British History

The extraordinary strength, in both breadth and depth, of the Bodleian Library’s printed collections relating to early modern history of the British Isles derives primarily from the workings of the legal deposit privilege which the Library has enjoyed since 1610. Collections for this period are in fact one of the finest and most extensive, after those held by the British Library, and provide remarkably rich resources for historians within the University but also attract many researchers from worldwide.

Holdings in the Bodleian, relating to all aspects of early modern history of the British Isles, 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. Also held in the Library are more than 6700 incunabula representing approximately 5600 different editions, the second largest collection of incunabula in the British Isles, after that of the British Library in London .

For the 16th and 17th centuries, the Library holds a very fine collection of manuscripts, tracts, pamphlets and early printed books. The holdings are particularly strong in the parliamentary history of the 17th century, covering in some depth the Civil War, Interregnum and Restoration (Barlow Papers, Tanner Papers, Rawlinson Papers, Clarendon State Papers, 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. For the 17th century the Bodleian Library has newspapers preserved by Anthony Wood, Narcissus Luttrell, and Elias Ashmole. It is especially rich in early newspapers and corantos and Civil War periodicals.

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

European History

Dating back to the early 17 th century, Sir Thomas Bodley’s interest in language and the Continent established the Bodleian’s tradition to purchase extensively in many languages. Already by 1611 the curators of the Bodleian Library were using the catalogues of the Frankfurt book fair. A collection of note is, for instance, a large collection of Lutheran Tracts (Tract. Luth.), which contains many original editions of Luther, including three unique editions of the Kleiner Catechismus. It is probably the largest collection of such material in Britain.

Through contemporary and retrospective purchasing, especially relating to French, Italian and German early modern history, the Bodleian’s holdings of early printed and modern printed material for this period are truly exceptional.

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 bibliographical 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 early modern history include:

• 17th and 18th Century  Burney Newspaper Collection
• British History Online Premium: Calendar State Papers
• Digital Library of Classic Protestant Texts
• Digital Library of the Catholic Reformation
• Early English Books Online (EEBO)
• Early American Imprints I, 1639-1800 (Evans)
• Empire Online 1492-1969
• The English Reports 1220-1865
• Gerritsen Collection (Women’s History online 1543-1945)
• Hand Press Book database
• History of Parliament 1386-1820
• Illustrated Incunabula Short Title Catalogue
• Iter – Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance
• Luthers Werke
• Making of the Modern World, 1450-1850
• State Papers Online I: The Tudors 1509-1603 (Domestic Papers)

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