New: Napoleon – Letters and Papers: Sources of a Family

The homepage of the resource, showing a brief introduction and a search box. The introduction reads: "About this database There is hardly any other family who influenced European history between the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries as much as the Bonapartes did. From the French Revolution to the Treaty of Versailles, the members of this family influenced all spheres of public and private life in politics, art, literature, science, administration, the military, and even landscaping. To this end, they corresponded in writing with all important contemporaries. "Calling all Napoleon researchers and 19th century French historians! You will be pleased to know that a major resource Napoleon – Letters and Papers: Sources of a Family is available as an Open Access resource.

This database, published by de Gruyter, provides access to the Bonaparte family’s autographs and correspondence. It is a valuable source for the study of French and European history, science, and intellectual attitudes from the late 18th century to the early 20th century.

The project will at first publish the correspondence of Prince Louis Napoléon Bonaparte (who would later become Emperor Napoleon III) until 1838, thereby covering the period that the Bonaparte-de Beauharnais family spent in exile at Lake Constance. A 2023 database update will contain his correspondence until 1873. The database will, for the first time, compile his surviving autographs into a collection that will make it possible to reinterpret the emperor’s personality and biography.

Future plans include adding digitised letter and papers of:

  • Hortense de Beauharnais (launch planned for 2024)
  • Eugène de Beauharnais-von Leuchtenberg (launch planned for 2025)
  • Joséphine de Beauharnais (launch planned for 2026)

(Information has been taken from Overview.)

Image of the transcribed letter on the left with the manuscript letter on the right. The snippet reads: "Londres le 30 Juin 1831 Mon cher Général, Je vous remercie bien de votre aimable lettre. J’ai été enchanté d’apprendre que la Duchesse de Frioul avait uni son sort au vôtre, et comme j’ai une tendre vénération et un véritable attachement pour elle, et que j’éprouve pour vous une sincère amitié, je ne sais qui je dois féliciter davantage ; ou le Général Fabvier d’avoir épousé la Duchesse de Frioul, ou la Duchesse de Frioul d’avoir épousé le Général Fabvier. "

“Londres le 30 Juin 1831 […]” In Napoleon – Letters and Papers edited by Christina Egli and Dominik Gügel. Berlin, Boston: De Gruyter Oldenbourg, 2023. https://www.degruyter.com/database/NAPO/entry/nt_18300630_a/html

You can search full-text or browse the resource in various ways, including by place and person. Most of the letters will be in French. The correspondence stretches across Europe, esp. Germany, Switzerland, Italy and England.

The letters are transcribed and can be viewed side-by-side with the digitised manuscript letter.

Biographical annotations helpfully identify people mentioned, even if they used an alias.

While you are here, you might also be interrested in:

New: C19: The Nineteenth Century Index

Landing page of the resource, showing the search box, and various images in the background, such as Napoleon and Jane Austen.Oxford researchers now have access to C19: The Nineteenth Century Index.

This database is a bibliographic resource for 19th century research, comprising tens of millions of records and providing integrated access to finding aids for books, periodicals, official publications, newspapers, archives, and reference material.

Where do the citations in C19 come from?

The 25 million+ records in C19 Index to date are from the following sources:

  • American Periodicals
  • The “Bookman” Directory of Booksellers, Publishers and Authors
  • British Periodicals
  • Cotgreave’s Index
  • Cumulative Index to Niles’ Register 1811–1849
  • Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalism
  • House of Commons Parliamentary Papers
  • An Index to Legal Periodical Literature
  • The Nineteenth Century
  • Nineteenth-Century Short Title Catalogue
  • Palmer’s Index to The Times
  • Periodicals Index Online
  • Poole’s Index to Periodical Literature
  • Proceedings of the Old Bailey
  • Stead’s Index to Periodical Literature
  • The U.S. Serial Set
  • The Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900 (previously held as a separate database)

Searching

Users can query its component indexes simultaneously or can conduct more detailed research using search pages for specific indexes or content types.

How do I find the full-text?

Once you have found a citation, you can then locate the full-text in SOLO. Archive.org and HathiTrust are also good resources to find out-of-copyright 19th century publications.

New eresources: more newspapers, early modern, modern and global history collections

In line with the Bodleian Libraries’ strategy to enhance our collections, we committed substantial funding to a set of purchases of electronic research resources deemed to be important to researchers in the University.

