Research Guides: British History: Home

Key Resources

Academic Journal Articles

Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window
Abstracts and indexes journal articles covering countries other than the United States and Canada in the subject areas of history, the social sciences and humanities. The scope of coverage is World History (1450–present) and related areas including culture, diplomacy, economics, international relations and politics.
Abbreviation: hist-abs
Vendor: EBSCO
Coverage: 1964-Current
Subjects: Asian Studies, History, Middle Eastern Studies, Russian & Eastern European Studies, Women's and Gender Studies
Type: Indexes / Catalogs

Primary Source Collections

Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
Eighteenth Century Collections Online is based on The English Short Title Catalogue, a machine-readable union list of the holdings of the British Library, as well as those from more than 1,500 university, private and public libraries worldwide. This includes over 150,000 English-language titles and editions published between 1701–1800. This online collection is divided into seven subject areas: history and geography; social science and fine arts; medicine, science and technology; literature and language; religion and philosophy; law; and reference. Part II expands the collection with an emphasis on literature, social science, and religion.

FSU has access to parts one and two.
Abbreviation: 18thcen
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1701-1800
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources
Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window
The Nineteenth Century Collections Online includes Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange; British Politics and Society; British Theatre, Music, Literature: High and Popular Culture; Children's Literature and Childhood; European Literature, 1790-1840: The Corvey Collection; Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture; Mapping the World: Maps and Travel Literature; Photography: The World Through the Lens; Religion, Spirituality, Reform, and Society; Science, Technology, and Medicine, 1780–1925; Science, Technology, and Medicine, 1780–1925, Part II; Women: Transnational Networks.
Abbreviation: ncco
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1780-1925
Subjects: Art History, History, Literature, Religion
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources

Newspapers & Periodicals

Burney Collection Newspapers This link opens in a new window
The Burney Collection Newspapers is a full-text, fully searchable digital archive of nearly 1,270 17th and 18th century newspapers and news pamphlets from the United Kingdom. Collected by the Reverend Charles Burney, this unique collection represents the largest single archive of 17th and 18th century news media available from the British Library.
Abbreviation: bcn
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1603-1788
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
British Library Newspapers, Part I and II (1800–1900) include regional and local newspaper titles that illuminate diverse and distinct regional attitudes, cultures, and vernaculars, providing an alternative viewpoint to the London-centric national press. Parts III (1741-1950), IV (1732-1950), and V (1746-1950) add even more regional and local depth, encompassing powerful provincial news journals, local interest publications, and specialist titles. Part VI (1783-1950) provides the Irish perspective, a counterpoint to the major UK daily newspapers.
FSU Libraries has access to parts one through six of the British Library Newspapers collection.

Abbreviation: britln
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1732-1950
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
British Periodicals This link opens in a new window
This resource offers facsimile page images and searchable full text for nearly 500 British periodicals published from the seventeenth century through to the twentieth century. The titles were selected by Professor Daniel Fader of the University of Michigan on the basis of their importance and difficulty of access in American libraries, and issues were sourced from over 100 libraries worldwide. FSU has access to collections one through four.
Abbreviation: bpc
Vendor: ProQuest
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources
Caribbean Newspapers, Series I: 1718–1876 This link opens in a new window
Caribbean Newspapers, 1718–1876—the largest online collection of 18th- and 19th-century newspapers published in this region—will provide a comprehensive primary resource for studying the development of Western society and international relations within this important group of islands. This unique resource will prove essential for researching colonial history, the Atlantic slave trade, international commerce, New World slavery and U.S. relations with the region as far back as the early 18th century.
Abbreviation: carinp
Vendor: NewsBank
Coverage: 1718-1876
Subjects: History, Latin American & Caribbean Studies
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Searchable and browsable digital reproduction, cover to cover, of the London Times in PDF files, 1785–1985 and 2015-2019. The PDFs in this database are not transcribed into text, so you may need to search for keywords with unusual spelling for earlier copies. For articles outside of these dates, use the database Times (The London Times).
Abbreviation: tdar
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1785-1985, 2015-2019
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Images, Newspapers and Newswires
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals, Part I: Women's, Children's, Humor, and Leisure provides insight into the evolving life of British culture, where reading for leisure, women's rights, children's entertainment, and sports grew as publishing expanded. Part II: Empire explores Britain's empire-building throughout the nineteenth century through the periodicals from its colonies, covering the public response to the abolition of the slave trade, the First Opium War, Queen Victoria's assumption of the title of Empress of India, and the "Scramble for Africa."
FSU Libraries has access to parts one and two of the Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals collection.

