New eresources: history of slavery, disability, sexuality – Apartheid South Africa – Palestine and Israel – Imperial China – C20 Japan – Eastern European LGBTQ – Churchill

We are delighted to announce that researchers now have access to more eresources supporting the study of global history and the history of underrepresented minorities. The resources are veritable treasure troves of documents, reports, maps, letters, ephemera and more. They have a global coverage from the Far East, Middle East, Africa, Europe and the Americas.

In line with the Bodleian Libraries’ strategy (pdf) 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.

Thsee resources and others in our ever-growing list of source databases are all accessible via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University staff and students also have remote access using their Single-Sign On (SSO) credentials.

Diversity & inclusion

History of disabilities (Archives unbound)

Front page of History of Disabilities, showing a search box with a colour background of some of the content in the resource, e.g The Battle Creek Sanitarium

History of Disabilities: Disabilities in Society, Seventeenth to Twentieth Century provides historical evidence demonstrating how society has interacted with and regarded individuals considered to have disabilities.

The resources provides online access to digitised books, manuscripts, and ephemera that provide a historical view of disabilities from the seventeenth to twentieth century.
Some materials include personal memoirs of experiences with disabilities or the accounts of those who treated them. Rehabilitation, treatments, methods of education, and other forms of remediation are documented.

Reports and proceedings of organizations and institutions that sought to help or heal those with disabilities are available for review. Policies and programs concerning persons with disabilities are also available (i.e. labor laws, legal rights, rehabilitation programs, etc.).

Researchers can examine disability as a form of institutional discrimination and social exclusion as well as an empowered movement. Documentation shows how people deemed to be disabled were classified and treated, while some materials show how people have overcome physical or mental challenges in their lives and challenged perceptions of what it means to be disabled.

Want more? See also our Disability History Resources guide (LibGuide).

Archives of Sexuality and Gender: Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century [accompanies Archives of Sexuality and Gender LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940 Part I and Part II]
This resource looks at gender and sexuality in the centuries leading up to, and inclusive of, the period covered in Archives of Sexuality and Gender Parts I and II, providing context to the materials in those collections. It examines topics such as patterns of fertility and sexual practice; prostitution; religion and sexuality; the medical and legal construction of sexualities; and the rise of sexology. It not only offers a reflection of the cultural and social attitudes of the past, but also a window into how sexuality and gender roles were viewed and changed over time.

Coloured etching of a coloured woman flagellating a white woman

From The Exhibition of Female Flagellants. [With plates.]. London: Theresa Berkley, [c. 1840].
Image Source: The Private Case of the British Library

Three unique collections make up the archive:

  • The Private Case from the British Library, comprised of printed books segregated from the main library from the 1850s to 1990 on grounds of obscenity. It is an interesting study in social mores as the definition of obscenity has seen many changes since the mid-nineteenth-century.
  • Special Subject Units from Sex Research: Early Literature from Statistics to Erotica, a collection from the Alfred C. Kinsey Institute for Sex Research dating from 1700 to 1860. This is a portion of Dr. Kinsey’s original library which he used to study human sexual behavior from a variety of academic and literary viewpoints.
  • A collection of rare and unique books from the New York Academy of Medicine, consisting of more than 1,400 monographs covering a variety of topics in sex, sexuality and gender studies. From sex education to erotica, manners to medicine, the Academy collection offers a rich combination of materials from the humanities to the hard sciences.

The archive presents content in fourteen different languages, with a predominance in French, English, and German and including Old French, Old English, and Old High German.

Want more? See also our Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies resources guide (LibGuide)

Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive, part III: The Institution of Slavery [accompanies part II: Slave Trade in the Atlantic World]
The Institution of Slavery module explores, in vivid detail, the inner workings of slavery from 1492 to 1888. Through legal documents, plantation records, first-person accounts, newspapers, government records, and other primary sources, this collection reveals how enslaved people struggled against the institution. These rare works explore slavery as a legal and labor system, the relationship between slavery and religion, freed slaves, the Shong Massacre, the Demerara insurrection, and many other aspects and events.

A written personal account account from an interview between George Arnold and Samuel Bell.