I am therefore delighted to announce access to the following new eresources which are of interest to Oxford historians. They will be most relevant to early modern, modern and global historians. Usage of some of these resources will be reviewed in the course of the next 3 years to assess which will be permanently retained.

All databases can be found in SOLO and Databases A-Z. Oxford researchers should use SSO to gain remote access. Non-Oxford historians are welcome to register with Bodleian Libraries to gain access to these resources and many others.

New online newspaper and magazine resources: British & US

Screenshot of the landing page of Punch Historical Archive 1841-1992

Screenshot of the landing page.

The Independent Historical Archive 1986-2016: Ever since it was launched in 1986, The Independent has enjoyed a reputation for quality and innovation, something Andreas Whittam-Smith and his two co-founders, Stephen Glover and Matthew Symonds, made as a guiding principle when they conceived the idea of a new, upmarket British newspaper.

International Herald Tribune Historical Archive, 1888-2013: Sold in over 160 countries and read worldwide, the International Herald Tribune is one of the most innovative and original newspapers, famous for its objective and clear coverage. Bringing an international perspective, it provides a valuable counterpoint to the Anglo-American press, adding a new dimension to research. This resource features the complete run of the International Herald Tribune from its origins as the European Edition of The New York Herald and later the European Edition of the New York Herald Tribune. The archive ends with the last issue of the International Herald Tribune before its relaunch as the International New York Times.

The Jet Magazine Archive: Covers the civil rights movement, politics, education, and other social topics with an African American focus. It includes over 3,000 issues providing a broad view of news, culture, and entertainment from its first issue in 1951 through to 2014. Users can search across the articles using full-text search, or select specific issues, years or themes. Each article is indexed with relevant keywords. Researchers can also view images and advertisements within each issue. Current coverage covers in the 1980s decade, with additional issues being released over the next coming months.

The Listener Historical Archive, 1929-1991A weekly magazine which was established by the BBC in 1929 under its director-general, Lord Reith. It was developed as the medium for reproducing broadcast talks, initially on radio, but in later years television as well, and was the intellectual counterpart to the BBC listings magazine Radio Times. The Listener is one of the few records and means of accessing the content of many early broadcasts. In addition to commenting on the intellectual broadcasts of the week, the Listener also previewed major literary and musical shows and regularly reviewed new books.

Picture Post Historical Archive, 1938-1957: The Picture Post Historical Archive comprises the complete archive of the Picture Post from its first issue in 1938 to its last in 1957—all digitized from originals in full colour.

Picture Post’s innovative use of photo-journalism captured the imagination of the British people, with readership at its peak estimated at 80% of the population. In the era before television, it became the window on the world for ordinary people, bringing the major social and political issues of the day into popular consciousness.

Punch Historical Archive, 1841-1992: From 1841 to 1992, Punch was the world’s most celebrated magazine of wit and satire. From its early years as a campaigner for social justice to its transformation into national icon, Punch played a central role in the formation of British identity—and how the rest of the world saw the British nation.

We have also purchased access to additional years of newspaper content for the following:


New online newspaper resources: global

Screenshot of the landing page of Caribbean Newspapers 1718-1876

Screenshot of the landing page

Afghan Central Press Digital Archive: The Afghan Central Press collection brings together four national, Kabul-based publications of Afghanistan whose long runs and prominence provide a concentrated vantage point for understanding developments in Afghanistan for much of the twentieth century. The English-language Kabul Times is presented alongside Pushto publications Anīs (انیس, Companion), Hewād (هیواد, Homeland), and Iṣlāḥ (اصلاح, Reform). Together, the archives of these newspapers provide a chronicle of events from the fall of the Kingdom of Afghanistan, the establishment of the People’s Democratic Republic of Afghanistan, the Soviet invasion, the rise of the Mujahedeen, the establishment of the Taliban and Al Qaeda, invasion by the United States and the ensuing period of reconstruction from the view of the capital.

