Research Guides: ENG : English Language & Literature: Primary Sources

What is a Primary Source?

A primary source is a record of an event, an occurrence, or a time period produced by a participant or observer at the time. Typically, primary sources include:

unique documents or manuscripts (letters, diaries, journals, writings, speeches, photographs, scrapbooks, etc.)
historic records of an organization (correspondence, memoranda, minutes, annual reports, etc.).
government documents & maps
artwork & artifacts
music & audiovisual materials (film, audio and video tape)
electronic computer files

Primary Sources

Below you will find a list of databases that include examples of primary sources that may be relevant to the study of English:

American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals [EBSCO] 1684-1912 This link opens in a new window Digitized American magazines & journals, detailing American history & culture. Topics include women's issues, health, science, the history of slavery, industry & professions, religion, the arts, etc.
American Periodicals [ProQuest] 18th-early 20th Century This link opens in a new window Combines American Periodical Series (APS) and American Periodicals from the Center for Research Libraries, offering full text access to 18th-early 20th century American magazines and journals.
British Periodicals Collection [ProQuest] 1680s to 1930s This link opens in a new window Searchable full text of hundreds of British periodicals from the late 17th century to the early 20th century.
Early American Imprints, 1639-1820 This link opens in a new window Books, pamphlets, and broadsides on every aspect of American life, based on Charles Evan's American Bibliography and the continuation by Shaw-Shoemaker.
Early English Books Online (EEBO) 1475-1700 This link opens in a new window Over 125,000 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), and the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661). Includes Text Creation Partnership titles, which are fully searchable SGML/XML texts. Help.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) [Gale] 1701-1800 This link opens in a new window Includes every significant English- and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas.
English Short Title Catalog 1473-1800 (ESTC) This link opens in a new window Lists books published in Britain and North America before 1800. For selected full text of items published pre-1700 in Britain, see Early English Books Online; for selected full text of items published pre-1800 in America, see Early American Imprints.
Grand Tour [AM Digital] This link opens in a new window Manuscript & printed works, c1550-1850, highlighting the influence of continental travel on British art, architecture, urban planning, literature & philosophy.
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals [Gale] This link opens in a new window For the study of British life in the nineteenth century. Series 1: New Readerships: Women's, Children's, Humor and Leisure/Sports; Series 2: Empire: Colonial, Travel, Culture, Missions.
Periodicals Archive Online (PAO) [ProQuest] 1802 to 1995 This link opens in a new window Full text archive of hundreds of periodicals in the arts, humanities and social sciences from their first issues to 1995. For complete indexing use the Periodicals Index Online.
Smith Digital Collections This link opens in a new window Smith Digital Collections is a gateway to digital collections and online exhibitions unique to Smith College. The collections feature images, audio, video, and text from multiple repositories and platforms. These include the Libraries’ Special Collections, the Museum of Art, the Imaging Center, the Botanic Garden, and select scholarly collections.
Victorian Popular Culture [AM Digital] This link opens in a new window Primary source material on popular entertainment in America, Britain & Europe, 1779-1930, including spiritualism, circuses, music halls & theater, optical entertainments/early cinema, etc.

Woolf Notes WoolfNotes is a major digital humanities project that brings into the public domain Woolf’s last remaining substantial unpublished work: her reading and research notes. From the archives of the Monks House Papers in Sussex (UK), the Berg Collection at the New York Public Library, the Beinecke Library at Yale and the Smith College Special Collections, with the support of the Woolf Estate (managed by the Society of Authors).

Get help with primary sources

Find Primary Sources Links to collections at Smith, in the Five Colleges, on the web, and via the library's many subscription databases.
Citing your sources