Indiana Narratives, Volume V. n.d. TS, Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project: Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project. Library of Congress. Slavery and Anti-Slavery: A Transnational Archive (accessed August 9, 2024).

The material contained in this module include:

  • Edward Dixon Papers
  • Edmund Ruffin diaries, 1856-1865
  • J.F.H. Claiborne Papers, 1818-1885
  • John J. Crittenden Papers, 1783-1913
  • Blair family papers, 1755-1968
  • British Library Collections II
  • Caribbean Documents collection, 1699-1959
  • Court Cases and other documents from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History
  • Office of Registry of Colonial Slaves and Slave Compensation Commission: Records
  • Records related to Slavery from the Colonial Office, Commonwealth and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices, Empire Marketing Board, and related bodies
  • Records related to Slavery from the Exchequer, and its related bodies
  • Records related to Slavery from the Court of King’s Bench, Privy Council, and Treasury: Selected Records
  • Records of the Senate Select Committee that Investigated John Brown’s Raid at Harper’s Ferry, Virginia
  • Apellate Case File No. 3230, Dred Scott v. Sandford, 60 US 393 (19 Howard 393), Decided March 6, 1857 and Related Records
  • Rice C. Ballard Papers
  • Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers’ Project
  • Records of East Florida
  • Benjamin Tappan Papers
  • Caleb Cushing Papers
  • James Henry Hammond Papers

Want more? See also our American History resources guide and Caribbean Studies guide.

Eastern European LGBTQ Ephemera Collection
This collection of ephemera (brochures, clothing items, booklets, flyers, etc.) offers important insights into LGBTQ activism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans in the past decade. It includes 140 items (more than 2,000 pages) of valuable research materials collected by East View in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Serbia.

Asia and Middle East

China and the Modern World: Imperial China and the West, Part II, 1865–1905 [accompanies Part I, 1815-1881]
Provides access to British Foreign Office General Correspondence relating to China. The material relates to the internal politics of China and Britain, their relationship, and the relationships among other Western powers— keen to benefit from the growing trading ports of the Far East—and China’s neighbours in East Asia, South Asia, and Southeast Asia.

The FO 17 series provides a vast and significant resource for researching every aspect of China-West relations during the nineteenth century, ranging from diplomacy and war, to trade, piracy, riots and rebellions within China, international law, treaty ports and informal empire, transnational emigration, and translation and cross-cultural communication.

Want more? See also our Chinese Studies guide.

Foreign Office Files for Japan: Module III: Japan and Great Power Status, 1919-1930[accompanies Module II: Occupation of Japan 1946-1952]
Contains British Foreign Office files relating to Japan between 1919 and 1930. In 1919, as a vital member of the Allied Powers, Japan found itself occupying a new position of international power within a reorganized world order. The files in this section trace the development of this power and Japan’s relationship with the West during a decade of turbulent economic, political and social change in the wake of the First World War. Beginning with the Paris Peace Conference and the ‘Shantung Question’, the files offer insight into the events of the 1920s, from the termination of the Anglo-Japanese Alliance, the devastation of the Kantō Earthquake, and the end of the Taishō democracy, to the beginning of the Shōwa period, financial crisis and Japan’s increasingly imperialist policies in Manchuria.

"Principal Roads Japan"; map showing national highways (numbered) and other major roads; also showing cities (names), towns and villages.

Images including crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England.

Want more? See our Japanese Studies guide.

East India Company Module 6: Board of Commissioners: Establishment of the Board [accompanies previous parts]

This module contains 1257 documents comprising of the correspondence of the Board of Commissioners along with IOR/Z/F/4 index volumes. These documents offer valuable insight into the Company’s decisions in the political, financial and military aspects of controlling the East India Company’s vast territory. It also places the India Office into the wider global context of the company’s influence.

A digitised handwritten letter of 21 November 1812 regarding the progress of vaccation.