Al-Ahram Digital Archive (1875-2020): Founded in 1875, Al-Ahram (الأهرام‎) is one of the most prominent Arabic newspapers in the Middle East, with a legacy as Egypt’s most authoritative and influential national daily. Al-Ahram established itself as a high-quality journalistic venture during the mid-20th century reporting across the political, social, economic and cultural scope of the nation. After President Nasser nationalized the Egyptian press in 1960, readers generally considered the paper the de facto voice of the central government. Al-Ahram has long featured contributions from many of the Arab world’s most important literary figures and intellectuals: Naguib Mahfouz, Edward Said, Yusuf Idris, Taha Hussein, Ahmed Lutfi el-Sayed, and Azmi Bishara among them, as well as nationalist leaders such as Mustafa Kamil and Saad Zaghlul. Influential forward-leaning contemporary writers such as Sabah Hamamou are also affiliated with the paper. The newspaper over its history successfully expanded to circulate content from around the world, printing international editions as well as Arabic-language editions of the daily. The Al-Ahram Digital Archive features full page-level digitization, with page-views and searchable text. It offers scholars Arabic and English interfaces, options to download or print pages in high resolution, and features to crowd-source improvements to the OCRed text.

Caribbean Newspapers, Series 1, 1718-1876: Created in cooperation with the American Antiquarian Society, this collection gives scholars access to more than 150 years of Caribbean and Atlantic history, cultures and daily life. Featuring more than 140 newspapers from 22 islands, it chronicles the region’s evolution across two centuries through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative information, letters, poetry, advertisements, obituaries and other news items. Most titles are in English but a number of Spanish, French, and Danish language titles are also provided. Also included are newspapers from the North Atlantic island of Bermuda.

Cumhuriyet Digital Archive (1924-2020): Established in May 1924, Cumhuriyet (“The Republic”) is the oldest secular Turkish daily newspaper and is widely considered one of the last remaining opposition newspapers in Turkey. Founded by journalist Yunus Nadi Abalıoğlu at the initiative of Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Cumhuriyet was the first newspaper of the Turkish Republic and promoted a belief in democracy, secularism and the rule of law.

Since its foundation, Cumhuriyet has stood witness to the changing landscape of Turkey’s political, social and economic environment. Despite the challenges of these times, the institution of Cumhuriyet has sustained its coverage of domestic and international news, providing critical documentation of Turkey’s dynamic history and its relations with the global community. The newspaper has a daily circulation of over 30,000 and receives roughly 25 million visitors to its website each month. It is one of the most influential newspapers in Turkey and is regarded by domestic and foreign readers as a reliable source for impartial, intelligent news reporting.

Latin American Newspapers, Series 2 (1805-1922): This second series of digitised Latin American Newspapers significantly expands the number of searchable titles made available from this region in Series 1. It provides issues from more than 250 additional titles and contains newspapers published in English, Spanish and Portuguese from 20 countries, including some countries and cities not represented in the first series. Together, both series offer unprecedented coverage of the people, issues and events that shaped this vital area during the 19th and early 20th centuries. [Through eyewitness reporting, editorials, legislative information, letters, poetry, advertisements, matrimony notices and obituaries, this unique collection chronicles the evolution of Latin American culture and daily life across two centuries. In addition, these newspapers provide a wide range of viewpoints from diverse cultures.]

Kavkaz Digital Archive (DA-KVZ): ‘The newspaper Kavkaz (Кавказ, The Caucasus) was published during 1846-1918. It was the first Russian-language newspaper in the Caucasus, published in Tiflis (Tbilisi), Georgia. The main purpose of the newspaper was, on the one hand, to promote the Russian culture and Russian influence in the Caucasus, and on the other hand “to acquaint the Russian public with the life, habits and traditions of the tribes populating the province of the Caucasus.” Kavkaz published official documents of the Russian Empire, as well as many historical, cultural and archeological writings by prominent public and cultural figures of the local intelligentsia.’
Kavkaz Digital Archive is available on the Universal Database (UDB) platform and the Global Press Archive (GPA) platform; they provide a slightly different viewing experience but include the same content.

Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers Premium Collection (CRL-WIDE1): The MENA Premium collection package complements the freely available Middle Eastern and North African Newspapers Open Access collection. Comprising five prominent in-copyright newspapers from across the region, the MENA Premium collection spans the period of 1956-2019 and represents a collaboration between East View and the publishers of each title to make current, in-copyright material available to a global audience. MENA Premium Collection Titles include al-Akhbār (االخبار ,Lebanon, 2006-2019), al-Dustūr (الدستور ,Jordan, 1967-2000), al-Jumhūrīyah (الجمهورية ,Egypt, 1962-1986), al-Riyāḍ (الرياض ,Saudi Arabia, 1972-1996) and Filasṭīn (فلسطين , Israel/Palestine, 1956-1967).


