Research Guides: *English: Primary Sources

HathiTrust

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

Resource URL: http://www.hathitrust.org/
Abbreviation: hathi
Vendor: HathiTrust
Coverage: 1564–Current
Subjects: *General / Multi-Subject
Type: E-Book Collections, E-Journal Collections

What are Primary Sources?

What are primary sources?

Primary sources are the documents or artifacts that are first-hand accounts and that you can use as evidence to support your research. They are often created during the time period that is being studied, but can also be produced later by eyewitnesses or other participants (oral histories, memoirs are examples). You can find primary sources in their original format in an archive or reproduced in a variety of ways in databases, books, or on microfilm. Types of primary sources include: correspondence, diaries, newspapers, government documents, and art.

The resources below will help you find primary sources including books, pamphlets, letters, & more. Please check the Historical/Primary Sources page to find a complete list of primary sources available through FSU Libraries.

Dictionary of Old English, The (DOE) This link opens in a new window
The Dictionary of Old English (DOE) defines the vocabulary of the first six centuries (600–1150 A.D.) of the English language, using today's most advanced technology. The DOE complements the Middle English Dictionary (which covers the period 1100–1500 A.D.) and the Oxford English Dictionary (which documents the development of the English language to the present), the three together providing a full description of the vocabulary of English. The Dictionary of Irish Biography, a collaborative project between Cambridge University Press and the Royal Irish Academy, is the most comprehensive and authoritative biographical dictionary yet published for Ireland. It contains 9,014 signed biographical articles which describe and assess the careers of subjects in all fields of endeavor, including politics, law, religion, literature, journalism, architecture, painting, music, the stage, science, medicine, engineering, entertainment and sport.
Resource URL: https://tapor.library.utoronto.ca/doe/
Abbreviation: doe
Vendor: University of Toronto
Subjects: English, Linguistics, Literature
Type: Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Historical / Primary Sources
Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus This link opens in a new window
The Dictionary of Old English Web Corpus is an online database consisting of at least one copy of every surviving Old English text. In some cases, more than one copy is included, if it is significant because of dialect or date. As such, the DOE Web Corpus represents over three million words of Old English and fewer than a million words of Latin, or almost five times the collected works of Shakespeare. The Web Corpus is compiled as part of the Dictionary of Old English project at the University of Toronto.
Resource URL: https://tapor.library.utoronto.ca/doecorpus/
Abbreviation: doecorpus
Vendor: University of Toronto
Subjects: English, Literature
Type: Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Historical / Primary Sources
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

Resource URL: https://search.proquest.com/eebo/advanced?accountid=4840
Abbreviation: eebo
Vendor: ProQuest
Coverage: 1475–1661
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources
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.

FSU has access to part 1.
Resource URL: https://link.gale.com/apps/ECCO?u=tall85761
Abbreviation: 18thcen
Vendor: Gale
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources
Middle English Compendium This link opens in a new window
Access to and interconnectivity between three major Middle English electronic resources: the Middle English Dictionary, a HyperBibliography based on the MED bibliographies, and an associated network of electronic resources.
Resource URL: https://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/middle-english-dictionary
Abbreviation: mideng
Vendor: University of Michigan Library
Subjects: Bibliography, English, History, Literature
Type: Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Open Access
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: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest; 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.
Resource URL: http://link.gale.com/apps/NCCO?u=tall85761
Abbreviation: ncco
Vendor: Gale
Coverage: 1780–1925
Subjects: Art History, History, Literature, Religion
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources
English Short Title Catalogue This link opens in a new window
Contains records for works printed in any language in England or its dependencies from the beginning of printing through the end of the eighteenth century, as well as works printed in English anywhere else in the world during that period. Subject headings appear in records for items published in 1700 or earlier. (Over 460,000 items)
Resource URL: http://estc.bl.uk
Abbreviation: eng-short
Vendor: The British Library
Coverage: 1473–1800
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Indexes / Catalogs

Alexander Street Theatre This link opens in a new window
Theatre from Alexander Street features performances of works by American, European, Asian, and other worldwide dramatists from the past several centuries. In addition to performances, Theatre also features dozens of documentaries and interviews about theatre, discussing the history of theatre, acting methods, pioneering dramatists and actors. Major reference materials, together with records to plays, people, theatres, productions, and production companies are included.

