British History, 1603-1815

a guide to library reference and primary sources

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Reference books have many uses in various stages of your research. Some selected titles are listed here grouped according to the function they fulfill. They are examples only. Effective use of library catalogs and research guides will reveal many more useful reference works.

Dictionaries, encyclopedias, handbooks - for overviews and quick information:

Statistical summaries - for selected, condensed statistical data.

Historical treatises: major, comprehensive surveys.

Atlases and maps: Thematic atlases show history in graphic form.

Chronologies: lists of historical events in chronological order.

Biography: brief information on persons may be found in the dictionaries, encyclopedias and handbooks listed above, and also in these sources.

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Bibliographies: lists of publications on a subject (which may be specific or broad). General Historical Bibliographies

British History Bibliographies

Topical Historical Bibliographies

Many other bibliographies are in the Reference Area. Use the online catalog to find them, or browse.
Examples are: A Bibliography of Prostitution (Ref HQ 111.A1 B52 1977); Social Stratification: a research bibliography (Ref HM 821.A1 G55 1970); Alcohol Use and World Cultures (Ref HV 5035.A1 H43 1981); Research on Suicide: a bibliography (Ref HV 6545.A1 M38 1985), Bibliography of the History of Medicine (Ref R 131.A1 B5); ETC.

Guides to Reference Sources for History

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Primary Sources: Among the many types of primary sources of interest to historians are books, government records, personal memoirs, and other artifacts of civilization. Collections of important primary sources include libraries and archives. Directories help researchers locate pertinent collections. Examples of these directories are:

Books: Attempts have been made to identify and list all early books published in English. These "catalogs" list the books by author, and note the libraries which report having a copy of the book.

Diaries, Correspondence, and other Papers: private papers of sufficient interest may be published for the use of historians and other interested parties. Some examples:

Collections of Historical Documents: selected documents and papers of historical interest

Another primary source is the accumulating record of thought and observation in the popular press - newspapers and magazines, as described below.

Periodicals: Writing and illustrations in periodicals are important historical artifacts. Wide circulation magazines in England date from around the end of the 17th century. Examples to be found in Crumb Library are: Defoe's Review, 1704-1713 (DA 490.D33), and Spectator, 1711-1714 (PR 1365.S7 1965). Indexes to the contents of magazines came much later. Listed here are indexes which cover popular interest and news magazines (rather than professional historical journals), which enable you to look for articles by subject:

Newspapers: Newspapers are published everywhere in many languages. Back issues are almost always available only as microfilm. The most comprehensive list of foreign newspapers is Newspapers in Microform: Foreign Countries Ref PN 4855.A1L5 1948-83. Most newspapers available in microfilm can be obtained through Interlibrary Loan. Few newspapers have indexes to their contents, but some of the most important ones do.

Indexes to Newspapers: use these to search for stories on particular subjects

latest update 1/2003 dt