Tip: To learn more about our newspaper eresources and how best to locate and find them, check out the Newspapers and other online news sources from the 17th – 21st centuries (LibGuide)


Modern British and US history

Screenshot of landing page of Archives of Sexuality and Gender I

Screenshot of landing page

Archives of Sexuality and Gender, part I: LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 This resource spans the sixteenth to twentieth centuries and is the largest digital collection of historical primary source publications relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality, and gender research and gender studies research. Documentation covering disciplines such as social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) communities around the world are included, as well as rare and unique books on sex and sexuality from the sciences to the humanities to support research and education. Oxford only has access to part I.

Chatham House Online Archive: Module 1: Publications and Archives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1920-1979 contains the publications and archives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House), the world-leading independent international affairs policy institute founded in 1920 following the Paris Peace Conference.The Institute’s analysis and research, as well as debates and speeches it has hosted, can be found in this online archive, subject-indexed and fully searchable.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: British Politics and Society: The British Politics and Society archive of Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO) is packed with primary source documentation that enhances a greater understanding and analysis of the development of urban centers and of the major restructuring of society that took place during the Industrial Revolution. The archive is composed of a number of individual collections, drawn together from a variety of sources.

Foreign Office Files for Japan: Module II: Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952: Published in three parts, this collection makes available extensive coverage of British Foreign Office files dealing with Japan between 1919 and 1952, shedding light on Anglo-Japanese ties in a time of shifting alliances. This second module covers the Occupation period (1946-1952). Following surrender at the end of the Second World War, Japan was occupied by Allied Powers for the first time in its history. The files for this period offer a British perspective on the creation of a democratic state in Japan and the enforcement of a new constitution. They include key British communications and reports covering topics such as war crime trials, reparations, and Japan’s economic recovery. They conclude in 1952, the year the Treaty of San Francisco normalised Anglo-Japanese relations and the first post-war British Ambassador to Japan, Esler Dening, was appointed. The majority of documents in this section are sourced from FO 371, with a smaller number from FO 262.

Topics covered include: disarmament, war crime trials, Japanese economy, trade and industry, occupational forces, liberation and the New Constitution, Japanese Post-War Political Parties, Peace Treaty and reestablishing diplomatic ties.


Global history

Screenshot of East India Company Catalogue of Original Correspondence, vol 1 1602-1613.

Screenshot of page 1, East India Company Catalogue of Original Correspondence, vol 1, 1602-1613, Adam Matthew Digital.

Cambridge Archive Editions Online: presents a wealth of historical reference materials in the form of many thousands of original documents of the National Archives (UK) represented in facsimile, including numerous maps, on the national heritage and political development of many countries. The value and discoverability of this content is enhanced immeasurably through CAE’s document-level citations and rich indexing. For many years CAE has specialized in the history of the Middle East, Russia and the Balkans, the Caucasus, Southeast Asia, and China and the Far East. Now, through collaboration between Cambridge University Press and East View, these materials are made searchable and accessible in e-book form.

Includes China Political Reports, 1911-1960 and China Political Reports, 1961-1970, which draw together the periodic political reports sent by British officials based in China back to the British Foreign Office.

Chatham House Online Archive: Module 1: Publications and Archives of the Royal Institute of International Affairs, 1920-1979 (see above)

Database of Chinese Classics 中國基本古籍庫 (Erudition): includes 10,000 titles in 12,500 editions from the pre-Qin period through to the Republican period. All texts are provided in full text and image format, allowing for a direct comparison both between digitized text and original text image, and in some cases between different editions of the text. The full-text and images from a variety of subject areas organized into four sections: Philosophy and Science, History and Geography, Art and Literature, and General Works.

Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library: Literature, Grammar, Language, Catalogues, and Periodicals: Early Arabic Printed Books from the British Library (1475-1900) is the first full-text searchable digital library of early printed books in Arabic script. It is presented in 3 modules with this module (number 3) including periodicals, folktales, pre-Islamic literature (Antar, Bani Hilal, Imru’l qays), Islamic poetry and prose (al-Burdah), poetry and prose (maqamat), Kalilah wa-dimnah, Luqman, proverbs and sayings, Thousand and one nights, later literature, poetry and prose, general literature, as well as language and lexicography, dictionaries, grammar, syntax, rhetoric, ‘ilm al-bayan, catalogues and manuscript catalogues amongst others.