Correspondence regarding the progress of vaccination in the Bengal Presidency, Apr-Nov 1812. East India Company, IOR/F/4/427. Adam Matthew

Highlights of Module 6 include:

  • Letters regarding vaccination in Bengal IOR/F/4/427/10455
  • Letters discussing the sample of Bourbon cotton sent to the Directors IOR/F/4/840/22475
  • Material about the establishment of Hindu Colleges at Nadia in Bengal IOR/F/4/408/10172
  • Communications between the Nepal government and the Court of the Chinese Emperor at Peking IOR/F/4/809/21721
  • Discussion of the plants and seeds sent from the Calutta Botanic Garden to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew IOR/F/4/540/12989
  • Documents relating ot the introduction of new native commissioned rank of Subador Major IOR/F/4/565/13914

Want more? See also our South Asia studies guide.

Baghdad Observer Digital Archive (1967-1996)
The official English-language newspaper of the Iraqi government from its establishment after the 1963 coup and through the Ba’athist period following 1968, until it ended publication in 2003 due to the Iraq War. It covered significant events in Middle Eastern history, including the Iranian Revolution (1978-1979), the presidency of Saddam Hussein (1979-2003), the Iran-Iraq War (1980-1988), and the Gulf War (1990-1991).

Palestine and Israel: Records of the US Department of State, 1945-1959 (Archives Unbound)
This archive traces the period that saw the end of the British mandate in Palestine. Documents address the role of the Security Council and General Assembly of the United Nations and that of the United States in the creation of the state of Israel. Included here are the Palestine Reference files of Dean Rusk and Robert McClintock, as well as documents from the Mission of the United States in Tel-Aviv. The years 1955-1959 contain instructions and correspondences of the U.S. Department of State.

Most of the State Department’s internal documentation as well as correspondence between the State Department and other federal departments and agencies, in addition to documents from private individuals and organizations, are included in the central files. Documents types comprise official and unofficial correspondence, inquiries, memoranda, situation reports and studies, special reports, and telegrams. The files offer insight into a range of subjects including the politics, laws, military, economy, industry, natural resources, public works, and media of Palestine and Israel. The documents in this collection are sourced from the Central Files of the General Records of the Department of State.

Egypt and the Rise of Nationalism
Includes more than 4,000 primary source documents from the UK National Archives relating to the period of the British military occupation in Egypt. Consisting of British Foreign Office, Cabinet Office and War Office files. This collection captures the development of nationalist sensibilities, movements, and publications in Egypt from the 1870s until the third decade of the twentieth century, culminating with the formal dissolution of the British protectorate in 1924.

Muteferriqa
An online research portal containing an exceptionally rich collection of printed materials published in the Ottoman Empire from the 18th to mid-20th century. It consists of virtually all the books and a large majority of periodicals ever printed in Ottoman Turkish.

Want more? See our Middle Eastern and Islamic Studies guide.

Africa

Apartheid South Africa 1948-1994. Section 1, 1948-1966
British government files from the Foreign, Colonial, Dominion, and Foreign and Commonwealth Offices. These previously restricted letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activists’ biographies and first-hand accounts of events give unprecedented access to the history of South Africa’s apartheid regime. The files explore the relationship of the international community with South Africa and chart increasing civil unrest against a backdrop of waning colonialism in Africa and mounting world condemnation.

African Liberation Committee Activities in Relation to High Commission Territories, REF DO 216/41

Images including crown copyright images reproduced by courtesy of The National Archives, London, England. www.nationalarchives.gov.uk

Want more? See also our African Studies guide.

Britain and Europe

Bloomsbury Churchill Archive: Churchill Acquired Papers [accompanies Churchill Archives]
The Churchill Acquired Papers contain more than 1,700 documents, spanning previously unseen items such as personal letters, speech notes and diary entries. This resource further enhances the insights that the Churchill Archive has to offer.

  • Notes for Churchill’s first political speech in 1897
  • Letters sent during Churchill’s time at the Western Front in 1916
  • The Prime Minister’s appointment diary for 1944
  • Material regarding the bombing of Dresden in 1945
  • Notes on Churchill’s famed Iron Curtain Speech of 1946

Want more? See also our History (British & West European) guide.

Eastern European LGBTQ Ephemera Collection
This collection of ephemera (brochures, clothing items, booklets, flyers, etc.) offers important insights into LGBTQ activism in Eastern Europe and the Balkans in the past decade. It includes 140 items (more than 2,000 pages) of valuable research materials collected by East View in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland and Serbia.

