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: 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
Digitized diaries and oral histories of lesser-known women of England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales providing narratives that reveal personal perspectives on race, gender, class, disability, sexuality, aging, and more.
Search for articles published in popular magazines and journals from different times in history.
1800-1900
Magazines revealing British life in the Victorian age and the events, lifestyles, values, and ideas that shaped their world.
1800-1900
Magazines by and for British imperial colonizers, settlers, missionaries, and travelers.
1681-1920
Popular British periodicals mostly from the 19th century.
1843-2015
Issues of The Economist, a news magazine with a global scope published in London.
Good for: Reading firsthand accounts of 19th-century American society, history and culture.
Contains: PDF images and scanned text of articles from the popular magazine.
Dates covered: 1830-1898.
Good for: Researching fashion and culture, including specific garments, accessories or brands.
Contains: Images and text from Vogue Magazine.
Dates covered: 1892-present.
Collections of several types of primary sources curated around a topic or theme.
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
1850-1990s
Search three archival collections representing 20th century advertising and marketing from Adam Matthew Publishers.
1940-present
Primary sources from more than 35 countries related to LGBTQ activism and the HIV/AIDS crisis.
Good for: Studying China's relations with the West in the 19th and early 20th century.
Contains: Academic and literary journals and missionary periodicals in English about China.
Dates covered: 1817-1949.
Good for: Understanding the perspective of Anglican missionary administrators and workers on cultural encounters around the world.
Contains: Newspapers, journals, and reports.
Dates covered: 1804-2009.
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: Learning the history of disability rights and disability studies around the world.
Contains: Primary and secondary sources, including videos, diaries, brochures, advertisements, and more.
Good for: Studying American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries.
Contains: Primary sources like periodicals, pamphlets and books.
Dates covered: 1800-1920.
1880s-1990s
The J. Walter Thompson Company advertising agency archives include brand case studies and account files about campaigns for Kellogg’s, Kodak, Kraft, Oscar Mayer, Pan Am, the US Marine Corps, and more.
1950-1975
Primary sources documenting music and popular culture in the US and Britain, 1950-1975, including manuscripts, video, photos, underground magazines and more.
1945-1950
Records from the National Archives of the UK reveal challenges facing Displaced Persons, refugees and humanitarian aid organizations in the aftermath of World War II.
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.
1850-1950
Primary sources like catalogs, price lists, and brochures reflecting the history of consumer advertising and marketing and life and leisure in America. Includes department store catalogs, cosmetic advertisements, real estate brochures and much more.
Dates covered: 1830-1994
Primary sources illustrating the sociocultural history of department stores from the mid-19th through late 20th centuries. Contains company archives, union records, trade journals, advertisements, catalogs, business to business publications, business to consumer publications, and more.
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.
1903-1962
Original documents from the National Archives on the suffrage question in Britain, the Empire and colonial territories.
Digitized collections of books published during different time periods.
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.
Digitized photos and art images.
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
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.