FSU has access to the following collections: Asian American Drama, Black Drama: Second Edition, BroadwayHD Collection, North American Indian Drama, North American Women's Drama, Theatre in Context Collection, Theatre in Video: Volume I, Theatre in Video: Volume II, and Twentieth Century North American Drama.
Resource URL: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/theatre
Abbreviation: nato
Vendor: Alexander Street, a ProQuest Company
Subjects: Literature, Theatre
Type: E-Book Collections, Encyclopedias & Dictionaries, Historical / Primary Sources, Images, Indexes / Catalogs, Music Scores, Streaming Audio, Streaming Video
Asian American Drama This link opens in a new window
Asian American Drama contains 252 plays by 42 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more.
Resource URL: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/aadr
Abbreviation: aad
Vendor: Alexander Street, a ProQuest Company
Coverage: 1891–2004
Subjects: Dance, Literature, Music, Theatre
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Indexes / Catalogs
Eighteenth Century Drama This link opens in a new window
A unique archive of almost every play submitted for license between 1737 and 1824, and hundreds of documents that provide social context for the plays, featuring: John Larpent Collection of Plays from the Huntington Library Supplementary documents including Anna Larpent Diaries The London Stage, 1660–1800 A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers and Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660–1800.
Resource URL: http://www.eighteenthcenturydrama.amdigital.co.uk
Abbreviation: eighcd
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 1660–1824
Subjects: Literature, Theatre
Type: Historical / Primary Sources
Beckett Digital Manuscript Project This link opens in a new window
The purpose of the Beckett Digital Manuscript Project is to reunite the manuscripts of Samuel Beckett in a digital way, and to facilitate genetic research: the project brings together digital facsimiles of documents that are now preserved in different holding libraries, and adds transcriptions of Beckett's manuscripts, tools for bilingual and genetic version comparison, a search engine, and an analysis of the textual genesis of his works.
Resource URL: http://www.beckettarchive.org/
Abbreviation: bdmp
Vendor: Samuel Beckett Digital Manuscript Project
Subjects: Literature
Type: Historical / Primary Sources
Black Drama This link opens in a new window
Black Drama contains approximately 1,462 plays by 233 playwrights, together with detailed, fielded information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. The database also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays.
Resource URL: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/bld2
Abbreviation: bd2
Vendor: Alexander Street, a ProQuest Company
Coverage: 1846–2009
Subjects: African-American Studies, Literature, Theatre
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources, Images
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction This link opens in a new window
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction includes more than 100,000 pages of poetry, short fiction, novels, and more than 450 plays. Nearly all of the content is in copyright, and most of the other items are long out of print or have never before been published. Besides serving as a rich resource for literature scholars, the collection also supports the study of American history, ethnic diversity, immigrations issues, and political history.
Resource URL: http://search.proquest.com/litcollectionlali/advanced/literature/fromDatabasesLayer?accountid=4840
Abbreviation: latlit
Vendor: ProQuest
Subjects: Latin American & Caribbean Studies, Literature
Type: E-Book Collections, Historical / Primary Sources
Accessible Archives This link opens in a new window
Accessible Archives provides diverse primary sources from the 18th, 19th, and early 20th century, reflecting broad views across American history and culture, including: African American life, Women’s Suffrage, American County Histories, Colonial America, the Civil War, America in World War I, and much more. The databases allow access to the rich store of materials—eyewitness accounts of historical events, vivid descriptions of daily life, editorial observations, and commerce as seen through advertisements—from over 200 years of leading books, newspapers, and periodicals then current.
Resource URL: http://www.accessible.com/accessible/preLog
Abbreviation: aacarc
Vendor: Accessible Archives
Subjects: African-American Studies, History, Women's and Gender Studies
Type: Newspapers and Newswires

Find Historical Newspapers, Diaries, & More

Historical Newspapers
Historical Diaries, Letters, & More

The resources below may be helpful in finding primary sources including historical newspapers, letters, and more. Please check out the Historical/Primary Sources page to find an A-Z listing of primary sources offered by FSU Libraries.

African American Newspapers, 1827–1998 This link opens in a new window
Provides online access to 280 U.S. newspapers chronicling a century and a half of the African American experience. This unique collection, which includes papers from more than 35 states, features many rare and historically significant 19th-century titles.
Resource URL: http://infoweb.newsbank.com/?db=EANX&d_collections=EANAAA
Abbreviation: afamnp
Vendor: NewsBank
Coverage: 1827–1998
Subjects: African-American Studies, Communication, History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
American Indian Newspapers This link opens in a new window
American Indian Newspapers aims to present a diverse and robust collection of print journalism from Indigenous peoples of the US and Canada over more than 9,000 individual editions from 1828–2016.
Resource URL: http://www.americanindiannewspapers.amdigital.co.uk/
Abbreviation: aminews
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 1828–2016
Subjects: Anthropology, Cultural Heritage, History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires

America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922
Americas Historical Newspapers, 1690-1922 covers the dates 1690-1922. The coverage includes "Eras in the History of the Caribbean", "U.S. Presidential Eras", and "Eras in American History". The search feature includes Dates and Eras, Article Types, Languages, Places of Publication, and Newspaper Titles. Logging into the database alows you to save in "My Collection".

