
Dates covered: 1792-1941.
Good for: First hand accounts of European exploration, trade and colonization worldwide using primary sources.
Contains: Manuscripts, maps, illustrated documents, diaries, and ship logs.
Dates covered: 1420-1920.
Good for: Searching multiple American history primary source collections.
Contains: Archival collections from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Dates covered: 1493-1975.
Good for: Exploring primary sources related to American history from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century.
Contains: Archival collections of correspondence, diaries, government documents, business records, books, pamphlets, newspapers, broadsides, photographs, artwork, and maps.
Dates covered: 1493-1945.
Good for: Finding primary source records of Native American and indigenous groups in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
Contains: Manuscripts, artwork, and rare printed books.
Dates covered: 1400-1950s.
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: Examining primary sources that tell the story of global trade in chocolate, coffee, cotton, fur, opium, oil, porcelain, silver and gold, spices, sugar, tea, timber, tobacco, wheat, and wine and spirits.
Contains: Archival collections.
Dates covered: 1500-present.
Good for: Exploring firsthand travel accounts of British tourists in Europe before 1850.
Contains: Travel accounts.
Dates covered: 1550-1850.
Good for: Studying the history of South Asia between the initial involvement of the East India Company and Indian and Pakistani independence.
Contains: Primary sources from colonial government and archival collections.
Dates covered: 1615-1947.
Good for: Exploring American Jewish history through organizational records and archival collections.
Contains: Archival collections from the American Jewish Historical Society in New York.
Dates covered: 1654-1954.
Good for: Documents revealing the history of the book trade and printing/publishing community.
Contains: Primary sources from the Stationers Company in London.
Dates covered: 1554-2007.
Good for: Evidence of the relationship between the U.S. government and Native American individuals and communities.
Contains: Treaties, correspondence, photos, census rolls, Dawes packets, and enrollment cards.
Dates covered: 1792-1940.
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.
Good for: Researching the trade in enslaved people in America, the Caribbean, Brazil, and Cuba using material examining European, Islamic, and African involvement in the slave trade.
Contains: Case studies and primary source documents.
Dates covered: 1490-2007.
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: Primary sources recording details of agriculture, business and enslaved people in the Atlantic world and early Colonial period.
Contains: Archival collection (Ferrar Papers).
Dates covered: 1590-1790.
Good for: Studying women's reform activities.
Contains: Books, images, historical documents, scholarly essays, commentaries, and bibliographies.
Dates covered: 1600-2000.
Digitized collections of books published during different time periods.
Good for: Accessing historical books, pamphlets, and broadsides published in North America.
Contains: PDFs of monographs, pamphlets, broadsides, government documents, and ephemera.
Dates covered: 1639-1923.
Good for: Exploring printed menus, advertisements, cards, playbills, poems, and other ephemeral items from the past.
Contains: Printed ephemera.
Dates covered: 1749-1900.
Good for: Exploring 19th-century controversies through published advice and opinions.
Contains: Pamphlets.
Dates covered: 1820-1922.
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: 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: Access to nearly any public domain (pre-1929) book owned and scanned by a library.
Contains: Digitized books.
Good for: Researching historical legal materials.
Contains: Treatises, primary sources, trials, and foreign, comparative, and international law.
Dates covered: 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.
Good for: Finding and using digital images for research and teaching.
Contains: Art digital images and related data.
These links allow you to search across multiple databases at the same time.
Good for: Searching across all primary source collections from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Contains: Archival collections.
Good for: Searching historical periodicals.
Contains: Magazine and journal articles.
Dates covered: 1740-1940 with some more recent.
Good for: Searching across historical newspapers and books for primary sources about American life and culture.
Contains: American historical newspapers, printed books, pamphlets, and ephemera.
Dates covered: 1639-1922.