Abbreviation:ncukp
Vendor:Gale
Subjects:History
Type:Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842–2003 This link opens in a new window
The Illustrated London News Historical Archive, 1842-2003 combines information and the power of pictures to provide unique perspective on virtually every aspect of modern life and those who helped shape it over more than 160 years. With its debut in 1842, the Illustrated London News (ILN) became the world's first fully illustrated weekly newspaper, marking a revolution in journalism and news reporting. The publication presented a vivid picture of British and world events—including news of war, disaster, ceremonies, the arts, and science—with coverage in the first issue ranging from the Great Fire of Hamburg to Queen Victoria's fancy dress ball at Buckingham Palace.
Abbreviation: ilnha
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1842-2003
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
Telegraph Historical Archive This link opens in a new window
The Telegraph Historical Archive is the fully searchable digital archive of what was once the world's largest-selling newspaper. Launched in 1855, the Telegraph is generally seen by press historians as the start of a new era of journalism that emerged following the repeal of stamp duty and signaling the first step towards the mass-market journalism of the Daily Mail.
Abbreviation: tgarc
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1855-2016
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires

Historical Books

Early English Books Online (ProQuest) This link opens in a new window
Contains 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).
Tutorials:
ProQuest EEBO LibGuide

Abbreviation: eebo
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1475-1661
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources
HathiTrust This link opens in a new window
HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world.
Note, you must use the instructions below to access Hathi Trust:

Go to the HathiTrust homepage.
Click on the yellow 'Log In' button.
Select FSU from the drop-down menu and click 'Continue.'
Enter your FSU ID and password and click 'Continue.'

FSU users have full-text access and downloading capabilities for those items in the public domain, including:

US federal government documents
Works published before 1923
Works still protected by copyright, but made available to HathiTrust with the permission of the copyright holder

See also: Research Guide: HathiTrust Digital Library

Abbreviation: hathi
Vendor: HathiTrust
Coverage: 1564-Current
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections
Literary Print Culture This link opens in a new window
Sourced from the archive of The Worshipful Company of Stationers & Newspaper Makers, located at Stationers Hall in the City of London, Literary Print Culture: The Stationers Company Archive, 15542007, allows access to a vast and unique collection of primary source documents. The collection is widely regarded as one of the most important primary sources for studying the history of the book as well as publishing history, the history of copyright and the workings of an early London Livery Company. Explore the variety of documents to uncover the story of the role the Stationers Company played in the history of the book trade.
Abbreviation: amlpc
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 15542007
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Images

Biography

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (10 concurrent user limit) This link opens in a new window
A ground-breaking and engaging reference work providing 58,700 specially-written signed biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of the British past, from the earliest times to the end of the year 2000. State-of-the-art search options, extensive internal cross-referencing, access to articles from the original DNB, and navigation by "themes" combine with rigorous research and scholarship to make the Oxford DNB one of the most innovative and important reference sites available online.
Please note: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography only allows access for 10 FSU users at one time. If you are being asked for a username and password, please try to access the database later.

Abbreviation: dnb
Vendor: Oxford University Press
Coverage: 1400Current
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject
Type: Biographies

Additional Resources

Professor Upchurch's webpage
FSU History Professor Charles Upchurch points to these and other resources on his webpage!
British History Online (BHO)
British History Online is a digital library of key printed primary and secondary sources for the history of Britain and Ireland, with a primary focus on the period between 1300 and 1800. While FSU Libraries does not subscribe to this database, many of the more than 1,200 historical documents are freely available without a subscription.

This guide was substantially revised in 2018 by Adam Beauchamp and Dr. Charles Upchurch of the FSU History Department.

Except where otherwise noted, the content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

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