The YCBA has several unique resources for researching art in the Center's collection.
The Museum System (TMS) database, see reference desk for assistance
TMS
is the object management system for the works of art in the YCBA's
collection. From TMS we can provide you with basic information about an artwork
(size, date, medium), and in some cases label text and a color image. One
of the Reference Library staff can search TMS and provide you with a
report based for your object(s).
YCBA Art Bibliography Database, use at Reference Library public computers
This
database matches article and chapter citations to individual works of
art in the YCBA collection, approx. 200 at the moment. Unlike other art
databases, this resource gives you articles that deal specifically with your work of art.
YCBA Exhibition Catalogues
Most
of the Center's focused exhibition catalogues are spread out among the
stacks but many of the most comprehensive catalogues are grouped
together on one wall shelf in the Reading Room.
This guide is meant to supplement Professor Tim Barringer’s course Visual Cultures of British India. Included here is a variety of materials relevant to your work for this course: databases, books, journals, and information about collections at the Yale Center for British Art. I have also created a Google Map with select works of art and architecture and the location where these works were created.
India, Raj, and Empire
Includes original manuscript material, comprising diaries and journals, official and private papers, letters, sketches, paintings and original Indian documents containing histories and literary works from 1617 to 1947, Indian and Pakistani independence. The database is particularly strong in 18th and 19th century materials.Specific collections in the database are catalogued in Orbis:
--Papers on trade, shipping, the East India Company and military operations
--Letters and papers of the family of Allan Ramsay
--Journals and Diaries from high ranking soldiers and doctors alike
Empire Online
Broadly covers empire studies, which includes British India. Provides access to digitized primary materials by western and non-western peoples including portions of Thomas Daniell’s Oriental Scenery. Also includes thematic essays written by scholars, which are searchable by title. These essays include links to relevant digitzed primary sources:
--Exhibitions and Empire by Dr Jeffrey Auerbach
--The Pioneering Indian Women's Writing in English by Dr Chandani Lokugé
-- The Imperial Canvas: Art and Empire by Dr. Romita Ray (former Yale grad student and YCBA Visiting Scholar, Spring 2010)
Dictionary of National Biography (DNB)
A multi-volume set with biographical entries on significant, deceased individuals from or associated with Great Britain. The entries are often written by scholars and include great bibliographies. It's available in print at the YCBA Reference Library or online.
Databases for 18th and 19th century journal articles
18th Century Collections Online: Provides fully searchable text editions from among the 150,000 titles published during the 18th century. With special emphasis on the fields of history, literature, religion, law, fine arts, and science.
British Periodicals Collection: Contains full-text articles from over 500 journals spanning the late 17th to the early 20th centuries.
Times Digital Archive: Full-text access to the Times of London from 1785-1985. Pages are scanned from the original text, preserving the original layout and design of the page.
17th and 18th Century Burney Collection of Newspapers: Full-text access to forty-eight 17th & 18th century British newspapers. See publication list here.
Nineteenth Century Index: This large, umbrella index searches established indexes (Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue, Poole's Index to Periodical Literature, The Wellesley Index, Index to British Periodicals, Palmer's Index to the Times, and over 50 others) to provide citations (and links to full-text in some cases) for books, articles, and official publications published 1790-1919.
Books in the YCBA Reference Library and elsewhere
Edge of Empire: Lives, Cultures, and Conquest in the East, 1750-1850. Ebook available via Orbis
Lives of Indian images / Richard H. Davis. E-book available via Orbis
Sensible objects: colonialism, museums and material culture / edited by Elizabeth Edwards, Chris Gosden and Ruth B. Phillips. E-book available via Orbis
Art for a modern India, 1947-1980 / Rebecca M. Brown
Much Maligned Monsters: a history of European reactions to Indian art / Partha Mitter (N7428 .M53 1992)
Scenic splendours : India through the printed image / Pheroza Godrej and Pauline Rohatgi (N8214.5 I5 G64 1989)
Glimpses of India : an annotated bibliography of published personal writings by Englishmen, 1583-1947 / compiled by John F. Riddick. SML Starr Main Reference Reading Room: Z3206 R5 1989 (LC)
Useful Subject Headings
Use these terms in an Orbis subject search to find relevant materials
Great Britain--Colonies--History--19th century
Great Britain -- Colonies—India
India—Civilization--British influences
East India Company--History
Beinecke, Mudd, and other Yale Library Collections
Various Yale libraries have primary materials related to British India, especially travelogues, diaries, and other documents pertaining to British travels in India. Many of these can be found by searching via subject:
India—Description and Travel—1800-1850
India—Description and Travel—1850-1870