Klassiki
This is a video-on-demand platform which is dedicated exclusively to cinema from Eastern Europe – including Ukraine, Russia, and the Baltics – the Caucasus and Central Asia. Klassiki features a library of over 100 titles, spanning silent cinema to the 2020s, a film Pick of the Week feature, and a Journal area of related content including interviews, essays and national cinema overviews. A potentially useful resource to students of film, visual culture and modern languages.

You will need to register the first time you use this resource.

Want more? See also our Film Studies guide.

While you are here, why not check out…

New: East African Newspapers

A guest blog post by Sarah Rhodes, African & Commonwealth Subject Librarian, Bodleian Libraries.

We are delighted that Oxford researchers and students now have access to the East African Newspapers dataset.

This exciting newspaper collection, recently acquired by the Bodleian Libraries, is provided by East View Information Services and sponsored by the Center for Research Libraries.

Overview:

[Information from the East View website]

The twentieth and early twenty-first centuries were a time of great change for Africa. In East Africa, this time witnessed the growth of decolonization as independence movements swelled, and local, autonomous self-governance took hold throughout the region. This period was also punctuated by famine, drought, political uprisings, border disputes, and war as countries worked to navigate the post-colonial landscape.

The East African Newspapers collection provides insight into this region during this critical time, featuring key newspapers from the region from the 1940s to the mid-2010s. This collection includes three titles: Daily Nation (Kenya), The Ethiopian Herald, and The Monitor (Uganda), accounting for over 34,000 issues and over 800,000 pages.

Newspaper scope:

Daily Nation (Nairobi): Daily Nation was first launched as a sister paper to the Swahili language Taifa in 1960 and rose quickly to be the highest circulating newspaper in Kenya. The newspaper covers the end of colonial rule, the rise of an independent Kenya, and the country’s rapid growth in the modern era.

The Ethiopian Herald (Addis Ababa): Founded in 1943, The Ethiopian Herald is a government-owned newspaper run by the Ethiopian Press Agency. The English-language paper covers the country’s transition from a monarchy through the communist era and into the present democratic republic.

The Monitor (Kampala): Founded in 1992, The Monitor (relaunched as The Daily Monitor in 2005) is considered Uganda’s leading independent newspaper. Among other domestic and international topics, the newspaper provides in-depth coverage of Yoweri Museveni’s lengthy reign as president.

Searching the collection:

The newspapers have been scanned in their original format and can be searched using keywords both within the newspaper images or text.  Searches can also be customised using the advanced search function with the options to refine by publication, language and date ranges.

The East African Newspapers collection is available via SOLO or Databases A-Z. University members should use Single Sign On for remote access. The individual newspapers are also discoverable in SOLO.

Sarah Rhodes, African & Commonwealth Subject Librarian, Bodleian Libraries.

While you are here, why not check out…

… other African newspaper resources in our Newspapers and other online news sources from the 17th – 21st centuries (LibGuide)

… Sarah’s excellent African resources (LibGuide).

all our subscription newspaper eresources (Databases A-Z)

New: Africa and the New Imperialism

Faded image of a black person superimposed over a manuscript excerpts and photo of a small steam boat.We are delighted to report that Oxford researchers now have access to Africa and the New Imperialism.

This Adam Matthew Digital resource documents the period of rapid colonial expansion by European powers across the African continent during the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Many documents come from the Bodleian Libraries collections, esp. the Papers of Frederick Dealtry Lugard, Baron Lugard of Abinger.

As well as digitised archives, diaries, logbooks, minutes, official records, petitions, reports, telegrams, and more, the resource has rich visual resources, such as maps, photographs, artwork, and film.

[From the Adam Matthew Digital: Nature and Scope]
From the accounts of missionaries and European explorers navigating the interior of the continent in the early nineteenth century; to the rise in European desire for increased power, empire and wealth culminating in the Berlin Conference 1885-1886; to the subsequent power struggles, negotiations and conflicts that raged across the continent at the turn of the twentieth century, the documents within Africa and the New Imperialism charts Africa’s encounters with European imperialist regimes and their impact on the lives of peoples across the continent.

