LibGuides: History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic: World History, 1801-1900

World Primary Source Collections, 1801-1900

Collections of several types of primary sources curated around a topic or theme.

Age of Exploration This link opens in a new window
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1420-1920
Primary sources like manuscripts, maps and illustrated documents, diaries and ship logs recording the experiences of Europeans as they explored trade routes, colonized the Americas and Australasia, and raced to the North and South Poles.
Archives Direct (all) This link opens in a new window
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1833-1981
Government and agency records from the British National Archives.
Collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew - the UK government's official archive. Subsets are: Apartheid South Africa, Confidential Print: Africa, Confidential Print: Latin America, Confidential Print: Middle East, Confidential Print: North America, Foreign Office Files for China, Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Foreign Office Files for Japan, Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, The Nixon Years, Macmillan Cabinet Papers, Women in The National Archives, Kew.
Central Asia, Persia and Afghanistan: From Silk Road to Soviet Rule This link opens in a new window
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1834-1922
Correspondence, intelligence reports, agents’ diaries, minutes, maps, newspaper excerpts and other materials from the British Foreign Office Files about the history of Persia (Iran), Central Asia and Afghanistan from the decline of the Silk Road in the first half of the nineteenth century to the establishment of Soviet rule over parts of the region in the early 1920s.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
China and the Modern World: Missionary, Sinology and Literary Periodicals, 1817-1949 This link opens in a new window
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1817-1949
Academic and literary journals, journals of sinology, and missionary periodicals in English about China.
China and the Modern World: Records of the Maritime Customs Service of China, 1854-1949 This link opens in a new window
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1858-1949
Primary source collection for the study of China and its relations with the West in the late Qing and Republican periods.
China Studies This link opens in a new window
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1750-1980
Primary source documents like printed books, pamphlets, paintings, manuscripts, diaries, newspapers and periodicals offer evidence of Chinese life and culture over the past 300 years
Combined search of: China, America and the Pacific, China: Culture and Society, and China: Trade, Politics and Culture.
Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
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1804-2009
Newspapers, journals and reports offering the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters and historical events.
Colonial Caribbean This link opens in a new window
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1624-1832
Colonial Office files from the National Archive U.K. about British governance of 25 islands in the Caribbean from 1624-1872 trace the rise and decline of trade in enslaved peoples, from transportation through trade and shipping to the rise of the abolition movement.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
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1500s-1920
Primary sources selected to illustrate changing views about gender, themed around conduct, domesticity, consumption and leisure, education, and the body.
East India Company This link opens in a new window
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1599-1947
British government records from the India Office chart the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond.
Empire Online This link opens in a new window
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1492-1969
Primary sources about British colonies in Africa, North and South America, Australia, and South Asia, 1492-1969.

Evangelism and the Syria-Lebanon Mission: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1869-1910
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Evangelism in China: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1837-1911
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Evangelism in India: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Mission, 1833-1910
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Evangelism in Iran: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1847-1911
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Evangelism in Japan: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1859-1911
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Evangelism in Korea: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1884-1911
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Evangelism in Latin America: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1854-1911
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Evangelism in Philippines: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1898-1910
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Evangelism in Thailand: Correspondence of the Board of Foreign Missions, 1840-1910
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Foreign Office Files for South East Asia This link opens in a new window
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1963-1980
Correspondence, reports, maps and other primary source evidence of British Foreign Office involvement in Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and the Philippines.
What's included . Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement and Colonial Encounters This link opens in a new window
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1650-1920
Primary sources like expedition records, letters, diaries and government records from Europeans creating colonies in North America, Africa, and Australasia.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration and Cultural Exchange This link opens in a new window
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1500-present
Primary source materials 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.
The Grand Tour This link opens in a new window
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1550-1850
Firsthand travel accounts of British tourists visiting Europe.
India, Raj and Empire This link opens in a new window
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1615-1947
Documents recording the history of South Asia between the initial involvement of the East India Company and Indian and Pakistani independence.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism This link opens in a new window
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1850-1980
Archival material from the travel agency Thomas Cook, a pioneer of package tourism. Includes periodicals such as the Excursionist magazine, personal accounts from travelers on early Cook’s tours, photographs, advertising brochures, guidebooks, posters and ephemeral items.
Meiji Japan This link opens in a new window
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1850s-1930s
Publications, papers, journals and diaries of Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925), a polymath notable for his work in natural history, ethnography and art history – but, perhaps most famous for his work in bringing Japan and the West closer together.
Migration to New Worlds This link opens in a new window
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1800-1924
Primary sources like personal accounts, correspondence, maps, plans and photos documenting the movement of peoples from Great Britain, Ireland, mainland Europe and Asia to the New World and Australasia.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest This link opens in a new window
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- Good for: Finding primary source documentation related to the European “Scramble for Africa,” colonial conquest and the legacy of slavery, missionaries, explorers, economics, world politics, and international strategy.
- Contains: Books, manuscripts, government records and newspaper accounts
- Dates covered: 1800-1906