East India Company Part IV which covers the correspondence of the early voyages and formation and conflictbetween 1600 and 1858. This module consists of 793 volumes, comprising original, draft and abstracted correspondence from IOR Class E plus their associated H- and Z-class indexes, and the Z-class indexes for the Madras and Bombay Presidencies.

It includes correspondence between the East India Company and the Board of Commissioners for the Affairs of India, the Company’s various settlements and Presidencies throughout Asia, government departments, and European houses of agency. The records offer a fascinating insight into the early voyages of the Company and its shifting interests from trade to the gaining of territorial power, and are interspersed with a number of petitions, reports (including quarterly ‘Narratives of Proceedings’ produced by regional administrations), financial accounts, inventories and other documents.

Oxford now has East India Company (Modules I-IV).

Foreign Office Files for Japan: Module II: Occupation of Japan, 1946-1952: (see above)

Grand Secretariat Archives: The archives of the Grand Secretariat currently housed at the Institute were originally kept at the Grand Secretariat Storehouse in the Ch’ing imperial palace. They were removed from the Storehouse when it underwent renovation in 1909. After the overthrow of the Ch’ing, these archives changed hands several times, and were, at one point, even sold to a paper recycling factory. Eventually, the Institute purchased them from Li Sheng-to, a book collector, in1929 thanks to the efforts of Fu Ssu-nien, the Institute’s first director.
There are over four thousand Ming (1368-1644) documents and more than three hundred thousand volumes of Ch’ing (1644-1911) archival materials in this collection, including imperial decrees, edicts, memorials, tribute document, examination questions, examination papers, rosters of successful examination candidates, documents from the offices of the Grand Secretariat, documents from the offices for book compilation, and old documents from Mukden. Memorials make up the bulk these documents.
The archives contain valuable source materials for institutional, social and economic historians. They record general administrative activities and legal cases, many of which cannot be found in Ch’ing legal compendia.
Related links:

Book launch 24 February: The Global Merchants by Joseph Sassoon

Join Joseph Sassoon in conversation with Professor Abigail Green (Brasenose College, Oxford) for the launch of his new book, The Global Merchants: The Enterprise and Extravagance of the Sassoon Dynasty (Allen Lane, 24 Feb 2022) (9780241388648).

Thursday 24 February, 5.15-6.15pm, Lecture Theatre, Weston Library

Book your free ticket now.Cover of J. Sassoon's Global Merchant book.

Joseph Sassoon opens the family archives to tell the story of one of the great business dynasties in the East of the nineteenth century.

The Sassoons were Jewish exiles from Ottoman Baghdad who forged a mercantile juggernaut from their new home in colonial Bombay.

In the process they formed a vast network of agents, informants and politicians and came to bridge East and West, culturally as well as commercially.

New: Military Architecture 1600-1900

S. Vauban, Traité de l’attaque et de la défense des places (La Haye, 1743). Military Architecture 1600-1900 (Leiden, 2018), accessed 8 July 2019, http://primarysources.brillonline.com/browse/military-architecture-1600-1900.

I’m pleased to report that Oxford researchers now have access to Brill’s Military Architecture 1600-1900.

This online resource contains 99 printed works which represent the revolutionary developments in fortification in Early Modern Europe in theory and in practice.

The collection covers not only military architecture, but to some extent also the military arts (artillery, army camps, siege) and military and some naval history. While it focuses on early modern history, there are translations of works from Ancient Rome and there is at least one book on medieval military architecture (A. Hamilton Thompson, Military Architecture in England during the Middle Ages. London, 1912). A number of early modern printed books were published before 1600.

It’s possible to search the full-text of the entire collection or of individual books, but bear in mind that the collection comprises works in different languages, including Latin, and may use old language and orthography. Likewise, the rendering of the text from early modern print-type has not always been successful, so it pays to browse the books and read texts to get a sense of the content.

Many works will include illustrations of buildings, fortifications, harbours, etc. It does not appear to be possible to search for these separately.

Obsedio Bredana Armis Phillippi IIII (Antwerpen, 1629), p.9. Military Architecture 1600-1900 (Leiden, 2018), accessed 8 July 2019, http://primarysources.brillonline.com/bowse/military-architect

You will be able to copy the OCRed text of any selections or of a page; you can also download the ebook, or selections of it, as a zipped file; and you can share the link to the resource via email and social media.

Citations can be saved to Endnote and RefWorks, but also seem to work with Zotero.

