Library Guides: English Library Guide: Primary and Literary Sources

Primary and Literary Sources

Eight Centuries This link opens in a new window
Eight Centuries is a database covering source material dating from 1106 until 1960, aggregating indexes, catalogs, collections, and other finding aids. 8C provides access to articles, newspapers, books, U.S. patents, government documents, and images, with links to full-text where available.
American Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Contains periodicals published between 1740 and 1940, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children’s and women’s magazines and many other historically-significant periodicals.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Digital collections of historical material on many topics. Includes manuscripts, printed books and periodicals, and government documents. Material comes from the U.S. National Archives, the U.K. National Archives, and many other libraries and archives.
Defining a Nation: The Literature of Early America This link opens in a new window
More than 6,000 works by American and non-American authors, featuring text-analysis tools and suggested search paths for browsing and discovery
Early American Fiction 1789 - 1875 This link opens in a new window
Offers full-text first editions of American novels and short stories by such authors as Louisa May Alcott, Herman Melville, Harriet Beecher Stowe and Mark Twain, as well as a host of minor writers of the period.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom during the 18th century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Tulane's subscription includes Parts I and II.
Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new window
The definitive cross-cultural resource for information on women's history (1543-1945). Trace the evolution of feminism within a single country, as well as the impact of that country's feminist movement on other countries and their movements.
Harper's Weekly This link opens in a new window
Full text of this American political magazine from 1857 to 1912. Features foreign and domestic news, fiction, essays, humor, and illustrations. Extensive coverage of the American Civil War, including illustrations. Includes artwork of the political cartoonist Thomas Nast.
Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Open access written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. From the collections of the Library of Congress and others.
Making of America (Cornell) This link opens in a new window
The Cornell University Library Making of America Collection is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The site, now linked to HathiTrust, provides access to 267 monograph volumes and over 100,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.
Making of America (Michigan) This link opens in a new window
Making of America (MoA) is a digital library of primary sources in American social history from the antebellum period through reconstruction. The Michigan Libraries collection is particularly strong in the subject areas of education, psychology, American history, sociology, religion, and science and technology. The collection currently contains approximately 10,000 books and 50,000 journal articles with 19th century imprints.

The New York Public Library Digital Collections
A living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
Includes over 2,000 authors providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Includes content from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, Chilean accounts of the California Gold Rush, a family account of fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and more. Content types include cartoons and comic strips; books; diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies, editorial commentary, letters, and oral histories.
North American Indian Drama This link opens in a new window
Contains plays by 18 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more.
North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Includes biographies, autobiographies, personal narratives, speeches, diaries, letters, and oral histories.
North American Women's Drama This link opens in a new window
Contains over 1,500 plays by 330 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Consists of the immediate experiences of 1,325 women via 150,000 pages of diaries and letters from Colonial times to 1950.
Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
The collection consists of rare works of poetry, organizational records, print publications, over one hundred articles, poems, plays, and speeches by Baraka, a small amount of personal correspondence, and oral histories.
Readex AllSearch This link opens in a new window
Readex AllSearch, previously Archive of Americana, explores virtually every aspect of United States history, culture and daily life across three centuries via online access to newspapers, books, broadsides, ephemera, government publications and more. Tens of millions of pages of primary documents at researchers' fingertips. Tulane has access to the following collections: America's Historical Imprints (1639-1819); Senate Executive Journals (1789-1980); African American Periodicals; America's Historical Newspapers; and House and Senate Journals (1789-1817).
Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War This link opens in a new window
ProQuest History Vault's Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War resource consists of modules with a focus on Slavery and the Law; Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries; records focused on the Slave trade and other legal issues pertaining to slavery.
The resource comprises the following modules: Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Law and Order in 19th Century America (1636-1880); Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries (1700-1896); Slavery and the Law (1775-1867); and Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records, Parts 1-4.
Theatre in Context Collection This link opens in a new window
Comprehensive resource covering all aspects of Canadian and American Theatre. It includes reference materials and records to plays, people, theatres, productions and production companies.
Twentieth Century North American Drama This link opens in a new window
Contains plays by 170 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. Also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays.
Wright American Fiction This link opens in a new window
Collection of 19th century American fiction covering 1831-1888. Built on the work of Lyle Wright in his bibliography of American Fiction from 1851-1875. Very useful for data mining and textual analysis.