Some collection highlights:

  • Diaries, journals and sketch books from key figures including David Livingstone, John Kirk and James Augustus Grant, whose sketchbooks from his Nile expedition are illustrated with watercolours of landscapes and peoples he encountered.
  • The journals of British soldier Major General Charles Gordon, which includes his final journal written before the fall of Khartoum to the Mahdist forces led by Muhammad Ahmad of Sudan.
  • Correspondence from Roger Casement and the resulting Casement Report which investigated, and confirmed, the atrocities committed in the Congo Free State under King Leopold II.
  • British Foreign Office files for the Berlin Conference, the event which ignited the spark of late-nineteenth century European imperialist efforts across Africa, including papers relating to European intervention in the Congo, the involvement of Belgium and Germany, and the Malet papers which include the private correspondence of Sir Edward Baldwin Malet who was the British Ambassador to the German court, 1884-1895.
  • The papers, photographs and correspondence of Frederick Lugard, a British soldier and administrator in Africa, covering British involvement in East Africa and West Africa from the 1870s to the early twentieth century. These are along with the papers of journalist and colonial commentator, Flora Shaw, Lugard’s wife.
  • Correspondence, journals and reports from French explorer Pierre Savorgnan de Brazza that provide insight into his expeditions to the Congo Basin; the establishment of the French Congo; de Brazza’s administration of the French Congo as Commissioner General; and de Brazza’s 1904 investigation into injustice, forced labour and brutality within the French Congo.
  • London Missionary Society correspondence from Central Africa and Matabeleland, including first-hand accounts of audiences with King Lobengula of the Ndebele people and the activities of the British South Africa Company controlled by Cecil Rhodes.
  • Imperialism
  • Slavery and forced labour
  • Diplomacy
  • Religion and missionaries
  • Race and ethnicity
  • War and violence
  • Resistance to colonialism
  • Technology and infrastructure

Each document within Africa and the New Imperialism has been tagged with a region. These regions have been designated in consultation with our editorial board, they are broad and are intended to provide support in browsing and navigating the documents presented within this resource. However, due to the nature of the material, many documents cover several regions and where this is the case, the most relevant regions have been added; there may be more regions covered by events within documents.

  • Central Africa
  • East Africa
  • Horn of Africa
  • North Africa
  • Southern Africa
  • West Africa
  • Rest of the World

Source libraries and archives

  • Archives nationales d’outre-mer
  • Bibliothèque nationale de France
  • Bodleian Library, University of Oxford
  • British Film Institute
  • British Library
  • National Library of Scotland
  • Sanford Museum, Florida
  • School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London
  • Senate House Library, University of London
  • The National Archives, UK
  • University of Birmingham Library

A variety of research tools provide further contextual information or guidance for teaching and research. From Essays and Biographies to Guide to Regions and Places and Guide to the Archival Collections, explore the options under Research Tools or view the full list in Teaching Tools.

Also of interest:

Finding critical readings on colonial history:

Key source databases

See Databases A-Z for more and our LibGuides on African newspapers.

Catalogue of Papers of Women Administrative Officers in Colonial Africa, 1944-1984 now online

Women Administrative Officers in Colonial Africa - online catalogue screenshotSpecial Collections colleagues in the Weston Library have released the online Catalogue of Papers of Women Administrative Officers in Colonial Africa, 1944-1984. This includes reminiscences, press cuttings, circulars, photographs and associated material of women who served in the Colonial Service in Africa and the West Indies (one contribution only from the West Indies), mainly relating to the years 1945 to 1960.

> Access the catalogue

“The papers in this collection were amassed by the Oxford Development Records Project (ODRP) (successor to the Oxford Colonial Records Project), which set out to preserve the reminiscences of women who had served as Administrative Assistants in the Colonial Service in various African territories.

Women Administrative Assistants were recruited by the Colonial Office for a period of about 10 years immediately after the Second World War, when there was a severe shortage of male officers, so these papers relate mainly to the years 1945 to 1960. The terms of employment were very different from their male counterparts’: women were only eligible for temporary posts, they had no chance of promotion and they were obliged to resign on marriage (with a very few exceptions, such as Dr. Beryl Steele (32) and Isabel Popplewell (29), who managed to carry on working after they were married). On the whole, therefore, the periods of service for these women tend to be short, often lasting only one tour or even less.