More about the content

“Similar to the arts, military architecture was split up in national schools or styles, so called fortification manners.The works of Busca, Cattaneo, De Marchi, Tensini, Theti, Zanchi, reflect the Italian School, Errard and Perret the French one and Specklin’s Architektur von Vestungen is an adaptation of the Italian school in Germany.

Stevin’s Sterctenbouwing discusses Cattaneo, Theti and Specklin to assess the benefits of their fortification systems for the Low Countries. The later French school is well represented by Pagan and the works of probably the most famous engineer of all times, Vauban. His various “fortification manners” were applied all over Europe and beyond.

While these works in Military Architecture 1600-1900 allow for a comparative analysis in text and image of European fortification schools, others focus on more local conditions such as Stevin’s works in Dutch and French on the role of pivoted sluices in the fortifications of various harbor towns.

Moreover, Military Architecture 1600-1900 provides insight in the training of fortification in theory and practice for multiple “user-groups”. While the works of the classical authors Caesar, Valturius and Vegetius were used for the philological study of the military arts at universities, the reality of warfare required for training of practical skills for engineers and landsurveyors in the field. Translations of Euclid, works on the practice of geometry and landsurveying (Mallet, Nienrode, Metius, Sems&Dou) were filling that gap. Although Military Architecture 1600-1900 represents the protagonists of the history of fortification, it also includes lesser known authors such as Bruist, Capo-Bianco, Gaya, Gerbier and Pfeffinger. Moreover, the selection does not limit itself to military architecture, but includes the military arts (artillery, army camps, siege) and history.” (Military Architecture, Leiden and Boston: Brill, 2018, accessed 8 July 2019 http://primarysources.brillonline.com/browse/military-architecture-1600-1900).

The breakdown of titles per country is as follows:

  • Netherlands: 46 titles
  • France: 25 titles
  • Italy: 14 titles
  • Germany: 13 titles
  • England: 1 title

Military Architecture 1600-1900 is now accessible via SOLO or via Databases A-Z. Enjoy!

New resources for 19th century historians: NCCO: Women: Transnational Networks and NCCO: British Theatre, Music, and Literature

The Bodleian Libraries have committed substantial external funding to a one-off set of purchases of electronic research resources deemed to be important to researchers in the University.  This follows a project to identify desiderata across all subjects and to list suggestions from readers.  The list includes items costing up to £125k which cannot easily be covered by recurrent budgets.  The first tranche of purchases includes a number of important primary sources from Gale Cengage, including NCCO: Women: Transnational Networks, together with their new Gale Digital Scholar Lab, which will allow digital research methods to be applied across all the primary sources published by them and acquired by the Bodleian Libraries.

As part of those purchases, the following resources useful for 19th and 20th centuries history are now available in Oxford via SOLO or Databases A-Z.

  • NCCO: Women: Transnational Networks
  • NCCO: British Theatre, Music, and Literature

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Women: Transnational Networks

Issues of gender and class ignited nineteenth-century debate in the context of suffrage movements, culture, immigration, health and many other concerns. Using a wide array of primary source documents (serials, books, manuscripts, diaries, reports, and visuals) this resource focuses on issues at the intersection of gender and class from the late-eighteenth century to the era of suffrage in the early-twentieth century, all through a transnational perspective. The collection contains deep information on European and North American movements, but also expands its scope to include collections from other regions.

Researchers and scholars will find rare content related to:

  • Social reform movements and groups
  • High and popular culture
  • Literature and the arts
  • Immigration
  • Daily life
  • Religion

Source libraries include the Library of Congress, the London School of Economics and Political Science Library, and the Library of the Society of Friends.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture

This resource features a wide range of primary sources related to the arts in the Victorian era, from playbills and scripts to operas and complete scores. These rare documents, many of them never before available, were sourced from the British Library and other renowned institutions, and curated by experts in British arts history. Covering more than a century, British Theatre, Music, and Literature is without equal as a resource for 19th century scholars. These rare documents, many of them never before available, were sourced from the British Library and other renowned institutions, and curated by experts in British arts history.

It provides a detailed look at the state of the British art world with, for example, not only manuscripts and compositions, but also documents such as personal letters, annotated programs, meeting minutes, and financial records, offering scholars an unmatched glimpse into the inner workings of the arts world and life in Victorian Britain.

While you are here:

New: The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000 and British Library Newspapers Part III-IV

I am delighted to announce that Oxford researchers now have access to two online newspaper resources which have long been on our desiderata: The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000 and British Library Newspapers Part III-IV. These are now accessible via SOLO or Databases A-Z > Newspapers.

