British History

Over 30,000 images of maps, manuscripts, documents, monuments, photographs from the British Library including online exhibitions and virtual books.

Digital facsimiles of over one hundred treasures not previously available in digital form. The RCS collections contain stunning visual records – art-work, photographs, maps and artefacts, as well as illustrated manuscripts and printed sources relating to the Commonwealth and Britain’s former colonial territories. [Cambridge University]

LSE has strong connections with figures who played a key part in the establishment of the welfare state, consequently the Library holds many materials that chart the story of social security in the UK. From Charles Booth and the Webbs to, most notably, Beveridge and beyond, the arguments about how to enable the effective distribution of wealth in order to provide support for those in need can be traced and explored via our rich and unique collections.

"One of the largest and most important art collections in the world, and one of the last great European royal collections to remain intact. Comprising almost all aspects of the fine and decorative arts and running to more than a million objects, the Collection is a unique and valuable record of the personal tastes of kings and queens over the past 500 years." Selections have been digitized as exhibitions.

Search for over 1,000,000 works from the V&A's collections, including ceramics, fashion, furniture, glass, metalwork, paintings, photographs, prints, sculpture and textiles.

A vision of Britain through time, 1801-2001 brings together historical surveys of Britain to create a record of how the country and its localities have changed. Various types of sources can be consulted, such as census reports, historical gazetteers, travellers’ tales, historical maps, election results, and historical photographs. Material dates from the Middle Ages until the present day, but emphasis is on the 19th-20th centuries.

Throughout the 19th century, pamphlets were an important means of public debate, covering the key political, social, technological, and environmental issues of their day. Created by Research Libraries UK (RLUK), this collection includes digital copies of more than 26,000 pamphlets from collections in seven universities in the UK spanning more than one million pages brings together a corpus of primary sources for the study of sociopolitical and economic factors impacting 19th-century Britain.

Collection of 184 British satirical prints dating from the eighteenth to nineteenth centuries from Trinity College's (Hartford, CT) Collections.

This collection includes nearly four hundred 18-19th Century British theater playbills given to Trinity College's Watkinson Library by Nathan H. Allen in 1916. Playbills functioned as advertising posters for theatrical performances at theaters in London and in towns including Bath, Leicester, Liverpool, Richmond, Scarborough, Swansea, and Tewkesbury. Some playbills were printed on both sides and may also have functioned as programs during a performance. The playbills display a wealth of information about upcoming productions, including play and music titles, roles and performers, and related information such as cost of seats and where to purchase tickets. For additional information regarding the collection, contact the staff of Watkinson Library (www.watkinsonlibrary.org).

A resource for exploring historical map images of Caribbean islands. The site has evolved since 1999 and now presents images of approximately 1800 maps of the islands printed over five centuries (16th–20th).

Focuses on 16th–21st century maps of North and and South America, as well as maps of the world, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. The collection includes atlases, globes, school geographies, maritime charts, and a variety of separate maps including pocket, wall, children's and manuscript maps.

The National Library of Scotland has digitized dozens of maps of Scotland, both island and regional.

Maps, sections and other material from the Library collections of the Geological Society relating to the civil engineer and father of English geology.

Periodicals were an essential part of, and reflected all aspects of Victorian culture, including the Victorians' interest in the past. This database derives from a project on popular presentations of history in Victorian magazines: "Histories for the Many: Historical Lifeworlds in Victorian Family, Women's and Children's Periodicals" – "Geschichte(n) für viele: Historische Lebenswelten in Familien-, Frauen- und Kinderzeitschriften des viktorianischen England" (KO 1195/15-1)

The Guardian 1821-2003 and The Observer 1791-2003. Searchable full text images.

1822-2006. Archive of every headline, article, editorial, announcement, image, and advertisement published in The Sunday Times. Note: This database is available from the Boston Public Library, not directly through Boston College. You will need a BPL eCard (free for all MA residents and students) to gain access.

Charles Booth's London enables you to search the catalogue of over 450 original notebooks from the Inquiry into Life and Labour in London (1886-1903), view 41 digitised notebooks and explore the London poverty maps.

Gathers together some 1100 pages of fiction written in Jane Austen’s own hand, including the 'Volume the First' (and 'The Watsons') at the Bodleian Library.

The Shelley-Godwin Archive will provide the digitized manuscripts of Percy Bysshe Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley, William Godwin, and Mary Wollstonecraft, bringing together online for the first time ever the widely dispersed handwritten legacy of this uniquely gifted family of writers.

The Alexandria Bombardment of 1882 Photograph Album digital collection was originally compiled by Italian photographer Luigi Fiorillo. This unique resource documents the British naval attack on 'Urabi Pasha's nationalists, who revolted against Taufik Pasha, the Khedive of Egypt, from 1879 to 1882. Fiorillo’s fifty page album records damage to Alexandria's neighborhoods, particularly the harbor and the fortress district.

Includes over 7,000 images showing life in Africa between 1860 - 1960, including European colonization, development of railroads, and urbanization. Focused on East Africa.

Interface in English; Content in English and Bengali.
"holdings of the British Indian Association, Kolkata. The Association, set up in 1851, was one of the earliest and most important platforms from which Indians engaged with the British in India."
Open Access.

"Includes nearly 9,000 items of apparel, accessories and flat textiles dating from the eighteenth century to present, including substantial collections of functional clothing, technical textiles, and ethnographic costume." Excellent coverage, poor metadata.

Search sample images of the a collection, consisting of more than 30,000 costumes and accessories spanning five continents and as many centuries.

"Explore fashion – historical clothing and accessories, contemporary designs, catwalk photographs, drawings, sketches, plates, catalogues and videos – from more than 30 European public and private institutions." Strongest from the 18th to the 21st centuries, but goes farther back.

"Many of these plates are from some of the leading French, British, American, and other continental fashion journals of the 19th century and early 20th century: Belle assemblée; Le bon ton; Le Follet, courrier des salons; Journal des dames and des modes; Godey's lady's book and magazine, and others." Covers the 19th and early 20th century with suggested searches for specific periods.

"Over 6,200 hand-colored, finely detailed fashion illustrations produced between 1780 and 1880 for British and American fashion magazines. The plates depict fashionable styles of dress for men, women and children, and constitute valuable source material on the history of dress during this period in history."

VADS is the online resource for visual arts. It has provided services to the academic community for 12 years and has built up a considerable portfolio of visual art collections comprising over 100,000 images that are freely available and copyright cleared for use in learning, teaching and research in the UK.

A collection of newspapers, journals, pamphlets, leaflets and annual reports of different groups covering women's campaigns from the late 19th century until the 1930s.

The archives focus on the work of pressure groups, activists, international organisations, and individuals working for peace, disarmament and greater international cooperation from the late 19th century to the present day. It includes a variety of material such as minutes of meetings, leaflets, posters, badges, diaries and correspondence.