British Library Newspapers This link opens in a new window
British Library Newspapers, Part I and II (1800–1900) include 60 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. Part III adds even more regional and local depth, encompassing powerful provincial news journals, local interest publications, and specialist titles.
FSU Libraries owns access to Parts I, II, and III of the British Library Newspapers collection.

Resource URL: https://link.gale.com/apps/BNCN?u=tall85761
Abbreviation: britln
Vendor: Gale
Subjects: History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: U.S. Southeast Collection This link opens in a new window
From leading issues and events, like the U.S. Civil War, immigration, westward expansion, industrial developments, race relations, and World War I and II; to international, local and regional politics, society, arts, culture, business, and sports, ProQuest Historical Newspapers™ reveals the day-to-day news coverage to researchers and historical explorers, providing invaluable insights and information to users from a wide range of subjects.
Titles:
Asheville Citizen-Times (Asheville, NC)—1873–2009
The Daily News Leader (Staunton, VA)—1912–2011
The Daily News-Journal (Murfreesboro, TN)—TBD
Daily Press (Newport News, VA)—1898–2001
The Daily Times (Salisbury, MD)—1913–2011
Florida Today (Brevard County, FL)—1969–2006
The Jackson Sun (Jackson, TN)—TBD
The Leaf-Chronicle (Clarksville, TN)—TBD
Miami News (Miami, FL)—1904–1988
The News-Press (Fort Meyers, FL)—1911–2010
Orlando Sentinel (Orlando, FL)—1892–2001
Palm Beach Daily News (Palm Beach, FL)—1976–2011
Palm Beach Post (Palm Beach, FL)—1916–2004
Pensacola News Journal (Pensacola, FL)—1956–2011
South Florida Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL)—1925–2000
Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, FL)—1913–2008
The Tampa Tribune (Tampa, FL)—1895–2016

Resource URL: https://search.proquest.com/hnpusse/advanced?accountid=4840
Abbreviation: usshist
Vendor: ProQuest
Subjects: Communication, History
Type: Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires
Sunday Times (London) This link opens in a new window
Contains full-text content of The Sunday Times (London), one of the world's most famous newspapers and Britain's newspaper of record. Paid advertisements are excluded. The paper has long been held in high regard for its impartiality in reporting and analysis of the events. Letters to the editor are often written by respected experts writing on the pivotal issues of the day.
Resource URL: http://infoweb.newsbank.com/?db=LSTB
Abbreviation: londontimes-sun
Vendor: NewsBank
Coverage: 1985–Current
Type: Citation Management, Historical / Primary Sources, Newspapers and Newswires

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.
Resource URL: http://www.literaryprintculture.amdigital.co.uk
Abbreviation: amlpc
Vendor: Adam Matthew Digital Ltd
Coverage: 15542007
Subjects: History, Literature
Type: Government Publications, Historical / Primary Sources, Images
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
150,000 pages of published letters and diaries from individuals writing from Colonial times to 1950, plus 4,000 pages of previously unpublished materials.
Resource URL: https://search.alexanderstreet.com/nwld
Abbreviation: nawomens
Vendor: Alexander Street, a ProQuest Company
Coverage: Colonial times to 1950
Subjects: History, Literature, Women's and Gender Studies
Type: Datasets / Statistics, Directories, Historical / Primary Sources, Images

Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires Since 1820
Women and Social Movements in Modern Empires seeks to enlarge the scope and enhance the significance of the study of empire by creating a 75,000-page database and archive of documents that views the history of modern empires through women’s eyes. The project is a peer-reviewed collaborative effort by 56 scholars, distinguished and emerging, who have gathered 41 clusters of documents in their fields of expertise

Women Writers Online This link opens in a new window
Women Writers Online is a wide-ranging and richly diverse collection of women’s writing in English from the pre-Victorian period. It brings together more than 350 works that illuminate a broad cross-section of women’s literate culture between 1450 and 1850, including political, philosophical, and scientific writing as well as religious material, poetry, drama, fiction, and a huge variety of texts that challenge traditional genre categorization.
Resource URL: https://www.wwp.northeastern.edu/WWP/WWO/
Abbreviation: wmwron
Vendor: Women Writers Project
Coverage: 1450–1850
Subjects: Literature, Women's and Gender Studies
Type: Historical / Primary Sources