The Bodleian Libraries have committed substantial external funding to a one-off set of purchases of electronic research resources deemed to be important to researchers in the University. This follows a project to identify desiderata across all subjects and to list suggestions from readers. The list includes items costing up to £125,000 which cannot easily be covered by recurrent budgets. The first tranche of purchases includes a number of important primary sources from Gale Cengage, including British Library newspapers parts III and IV and The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000.

The Telegraph Historical Archive 1855-2000

This is a searchable digital archive of what was once the world’’s largest selling newspaper. Researchers and students can full text search across 1 million pages of the newspaper’s’ backfile from its first issue to the end of 2000, including issues of the Sunday Telegraph from 1961.

The newspaper was directed at a wealthy, educated readership and is commonly associated with traditional Toryism, despite its more ‘liberal’ beginnings especially in regard to foreign policy. Under the editorship of poet and Orientalist Edwin Arnold (from 1873 to 1899), the paper published widely on foreign affairs and foreign cultures. This led to The Telegraph’s coverage of Henry Morton Stanley’s expedition to Africa in search of David Livingstone, which it co-sponsored with the New York Herald.

Daily Telegraph notable highlights include:

The Kaiser Wilhelm affair: On 28 October 1908, the Daily Telegraph published an infamous interview with Kaiser Wilhelm, the German chancellor who alienated the British public with such uncensored comments as ‘you English are mad, mad, mad as march hares.’

Telegraph trial - Kaiser Wilhelm snippet 28 Oct 1908

“The German Emperor and England”, Daily Telegraph, Wed. 28 Oct. 1908, Issue 16694, p.11

The cryptic crossword puzzle: the crossword was circulated to recruit Allied codebreakers during the Second World War and was published in The Telegraph on January 13, 1942.

British Library Newspapers, Parts I-IV (1732-1950)

In addition to Parts I and II, researchers now also have access to parts III and IV of the British Library Newspapers which has more English, Welsh and Scottish regional and local newspaper content online into the first half of the 20th century. Interesting titles include:

  • Aberdeen Journal (1901-1939)
  • Bath Chronicle and Weekly Gazette (1749-1950)
  • Cambridge Independent Press (1839-1920)
  • The Cornishman (1878-1950)
  • Derby Daily Telegraph (1879-1950)
  • The Exeter and Plymouth Gazette (1827-1950)
  • Essex Newsman (1870-1950)
  • Hereford Journal (1781-1867)
  • Leeds Times (1833-1901)
  • The Norfolk Chronicle (1776-1867)
  • The Nottingham Evening Post (1878-1950)
  • The Salisbury and Winchester Journal (1775-1867)
  • The Salisbury and Winchester Journal (1827-1950)
  • The Western Times (1827-1950)

Researchers may be more familiar with the British Newspaper Archive (BNA) which provides access to digitised regional and local British newspapers. While searching in teh BNA is free, and, indeed, useful to locate a citation, it requires an individual subscription to see the content. If that is the case, please check the Library purchased British Library Newspapers. Please note we still don’t have Part V of British Library Newspapers and that BNA has content which is not available in any parts of British Library Newspapers. Confusing, or what? Join the club!

While you are here:

Trials until 13 February: ‘Public petitions 1813-1918’ and ‘House of Lords Papers 1800-1910’

Colleagues in Official Papers, Bodleian Law Library, have organised two trials which may be of interest to historians and are now available via the UK Parliamentary Papers (UKPP) database in SOLO. Please send feedback to Hannah Chandler by 13 February when the trials end.

Trial 1: Public petitions, 1833-1918

Trial 2: new content added to the existing House of Lords material ‘House of Lords papers 1800-1910’. Please note we have access to House of Lords papers from 1900 to the present via Public Information Online.

To search in either of these trials, use the Advanced Search in UKPP.

Learn about UKPP and sign up for the Bodleian iSkills UK Parliamentary and Government materials – an introduction, Wed 23. Jan. @ 10-11.30am.

Public petitions, 1833-1918

Public Petitions to Parliament, 1833-1918 is an online module of Parliamentary Papers covering the records of the Select Committee on Public Petitions, 1833-1918. It includes individually rekeyed metadata records for every one of the >900,000 petitions accepted by Parliament and includes the full text of each petition that the Committee transcribed. Integrated fully with U.K. Parliamentary Papers, this collection shows how “the people” during the 19th C influenced Parliament on political, ecclesiastical, colonial, taxation, and many other topics relevant to the study of Britain and the British Empire within a range of different disciplines within the historical and social studies.

