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Medieval and Early Modern Britain
This guide lists important collections of primary sources on Britain before 1800 held by the Princeton University Library. It covers microform, print and digital collections. Microforms listed in this guide are housed in Firestone Library Microforms Service on C floor. Printed guides to these collections are usually also housed in Microforms Service and have call numbers beginning "FilmB." A few collections held by Princeton Theological Seminary or by the Center for Research Libraries are also listed in this guide; for additional collections at CRL, see the guide to Great Britain on CRL's web site. Please consult a librarian for help if you would like to use these collections. For further information, please see Guides to primary sources for historical research: introduction.
Table of Contents
| Complete state papers domestic [microfilm] |
| The State papers document English foreign and domestic policy. The documents originally derive from the papers of secretaries of state and other ministers, were arranged in the current groups in the 19th century, and are held in the UK National Archives. The Lists & Indexes Society has published indexes of many of the record groups. Princeton holds the entire series of State papers domestic on microfilm, and also has access to the online edition of the Tudor papers.
The Complete state papers domestic 1509-1547 Microfilm 10642
The Complete state papers domestic 1547-1625 Microfilm 11770
The Complete state papers domestic 1625-1702 Microfilm 11823
The State papers of Queen Anne 1702-1714 Microfilm 04788
The Hanoverian state papers domestic 1714-1782 Microfilm 04544
The Complete state papers regencies 1716-1755 Microfilm 05477 |
| State Papers Online |
| Digital edition of the State Papers Domestic from the UK National Archives. Documents the British government in the 16th and 17th centuries. Currently covers only 1509-1603. Series 2 will cover 1603-1648 and is forthcoming Spring 2009. |
| British History Online |
| Digital edition of the printed index and calendar of the British State Papers, 1547-1775. Most of the content on this site is free, but we have paid for the subscriber-only content as well. |
| Parliament rolls of medieval England, 1275-1504 [electronic resource] |
COMPUTER FILE 448 and also in
British History Online |
| "The Medieval Parliament Rolls contain the official records of the English Parliament between c 1270 to 1503. It provides a full transcript with modern English translation, introductory matter, critical apparatus, footnotes and bibliographical references. These rolls record the debates held and the decisions made in Parliament, as well as the petitions, bills and answers, both public and private, which formed the basis of acts of Parliament." |
| Ancient correspondence, 1175-1538: PRO class SC 1 [microform] |
| Microfilm 05217 |
26 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| Medieval documents from a variety of sources among the records of English royal government. "The records are enormously diverse in format, purpose and content, covering the wide range of secular and ecclesiastical subjects which were of direct or indirect interest to the royal government." For more information, see List of ancient correspondence of the Chancery and Exchequer preserved in the Public Record office, Firestone 1421.39.98q. |
| [Memoranda rolls of the King’s Remembrancer (E.159) for the period 1217-1307] [microform] |
| 14404.406 |
17 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| Material from the National Archives of the UK. Consists of records from the office of the King's Remembrancer, which was "concerned with the accounting and audit procedures and also in the wider administrative functions of the Court of Exchequer." See the National Archives web site for more information. |
| Early English Books Online |
| Digital edition of books printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, as well as works in English printed elsewhere. Based upon the Pollard and Redgrave Short Title Catalogue (1475-1640) and the Wing Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700). [We also hold these collections in microform: 0930.922 (Pollard) and 0419.922 (Wing).] |
| Baga de secretis. 1477-1813. (K.B.8/2-14) [Microform] |
| 7894.406 |
2 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| Material from the National Archives of the UK. This series is "the official records of many of the most important 'state trials', mainly for treason, held between 1477 and 1813, including those of Sir Thomas More, Queens Anne Boleyn and Katharine Howard, Guy Fawkes, the Regicides and the Jacobite rebels of 1715 and 1745.. We have only K.B. 8/2-14, from the reigns of Henry VII and Henry VIII. For more information, see the UK National Archives web site. |
| Renaissance man [microform]: the reconstructed libraries of European scholars, 1450-1700. Series one, The books and manuscripts of John Dee, 1527-1608 |
| Microfilm 08218 |
112 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z997.D298 B66 |
| On John Dee, Renaissance astrologer and antiquary, see http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/7418. The collection reconstructs his library, which included books and manuscripts on many topics, but is especially rich in material on science and magic. See the online guide at http://www.adam-matthew-publications.co.uk/digital_guides/. |
| Journals of all the Parliaments during the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Collected by Sir Simonds D’Ewes |
| Oversize Oversize J301 .xH14 1973q |
| Also available online and in microform. |
| Papers of the York Court of High Commission, c.1560-1641 [microform] |
| Microfilm 09160 |
14 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Oversize BX5154 .E534q |
| The Court of High Commission heard ecclesiastical cases that had not been, or could not be, successfully addressed at a lower level. Cases include complaints about nonconformity, sexual conduct, and abuse of office by ministers. See http://www.archiveshub.ac.uk/news/05090101.html |
| Bute Broadsides in the Houghton Library, Harvard University [microform] |
| Microfilm 05335 |
1 reel |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Z1231.B7A46 |
| The Bute collection, assembled in the 19th century, consists of ephemera illustrating political and social aspects of 17th-century England. See http://microformguides.gale.com/Data/Introductions/30100FM.htm |
| Thomason Tracts |
| Microfilm 01645 |
256 reels |
Printed guide: Z2018.xB85 1977 and Firestone Microforms Z2018.xU6 1977 |
| The Thomason Tracts are a substantial collection of material collected by a bookseller during the English Civil War. They have been digitized as part of Early English Books Online (see above). The collection is important enough to have a Wikipedia entry, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomason Tracts. See also http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/news/thomasontracts/index.html. |
| Repertory. [Microform] |
| 1465.592 |
39 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| Records of the Court of Aldermen in London, for 1598-1694. |
| Journal. [Microform] |
| 1465.593 |
18 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| Records of the Court of Common Council in London. See above. |
Note: for Britain and the American colonies in the 18th century, see also American History to 1900.