Northern Ireland: A Divided Community, 1921-1972 Cabinet Papers of the Stormont Administration
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Policing the Shanghai International Settlement, 1894-1945
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Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice This link opens in a new window
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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.
South Asia Archive This link opens in a new window
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Journals, books, and primary source documents from government agencies of colonial and early post-colonial India, many from the Bengal region and some from the wider sub-continent. Also film booklets!
Substantial runs of more than 200 journals in a range of subjects published from India and South Asia, including early journals such as Asiatic Researches (first published in 1788), Indian Review, Modern Review and Calcutta Gazette. There is also an array of vernacular journals such as: Bharatbarsha, Prabasi, Manasi, and Sachitra. Also includes Indian Film Booklets, 1930 – 1949. A significant proportion of the collection is in English, but thirty percent of the documents are written in various vernacular languages of the period/region(s).
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window
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1818-1974
Travel writing in manuscripts, diaries and correspondence as well as drawings, guidebooks and photographs.
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires This link opens in a new window
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1820-present
Primary sources highlighting the voices of colonized women, including in China, Japan, the Philippines, Europe, the Eastern Mediterranean and Balkans, and South Africa. Includes Native American women, also American women in Guatemala and China.

Search for articles published in popular magazines and journals from different times in history.

19th Century English-Language Journals from the Far East
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Church Missionary Society Periodicals This link opens in a new window
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1804-2009
Newspapers, journals and reports offering the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters and historical events.
China and the Modern World: Missionary, Sinology and Literary Periodicals, 1817-1949 This link opens in a new window
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1817-1949
Academic and literary journals, journals of sinology, and missionary periodicals in English about China.
Historical Newspapers: The Irish Times and The Weekly Irish Times This link opens in a new window
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1859-2022
Newspaper from Dublin, Ireland published daily except Sundays.

International Women's Periodicals, 1786-1933: Social and Political Issues
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Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) This link opens in a new window
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1802-1995
Journal articles in the humanities and social sciences published between 1802-1995
Update frequency: quarterly
Search international scholarly literature in the humanities and social sciences disciplines from 1802 to 1995. PAO includes pre-1995 issues of over 400 journals, including many journals published in languages other than English.
South Asia Archive This link opens in a new window
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Journals, books, and primary source documents from government agencies of colonial and early post-colonial India, many from the Bengal region and some from the wider sub-continent. Also film booklets!
Substantial runs of more than 200 journals in a range of subjects published from India and South Asia, including early journals such as Asiatic Researches (first published in 1788), Indian Review, Modern Review and Calcutta Gazette. There is also an array of vernacular journals such as: Bharatbarsha, Prabasi, Manasi, and Sachitra. Also includes Indian Film Booklets, 1930 – 1949. A significant proportion of the collection is in English, but thirty percent of the documents are written in various vernacular languages of the period/region(s).

RetroNews (French)
1631-1950
Newspapers from the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.
Mercure de France, 1672-1810
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Digitized collections of books published during different time periods.

Gerritsen Collection-Women's History Online, 1543-1945 This link opens in a new window
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1543-1945
Books and periodicals reflecting the evolution of a feminist consciousness and the movement for women's rights.
Hathi Trust This link opens in a new window
Access to nearly any public domain (pre-1924) book owned and scanned by a library. UNLV users can login with their ACE accounts and download entire "full view" books/documents.
Making of Modern Law (MOML) This link opens in a new window
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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.
South Asia Archive This link opens in a new window
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Journals, books, and primary source documents from government agencies of colonial and early post-colonial India, many from the Bengal region and some from the wider sub-continent. Also film booklets!
Substantial runs of more than 200 journals in a range of subjects published from India and South Asia, including early journals such as Asiatic Researches (first published in 1788), Indian Review, Modern Review and Calcutta Gazette. There is also an array of vernacular journals such as: Bharatbarsha, Prabasi, Manasi, and Sachitra. Also includes Indian Film Booklets, 1930 – 1949. A significant proportion of the collection is in English, but thirty percent of the documents are written in various vernacular languages of the period/region(s).