The countries covered in this collection comprise, with one exception, British colonial African territories, with the majority of contributors having worked in Tanganyika and Nigeria, and a few in Nyasaland, Uganda, Kenya, Northern Rhodesia, the Gold Coast and the Gambia. The exception to this is a contributor who applied for an African post, but who ended up working in the West Indies (Lady Peck (27)). There is also a contribution from a former Woman Administrative Assistant (WAA) who became a Recruitment Officer at the Colonial Office and who was involved in recruiting other WAAs (Mair Morris (26)).” from http://www.bodley.ox.ac.uk/dept/scwmss/wmss/online/blcas/waoca/waoca.html, accessed 20 July 2016

Trial until 22 July: Rand Daily Mail (1902-1985)

Colleagues have organised a trial of the Rand Daily Mail (1902-1985), an important South African newspaper. It is available via SOLO and OxLIP+ for Oxford students and researchers.Rand Daily Mail - screenshot

The Readex digital edition of the Rand Daily Mail (1902-1985) provides researchers and students with access to a comprehensive run of this influential African news source. Published daily in Johannesburg, the Rand Daily Mail, pioneered popular journalism in South Africa and is renowned today for being the first newspaper to openly oppose apartheid and contribute to its downfall. It offers a wealth of unique perspectives not only on South Africa but also for the African continent as a whole.

Examples of stories covered include:

  • Benjamin Pogrund’s extraordinary coverage of the Sharpeville massacre in 1960;
  • Helen Zille’s uncovering of Steve Biko’’s murder at the hands of police in 1976;
  • news-breaking reporting by Mervyn Rees and Chris Day about the apartheid state’s effort to influence opinion
  • an exposé that sparked the scandal known as “Muldergate”; and many others.

Have your say

Feedback should be sent to sarah.rhodes@bodleian.ox.ac.uk. The trial ends on 22 July.

Please note, as with most trials, there is no guarantee that access can continue. In the first instance, we organise them to gauge interest and hear your views on content and functionality.

Trial until 5 February: Black Authors 1556-1922

The Vere Harmsworth Library has organised trial access to Readex’s Black Authors: Imprints from the Library Company of Philadelphia (1556-1922).

This collection offers more than 550 fully catalogued and searchable works by black authors from the Americas, Europe and Africa, expertly compiled by the curators of Afro-Americana Imprints collection, the largest existing collection of its kind. Found within are wide-ranging genres, including personal narratives, autobiographies, histories, expedition reports, military reports, novels, essays, poems and musical compositions.

Major subject areas addressed in Black Authors include Literature, Ethnic History, Colonialism, Gender Studies, Slavery, Diaspora Studies and related fields. As a whole, this collection reveals how the creative efforts of black authors evolved over three centuries. The earliest published works of authors of African descent are largely travel narratives and historical works treating the exploration of the African continent and the collision between European powers with the peoples of Africa.

Access is available via OxLIP+ until 5th February 2016 (use single sign-on for remote access). Please send comments or feedback to jane.rawson@bodleian.ox.ac.uk.

[re-blogged from the VHL blog.]

Reading rooms in Weston Library open 29 Sept

Today (29 Sept 2014) is an important milestone in the history of the Bodleian Library: The Weston Library (formerly New Bodleian Library) opened its three reading rooms to readers. The temporary Special Collections Reading Room in the RSL and Rhodes House Library have now transferred to the Weston Library.

At the moment the building is initially opening exclusively to readers. Some disruption, due to continuing collection moves and fitting-out of public areas, including exhibition galleries and tearoom, will continue until the official opening in March 2015.

Where is the Weston Library?

The Weston Library is on the site of the former New Bodleian Library, ie the corner of Broad Street and Park Road. The reader entrance is on Park Road.

Weston on map

What are the opening hours?
Mon-Fri 9am – 7pm; Sat 10am – 4pm; Sun closed

Which reading room should I use?