Annual Register This link opens in a new window
A year-by-year record of British and world events, published annually since 1758.
Bloomsbury Medieval Studies This link opens in a new window
Bloomsbury Medieval Studies brings together high-quality secondary content and visual primary sources for the study of all world regions from c. 300-1500.
British Literary Manuscripts This link opens in a new window
Presents facsimile images of literary manuscripts, including letters and diaries, drafts of poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, and similar materials. Includes access to British Literary Manuscripts Online, c. 1660-1900.
Dictionary of Old English Corpus This link opens in a new window
Searchable database of the complete record of surviving Old English, except for some variant manuscripts of individual texts.
Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
EEBO has digitized virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom during the 18th century, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Tulane's subscription includes Parts I and II.
Eighteenth-Century Fiction This link opens in a new window
A collection of 96 complete works of English prose from the period 1700–1780 by writers from the British Isles. Key figures covered include Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollett, Laurence Sterne and Jonathan Swift.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
Includes rare journals printed between 1685 and 1835, illuminating all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Many are ephemeral, lasting only for a handful of issues, others run for several years. Topics covered include: colonial life; provincial and rural affairs; the French and American revolutions; reviews of literature and fashion throughout Europe; political debates; and London coffee house gossip and discussion.

The English Renaissance in Context

Gerritsen Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs This link opens in a new window
The definitive cross-cultural resource for information on women's history (1543-1945). Trace the evolution of feminism within a single country, as well as the impact of that country's feminist movement on other countries and their movements.
Medieval and Early Modern Sources Online (MEMSO) This link opens in a new window
Searchable editions of British and Irish (including foreign and colonial papers) printed editions of manuscript source material for the period c. 1000 to c. 1800.
Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare This link opens in a new window
Eleven major editions from the First Folio to the Cambridge edition of 1863-66, 24 separate contemporary printings of individual plays, selected apocrypha and related works and more than one hundred adaptations, sequels and burlesques from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
Shakespeare Survey This link opens in a new window
Full text access to the Shakespeare Survey from Cambridge University Press.
World Shakespeare Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical productions, reviews of productions, audiovisual materials, electronic media, and other scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare.
NOTE: Saved entries are lost once a session expires or you close your browser window.

Open Access Companion to The Canterbury Tales
TEAMS Middle English Texts
The TEAMS Middle English text series makes available texts that occupy an important place in the literary and cultural canon but which have not been readily available in student editions.
Middle English Compendium
Access 3 major electronic resources in Middle English studies: The Corpus of Middle English Prose & Verse, the HyperBibliography, and the Middle English Dictionary.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook (Fordham University)

ProQuest Literature & Language This link opens in a new window
ProQuest Literature & Language is a cross-searchable package of over thirty-five databases, primarily covering anglophone literature and literary criticism, but also including materials on art, cultural studies, film, gender and sexuality, linguistics, music, and theater. A significant portion of the database contains literary sources in English as well as some limited materials in Spanish and other languages. Ebooks and scholarly journals make up the bulk of this database.
Asian American Drama This link opens in a new window
Black Short Fiction and Folklore This link opens in a new window
Black Women Writers This link opens in a new window
Caribbean Literature This link opens in a new window
Latino Literature This link opens in a new window
National Theatre Collection This link opens in a new window
North American Indian Drama This link opens in a new window
North American Women's Drama This link opens in a new window
South and Southeast Asian Literature This link opens in a new window
Twentieth Century North American Drama This link opens in a new window

These databases contain poetry by both major and minor authors from a variety of backgrounds, historical periods, and literary movements. Feel free to embed links in Canvas to works in these databases to help your students get easy, affordable access to reading materials for your courses.

Columbia Granger's World of Poetry This link opens in a new window
African American Poetry This link opens in a new window
American Poetry This link opens in a new window
Canadian Poetry This link opens in a new window
English Poetry This link opens in a new window
English Poetry, Second Edition This link opens in a new window
Faber Poetry Library This link opens in a new window
Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period This link opens in a new window
Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period This link opens in a new window
Twentieth-Century African American Poetry This link opens in a new window
Twentieth-Century American Poetry This link opens in a new window
Twentieth-Century English Poetry This link opens in a new window

Below are links to historical background materials and contemporary poetry organizations.

