British History

The extraordinary strength, in both breadth and depth, of the Bodleian Library’s printed collections relating to 18 th century British history derives primarily from the workings of the legal deposit privilege which the Library has enjoyed since 1610. Collections for this period provide remarkably rich resources for historians within the University and attract many researchers from worldwide.

Holdings in the Bodleian, relating to all aspects of 18th century British history, are complemented by very rich collections on the topography and local history of almost all areas of the United Kingdom and Ireland. Specifically, the Bodleian holds probably the world’s finest printed collections relating to the History of the University of Oxford, the city of Oxford, and the county of Oxfordshire.

Among the Bodleian Library’s principal collections of interest to history of 18th century British history are the John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera, Rawlinson collection, State Papers Domestic 1714-82, North family papers, Curzon collection, etc.

The Hope and Nichols collections of early English newspapers provide exceptional access to an almost complete set of London newspapers from 1672 to 1737 and literary periodicals of the 18th century.

For further details, see Bodleian Library’s Department of Special Collections and Western Manuscripts and its online catalogue of Western Manuscripts.

European History

The Bodleian Library’s tradition in purchasing extensively from the Continent continued in the 18th century. Through contemporary and retrospective purchasing, especially relating to French, Italian and German history, the Bodleian’s holdings of early printed and modern printed material for this period are truly exceptional. These are also supplemented by holdings elsewhere in Oxford libraries, most notably the Taylor Institution Library which has an excellent collection on the French Enlightenment.

Electronic resources

Oxford University Library Services (OULS) provides access to a growing collection of electronic resources via its resource discovery tool OxLIP+. These range from online databases and CD-ROMs to electronic journals. In addition to subscriptions to major databases, such as Historical Abstracts, Royal Historical Society Bibliography, Dictionary of National Biography, Cambridge Histories Online, Oxford Reference Online, Blackwell Reference Online, etc. and electronic journals, other major electronic subscriptions relevant to 18th century history include:

• Early English Books Online (EEBO)
• Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
• Electronic Enlightenment (EE)
• Empire Online 1492-1969
• L’encyclopédie de Diderot et d’Alembert
• The English Reports 1220-1865
• Gerritsen Collection (Women’s History online 1543-1945)
• Hand Press Book database
• History of Parliament 1386-1820
• House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (18th-20th centuries)
• Proceedings of the Old Bailey, London 1674-1834

Back