  • RARE BOOKS, ARCHIVES AND WESTERN MANUSCRIPTS is in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room (Level 1)
  • MAPS are in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Reading Room (Level 1)
  • MUSIC is in the Mackerras Reading Room (Level 1)
  • ORIENTAL MANUSCRIPTS AND RARE BOOKS are in the David Reading Room (Level 5)
  • COMMONWEALTH AND AFRICAN STUDIES COLLECTIONS are in the David Reading Room (Level 5)

You can order normal stack request items to any of the reading rooms.

Moves of collections into the Weston Library will take place until Summer 2016 as material currently kept at other locations is transferred. During this period items may still be ordered as normal, but will be subject to a 24 hour delivery time. Updates of collection moves.

Duke Humfrey’s Library is now closed until Monday 13 October 2014 when it will re-open as an invigilated reading room supporting higher-level studies in the Humanities. Open-shelf material, esp local history in R.Top and R1-R3, etc. will remain in Duke Humfrey’s. During the closure period, contact library staff if you need any material in R.Top or R1-3.

Related links:

Special Collections Contact details

New: Records relating to the slave trade at the Liverpool Record Office

I am pleased to report that Oxford users now access to the online Records relating to the slave trade at the Liverpool Record Office (British Online Archives: British Records on the Atlantic World, 1700-1900) via SOLO and Databases A-Z.

Records relating to the slave trade at the Liverpool Record Office - pamphlet

This full-text database provides access to one of the best collections in British archives of private merchants’ papers relating to the transatlantic slave trade.

Liverpool was the leading slave trading port in the world in the eighteenth century when these documents were compiled.

 

The material includes

  • correspondence with ship captains and Caribbean agents about the acquisition of Africans and their sale; statistics on the Liverpool slave trade
  • sales accounts of the lots of Africans disembarked in the Americas, often with the names of purchasers and prices; information on dealings with diverse African groups along the coast of West Africa; and details of payments for slave sales.
  • account books of ships’ voyages with material on the outfitting of vessels and the cargoes of goods exported to Africa.
  • Records of the wealthy merchant and banker, Thomas Leyland (c.1752-1827), who was three times Mayor of Liverpool.
  • Letters by the slave trade captain, John Newton (1725-1807), who later became a clergyman, the composer of the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, and a prominent abolitionist.

Other useful resources

Enjoy! If you have any problems, please contact library staff.

New: Records relating to the Slave Trade at the Liverpool Record Office

I am pleased to report that Oxford readers now have access to Records relating to the Slave Trade at the Liverpool Record Office via OxLIP+ and also shortly via SOLO.

Part 1 of the British Online Archives series British records on the Atlantic World, 1700-1900, this full-text database provides access to one of the best collections in British archives of private merchants’ papers relating to the transatlantic slave trade.

Case & Southworth papers: Journals: From Kingston, Jamaica, for the period 1756-1761.

Case & Southworth papers: Journals: From Kingston, Jamaica, for the period 1756-1761.

Liverpool was the leading slave trading port in the world in the eighteenth century when these documents were compiled. The material includes correspondence with ship captains and Caribbean agents about the acquisition of Africans and their sale; statistics on the Liverpool slave trade; sales accounts of the lots of Africans disembarked in the Americas, often with the names of purchasers and prices; information on dealings with diverse African groups along the coast of West Africa; and details of payments for slave sales. The account books of ships’ voyages include material on the outfitting of vessels and the cargoes of goods exported to Africa. Among the items included in this collection are records of the wealthy merchant and banker, Thomas Leyland, who was three times Mayor of Liverpool, and letters by the slave trade captain, John Newton, who later became a clergyman, the composer of the hymn ‘Amazing Grace’, and a prominent abolitionist.

Related resources:

WISER: Information Sources for African Studies (Fri 7 Jun 9.15-10.45)

Calling all those thinking of doing a dissertation in African Studies!

The WISER Information Sources for African Studies session will cover finding tools for locating African Studies materials, key portals and gateways for African Studies and online archives of primary texts. Starting with a presentation the session will also include time for participants to try out some of the resources demonstrated.

When? Fri 7 Jun 9.15-10.45 (week 7)

Where? IT Services, 13 Banbury Road.

Presenters: Lucy McCann and Sarah Rhodes

> Book your place now!