Databases
Our databases are a collection of information, organized for you to search. They provide access to a wealth of useful research materials including: academic journals, newspapers, magazines, e-books, relevant web resources, and various multimedia. All databases come from reliable sources.
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25 Databases
Age of exploration
Delve into the earliest voyages of Vasco da Gama, the opening of trade with the Spice Islands, the colonisation of the Americas and Australasia, the search for the Northwest and Northeast Passages, and finally the race for the Poles with this robust primary source collection. Featuring rare manuscript and early printed material, highly illustrated maps and documents, diaries and ships' logs from some of the most well-known voyages in history, this collection provides access to key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c.1420-1920. This database contains rare manuscripts, early printed materials, maps, documents, diaries, ships' logs as well as speeches and films related to key events in the history of European maritime exploration from c. 1420-1920.
Interface in English; source materials in 21 different languages, chiefly English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, and Dutch.American West
Original manuscripts, maps, ephemeral material, and rare printed sources from the Graff Collection about the American West, including tales of frontier life, Native Americans, vigilantes, and outlaws, and the growth of urban centres and environmental impact of westward expansion and of life in the borderlands.
China, trade, politics & culture, 1793-1980
This database contains images, diaries, journals, books, all english language. This project provides a wide variety of original source material detailing China’s interaction with the West from Macartney’s first Embassy to China in 1793, through to the Nixon/Heath visits to China in 1972-74.
Colonial America
Colonial America includes all 1,450 files of the CO 5 class at The National Archives, UK. This unique collection of largely manuscript material from the archives of the British government is an invaluable one for students and researchers of all aspects of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century American history and the early-modern Atlantic world. Covering the period 1606 to 1822, CO 5 constitutes the original correspondence of the colonial governments with the Board of Trade, the Secretary of State for the Southern Department and the Secretary of State for the Colonies, together holding responsibility for the British possessions in mainland North America and the Caribbean.
Confidential Print. Middle East
This collection covers a broad sweep of history from 1839 to 1969, taking in the countries of the Arabian peninsula, the Levant, Iraq, Turkey and many of the former Ottoman lands in Europe, Iran, Afghanistan, Egypt and Sudan. Issued by the Foreign and Colonial Offices since 1820, included are the following classes from The National Archives, Kew in their entirety: CO 935/1-25: Middle East General, 1920-1956; FO 402/1-33: Afghanistan, 1922-1957; FO 406/1-84: Eastern Affairs (Middle East), 1812-1946; FO 407/1-237: Egypt/Sudan, 1839-1958; FO 416/1-113: Persia, 1899-1957; FO 423/1-70: Suez Canal, 1859-1947; FO 424/1-297: Turkey, 1841-1957; FO 437/1-9: Jordan, 1949-1957; FO 464/1-12: Arabia, 1947-1957; FO 481/1-17: Iraq, 1947-1969; FO 484/1-11: Lebanon, 1947-1957; FO 487/1-11: Middle East General, 1947-1957; FO 492/1-11: Israel/Palestine, 1947-1957; FO 501/1-10: Syria, 1947-1956.
Confidential print. North America
This collection covers a broad sweep of history from 1824-1961, taking in the USA, Canada, the Caribbean and Central America. Issued by the Foreign and Colonial Offices since 1820, included are the following classes from The National Archives, Kew in their entirety: CO 880/1-32: North America, 1839-1914 (primarily focused on Canada); CO 884/1-38: West Indies, 1826-1961 (focuses on the Caribbean); FO 414/1-278: North America, 1824-1941; FO 461/1-13: America, 1942-1956; FO 462/1-10: USA, 1947-1956.
Defining Gender
Defining Gender explores the study and analysis of gender, leisure and consumer culture; one of the most vibrant areas of social, cultural and intellectual research, transcending traditional disciplinary boundaries. This exciting collection of original primary source material from British archives will enrich the teaching and research experience of those studying history, literature, sociology, education and cultural studies from a gendered perspective. The broad range of thematically organised documents from selected libraries provides an excellent opportunity for comparative study and research. Manuscripts, printed works and illustrations combine to address the key issues from both masculine and feminine perspectives. They are indexed to provide ready accessibility for students across all five sections.
Early modern England
This collection brings together documents and objects from seven different archives and libraries to offer insights into the lived experience in England from 1500-1700. The documentary evidence here can offer a range of perspectives from prominent families to 'ordinary' people in order to see how this pivotal epoch in English history was lived across societies and regions. Rather than dealing specifically with the great political and religious upheavals of these years, the project aims to look at the everyday happenings of people in different parts of England. These experiences are revealed through a wide range of materials including legal records, family correspondence, administrative records, wills, inventories and commonplace books among others. There is a strong material culture element to this project with the inclusion of images of everyday objects used in early modern households. The different collections of documents enable a regional comparison, for example with court records from the South East, London, the West Midlands and the North West
East India Company
Offers access to a unique collection of India Office Records from the British Library, London. Containing royal charters, correspondence, trading diaries, minutes of council meetings and reports of expeditions, among other document types, this resource charts the history of British trade and rule in the Indian subcontinent and beyond from 1595 to 1947. Module 1: Trade, governance and Empire, 1600-1947 -- Module 2: Factory records for South Asia and South-East Asia -- Module 3: Factory records for China, Japan and the Middle East -- Module 4: Correspondence: Early Voyages, Formation and Conflict.
Eighteenth century journals: a portal to newspapers and periodicals, c1685-1835
Portal to newspapers and periodicals c1685-1835 offers integrated access to the Hope Collection at the Bodleian Library, Oxford (Eighteenth Century Journals I), the Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center University of Texas (Eighteenth Century Journals II), the British Newspaper Library at Colindale, London and the Cambridge University Library (Eighteenth Century Journals III), Chetham's Library, Manchester and Brotherton Library, University of Leeds (Eighteenth Century Journals IV), and Birmingham Central Library, British Library, Cambridge University Library, and Liverpool John Moores University Library (Eighteenth Century Journals V). It brings together rare journals printed between c1685 and 1835, illuminating all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Topics include: the writings of Sir Isaac Newton; the French and American Revolutions; colonial life, provincial and rural affairs, reviews of literature, the theater, and fashion throughout Europe; the origins and rise of Romanticism; political debates; gender, religion, influence of the press, and coffee house gossip and discussion.