Official government publications, including laws, treaties, and records of legislative proceedings.

Great Britain

U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
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1801-2000
Bills, reports, correspondence and command papers all highlight Britain's role in the political, social, economic and foreign policy arenas.
Archives Direct (all) This link opens in a new window
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1833-1981
Government and agency records from the British National Archives.
Collections sourced from The National Archives, Kew - the UK government's official archive. Subsets are: Apartheid South Africa, Confidential Print: Africa, Confidential Print: Latin America, Confidential Print: Middle East, Confidential Print: North America, Foreign Office Files for China, Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan, Foreign Office Files for Japan, Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, The Nixon Years, Macmillan Cabinet Papers, Women in The National Archives, Kew.
Making of Modern Law (MOML) This link opens in a new window
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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.
Confidential Print: Africa This link opens in a new window
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1834-1966
Primary source documents about African colonies generated by the Foreign and Colonial Offices of the British government between 1834 and 1966.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Confidential Print: Latin America This link opens in a new window
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1833-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Confidential Print: Middle East This link opens in a new window
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1839-1969
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Confidential Print: North America This link opens in a new window
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1824-1961
Government and agency records from the British National Archives concerning the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan This link opens in a new window
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1947-1980
Archival collection from the British Foreign Office focused on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Part of the Archives Direct combined search portal.
Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War This link opens in a new window
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1873-1953
From The National Archives, U.K., documents encompass signals intelligence reports and government-directed policy and strategy from the period of Appeasement right through to the early Cold War.
British government secret intelligence and foreign policy files from 1873 to 1953, with the majority of files dating from the 1930s and 1940s, across four major conflicts – the Spanish Civil War, the Second World War, the early years of the Cold War and the Korean War.

Elsewhere

Actes royaux français, 1256-1794 (French Royal Acts, 1256-1794)
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Digitized photos and art images.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Photography This link opens in a new window
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- Good for: Texts on the invention and early history of photography, collections of photographs, photograph albums, and early books illustrated with photos.
- Contains: Books, photographs
- Dates covered: 1800s-early 1900s
ARTstor This link opens in a new window
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Art digital images and related data.
A repository of hundreds of thousands of digital images in the areas of art, architecture, the humanities, social sciences and related data; the tools to actively use those images; and a restricted usage environment that seeks to balance the rights of content providers with the needs and interests of content user.

Life Photo Archive
Millions of news and editorial photographs and other images dating from 1750 to the present. Includes many iconic images, but most were never published.
Smithsonian Photography Initiative
Online database of photographs dating from the 1850s to the present. Subjects cover the arts and literature, culture and society, nature and science, industry and technology, history and geography. Includes both professional photos and amateur snapshots.

These links allow you to search across multiple databases at the same time.

AM Explorer This link opens in a new window
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1493-1975
Search all archival collections from Adam Matthew Publishers.
Gale Primary Sources This link opens in a new window
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Includes 19th Century UK Periodicals, Archives of Sexuality & Gender (LGBTQ History), British Library Newspapers, The Economist (1843-2014), Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers, Sabin Americana (1500-1926), China and the Modern World, London Times Digital Archive, and London Times Literary Supplement.
Historical Periodicals from ProQuest This link opens in a new window
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1740-1940 with some more recent
Search all ProQuest historical periodical collections simultaneously.
American Periodicals‎ (1740 - 1940)
British Periodicals‎ (1681 - 1939)
Entertainment Industry Magazine Archive‎ (1880 - 2000)
The Harper's Bazaar Archive‎ (1867 - current)
Periodicals Archive Online‎
The Vogue Archive‎
Women's Magazine Archive‎ (1846 - 2005)
The Women's Wear Daily Archive‎

Microfilmed research collections, world history, 19th century

Western Books: The Middle East from the Rise of Islam

History: Primary Sources by Era or Topic

World Primary Source Collections, 1801-1900

Microfilmed research collections, world history, 19th century

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