| Papers of George Grenville [microform] |
| Microfilm 05629 |
13 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| Grenville (1712–1770) was a career politician and Prime Minister from 1763 to 1765. See the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. |
| Naval papers of Sir Andrew Snape Hamond, bart., 1766-1783, and Sir Graham Eden Hamond, bart., 1799-1825 |
| 14463.429 |
3 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms DA87.1.H18 |
| Andrew Hamond (1738–1828) was a British naval officer active at the time of the American Revolution. See the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Also included are papers of his son Graham (1779–1862), a naval officer. |
| Aristocratic women [microform]: the social, political and cultural history of rich and powerful women |
| Microfilm 10536 |
25 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms HQ1593 .A747 |
| Reproduces the correspondence of Jemima, Marchioness Grey (1722-97) and her circle; the correspondence and diaries of Charlotte Georgiana, Lady Bedingfeld (formerly Jerningham), c1779-1833; and the letters of Anna Seward, c1791-1804 and Lady Stafford, c1774-1837.
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| Home Office class HO 42 [microform]: George III, correspondence, 1782-1820 |
| Available through interlibrary loan from the Center for Research Libraries. See Borrowing Microforms from the Center for Research Libraries for more information. |
| Originals held by the Public Record Office as Home Office class HO 42. Consists of letters and papers relating to government affairs, 1782-1820. |
| Making of the Modern World Digital Archive |
| Digital edition of the Goldsmiths'-Kress collections of books on that document economic and business activity in the West, from the last half of the 15th century to the mid-19th century. Materials include books, pamphlets and ephemera and cover a broad range of topics in political science, history, sociology, and banking, finance, transportation and manufacturing. [We also hold this collection in microform: Microfilm S00656.] |
| Aristocracy, the state and the local community [microform]: the Hastings collection of manuscripts from the Huntington Library in California |
| Microfilm 09170 |
39 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms CD1069.5.H37 A75 |
| "Accumulated from more than five centuries of activity in national and regional affairs, the Hastings family papers are a wealth of diverse material for research not only into English history, but also into Irish and Colonial American history." The correspondence include letters dated from 1477 to 1828, and there are also legal and financial papers. |
| Correspondence, 17th-18th cent . [Sloane, Hans, Sir, 1660-1753] |
| 0412.864 |
16 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| British Museum manuscripts, 4036-69; "Original correspondence, chronologically arranged." Cf. Edward J. L. Scott, Index to the Sloane manuscripts, London, 1904, p. 498. On Sloane, a physician and collector of books and manuscripts, see http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/25730. |
| Claydon House letters. [Microform] |
| 1494.9338.25 |
60 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms DA485.S42 |
| The Verney family letters are an important source for social history in the 17th century. See http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28233 for Sir Ralph Verney, writer of many of the letters. |
| English cartoons and satirical prints 1320-1832, in the British Museum [microform] |
| Microfilm S00288 |
21 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms NE55.L7 A3 |
| See http://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/British%20Satirical%20Prints.pdf. Consists of more than17,000 prints, the majority concentrated in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. |
| Records of a Scottish village [microform]: Lasswade |
| Microfiche 741 |
6 fiches |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms DA890.L37R42 |
| Collection of documents from the Scottish Record Office, primarily parish registers and poll tax record, for the village of Lasswade, 1650-1750. |
| Records of an English village [microform] |
| Microfiche 682 |
70 microfiches |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms DA690.E116R42 |
| Records from the Essex Record Office and elsewhere for the village of Earls Colne, 1400-1750. |
| Records of the Worshipful Company of Stationers, 1554-1920 [microform] |
| Microfilm 05633 |
115 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms Oversize Z325.S73 R43q |
| The Stationers' Company archives constitute an important source for the history of the English book trade. |
| Talbot Papers from Lambeth Palace Library [microform] |
| Microfilm 04571 |
9 reels |
Printed guide: none |
| "As a collection, the Talbot papers record the public service and private living of the Talbot family who were among the richest and most powerful of the Tudor nobility in England up to the Civil War." See Calendar of the Shrewsbury and Talbot papers in Lambeth Palace Library and the College of Arms, Firestone 14621.2931. |
| Witchcraft in Europe and America [microform] |
| Microfilm 05401 |
104 reels |
Printed guide: Firestone Microforms BF1566.R47 |
| Reproduces books on witchcraft from the collections of Cornell University, the Lea Library at the University of Pennsylvania, and elsewhere. Good coverage of all aspects of witchcraft, including many trial accounts. Note: much of the material in English may also be found in Early English Books Online and Eighteenth Century Collections Online. |
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