America's Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
Ebony Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Fortune Magazine Archive This link opens in a new window
Proquest Historical Newspapers This link opens in a new window
JET Magazine Archives This link opens in a new window
New York Times (ProQuest Historical Newspapers) This link opens in a new window
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Times Literary Supplement Historical Archive (TLS) This link opens in a new window

Shakespeare Resources

Editions and Adaptations of Shakespeare This link opens in a new window
Eleven major editions from the First Folio to the Cambridge edition of 1863-66, 24 separate contemporary printings of individual plays, selected apocrypha and related works and more than one hundred adaptations, sequels and burlesques from the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries.
Shakespeare in Performance This link opens in a new window
Shakespeare in Performance showcases rare and unique prompt books from the world-famous Folger Shakespeare Library. These prompt books tell the story of Shakespeare’s plays as they were performed in theatres throughout Great Britain, the United States and internationally, between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
Shakespeare Survey This link opens in a new window
Full text access to the Shakespeare Survey from Cambridge University Press.
World Shakespeare Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes books, articles, book reviews, dissertations, theatrical productions, reviews of productions, audiovisual materials, electronic media, and other scholarly and popular materials related to Shakespeare.
NOTE: Saved entries are lost once a session expires or you close your browser window.

Archival Materials

Archives of Sexuality & Gender This link opens in a new window
The Archives of Sexuality & Gender provides a collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. With material dating back to the sixteenth century, researchers and scholars can examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other topical areas. The collection includes modules on International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture, LGBTQ History and Culture since 1940 Parts I & II, and Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century.
Archives Unbound This link opens in a new window
Digital collections of historical material on many topics. Includes manuscripts, printed books and periodicals, and government documents. Material comes from the U.S. National Archives, the U.K. National Archives, and many other libraries and archives.
Bloomsbury Medieval Studies This link opens in a new window
Bloomsbury Medieval Studies brings together high-quality secondary content and visual primary sources for the study of all world regions from c. 300-1500.

Location Register of 20th-century English Literary Manuscripts and Letters
The New York Public Library Digital Collections
A living database with new materials added every day, featuring prints, photographs, maps, manuscripts, streaming video, and more.

North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
Includes over 2,000 authors providing a unique and personal view of what it meant to immigrate to America and Canada between 1800 and 1950. Includes content from the Ellis Island Oral History Project, Chilean accounts of the California Gold Rush, a family account of fleeing the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia, and more. Content types include cartoons and comic strips; books; diaries, memoirs, and autobiographies, editorial commentary, letters, and oral histories.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Consists of the immediate experiences of 1,325 women via 150,000 pages of diaries and letters from Colonial times to 1950.
Papers of Amiri Baraka, Poet Laureate of the Black Power Movement (Archives Unbound) This link opens in a new window
The collection consists of rare works of poetry, organizational records, print publications, over one hundred articles, poems, plays, and speeches by Baraka, a small amount of personal correspondence, and oral histories.
Readex AllSearch This link opens in a new window
Readex AllSearch, previously Archive of Americana, explores virtually every aspect of United States history, culture and daily life across three centuries via online access to newspapers, books, broadsides, ephemera, government publications and more. Tens of millions of pages of primary documents at researchers' fingertips. Tulane has access to the following collections: America's Historical Imprints (1639-1819); Senate Executive Journals (1789-1980); African American Periodicals; America's Historical Newspapers; and House and Senate Journals (1789-1817).
Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War This link opens in a new window
ProQuest History Vault's Southern Life, Slavery, and the Civil War resource consists of modules with a focus on Slavery and the Law; Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries; records focused on the Slave trade and other legal issues pertaining to slavery.
The resource comprises the following modules: Slavery, the Slave Trade, and Law and Order in 19th Century America (1636-1880); Slavery in Antebellum Southern Industries (1700-1896); Slavery and the Law (1775-1867); and Southern Life and African American History, 1775-1915, Plantations Records, Parts 1-4.

Major Research Libraries

Library of Congress Digital Collections This link opens in a new window
Open access written and spoken words, sound recordings, still and moving images, prints, maps, and sheet music that document the American experience. From the collections of the Library of Congress and others.

New York Public Library

Digital Public Library of America This link opens in a new window
Discover images, texts, videos, and sounds from across the United States