Petitioning was by far the most popular form of political participation, but it has long been overlooked by historians and social scientists preoccupied with elections and election rituals, campaigns to extend the right to vote, and the rise of national political parties.  Utility of public petitions can be used to study the groundswell of public pressure for the expansion of the voting franchise and also to see  the views and priorities of both the populace and Parliament. How Parliament addresses the petition, or doesn’t address it, is a stark indicator of political and social priorities.

Containing petitions on ecclesiastical issues, crime and criminals, colonies, taxation, education, and on every other issue of interest to the populace of Britain, this project appeals to all social, cultural, and religious scholars of Britain. From religious scholars interested on Methodism and the Church of England, scientists concerned with pollution and pollution controls during the Industrial Revolution, and sociologists concerned with how these issues were influenced by and influenced the People, the popular constitutionalism inherent in this collection (as opposed to the “top down” approach to looking at history), is at the cutting edge of historical research today and has wide appeal across campus.” From ProQuest LibGuide UK Parliamentary Papers (https://proquest.libguides.com/parliamentary/petitions, accessed 21/1/2019).

As petitions are public responses to laws and contribute to the debate and formulation thereof, they add fantastic context to parliamentary proceedings. For instance, the current great flurry of petitions relating to Brexit are testament to the strength of feeling experienced amongst the British population in the country. Having access to historic petitions in the same database as historic parliamentary papers and debates (Hansard) will make it easier for historians to understand the national debate. You will also learn of individuals who were politically active locally and, for a brief period in the petition, also nationally. To find out more about individuals, you could search the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography ODNB Oxford subscribers only) or, if they are not important enough to get into the ODNB, try the British Biographical Archive which is in World Biographical Information System WBIS (Oxford subscribers only).

You can search for historic public petitions in a variety of ways, including keyword searching and limiting, by the use of filters, to particular characteristics of the petitioner (e.g. names signatories, lobbying organizations, MP sponsoring petition, etc.):

Searching for “children” in Petition titles. From ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers, Public Petitions 1830-1918.

Please note that in the vast majority of cases you will only see a summary report of petitions compiled by the Select Committee on Public Petitions. Only 400 petitions in UKPP have the full-text of the original petition, added as an appendix to the Select Committee’s reports. If you wish, you are able to limit your search to find only the full-text appendices.

Searching for Petitions to repeal the Corn Laws with Appendix Full-Text. From ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers, Public Petitions 1830-1918.

Merchants, Manufacturers, and other Inhabitants of the township of Gomersal, in the county of York; Corn Laws – For Repeal; Petition no 96. January 27, 1840. Parliament: 1837-41. Second Report of the Select Committee. From ProQuest UK Parliamentary Papers, Public Petitions 1830-1918.

Find out more:

New: The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas

Our wonderful colleagues in the Vere Harmsworth Library have also arranged permanent access to the eresource collection The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas.

They write:

“We’re delighted that once again thanks to a generous donation, we now have access to another new eresource collection: The War of 1812: Diplomacy on the High Seas.

Part of the Cengage Archives Unbound platform, this collection contains records and papers from the US National Archives and US State Department. The bulk of these date from 1812-1814 and include letters of marque to private vessels engaged in the conflict, passenger lists, passport records, and correspondence relating to prisoners of war.

Access is available via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University members can use single sign-on for remote access.”

Trial until 23 May: Vestnik Evropy – a Russian literary and political journal

Nick Hearn, French and Slavonic Subject Specialist in the Taylor Institution Library, is running a trial of the online Vestnik Evropy. The journal is not just a literary one but contains much of interest about Russian politics and foreign relations. This might therefore be of interest to historians. The trial is now available via OxLIP+.

Vestnik Evropy (DA-VE) (trial until 23 May 2018)

This electronic resource, covering the years 1802-1830, complements our printed set of Vestnik Evropy (Viestnik Evropy) held at the Taylorian which starts in 1866 and continues up to the Revolution. The journal Vestnik Evropy is among the earliest and most influential literary and political journals of Russia. The founder of the journal was the writer and historian Nikolai Karamzin.

Please send feedback to nick.hearn@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.