British History Online
British History Online contains primary and secondary sources for the history of the British Isles. You can find a diverse range of sources here. British History Online is run by the Institute of Historical Research - the centre for the study of history in the UK - at the University of London. Their goal is to produce highly accurate digital versions of the core works of British history, as part of the Institute's national role in historical research.
Web-based Metasites for Eighteenth-century British Studies
Here are selected web-based metasites created by others outside of Yale that focus on Britain and/or the long eighteenth century.
18thConnect--Eighteenth-century Scholarship online
18thConnect gathers together information about and links to the best primary and secondary texts that are available in digital form, either freely available on the Web or available by subscription. The digital scholarly resources in the field of eighteenth-century studies that are all searchable here, together. All of these resources are either digital collections of primary texts or content that has been or will be peer-reviewed by 18thConnect itself. All materials are peer-reviewed.
Early Modern Resources
Early Modern Resources is a research portal for the early modern period (c.1500-1800 CE). It only lists websites that are free to access and focuses on high-quality resources that are suitable for advanced research, study and teaching. includes both Primary sources and Reference
Eighteenth-century Resources
These pages edited by Jack Lynch of Rutgers – Newark, cover all the significant and reliable Internet resources he has been able to discover that focus on the (very long) eighteenth century — let's say Milton to Keats. The collection includes information on literature, history, art, music, religion, economics, philosophy, and so on, from around the world, as well as the home pages of societies and people who work on eighteenth-century topics.
European History Primary Sources
European History Primary Sources (EHPS) is a joint initiative. The purpose of EHPS is to provide an easily searchable index of scholarly digital repositories that contain primary sources for the history of Europe. EHPS lists the most important collections of digital primary sources for the history of Europe, either as a whole or for single countries. EHPS is updated continuously and invites all users to send their suggestions for websites to include.
Digital Humanities Projects related to Eighteenth-century British Studies
Connected Histories--British History Sources, 1500-1900
British History Sources, 1500-1900
Connected Histories brings together a range of digital resources related to early modern and nineteenth century Britain with a single federated search that allows sophisticated searching of names, places and dates, as well as the ability to save, connect and share resources within a personal workspace. Connected Histories currently includes 22 major digital resources for the period 1500-1900.
Digital Panopticon
The Digital Panopticon is a collaboration. It will bring together genealogical, biometric and criminal justice datasets held by different organisations in the UK and Australia. It will explore the impact of the different types of penal punishments on the lives of 66,000 people sentenced at The Old Bailey between 1780 and 1875, develop new and transferable methodologies for understanding and exploiting complex bodies of data and create a searchable website.
Locating London's Past
This website allows you to search a wide body of digital resources relating to early modern and eighteenth-century London, and to map the results on to a fully GIS compliant version of John Rocque's 1746 map.
Romantic London
Romantic London is a research project exploring life and culture in London around the turn of the nineteenth century using Richard Horwood’s pioneering PLAN of the Cities of LONDON and WESTMINSTER the Borough of SOUTHWARK, and PARTS adjoining Shewing every HOUSE (published between 1792 and 1799).
The site is based around two digital version of Horwood’s Plan: the original version and William Faden’s 1819 fourth edition (which shows the considerable changes that occurred in the early nineteenth century). Both of these are laid over modern maps of the city, allowing for detailed examinations and comparisons.
What Jane Saw
On 24 May 1813, Jane Austen visited an art exhibit at the British Institution in Pall Mall, London. The popular show was the first-ever retrospective of the works of Sir Joshua Reynolds (1723-1792), England's celebrated portrait painter. Two centuries later, this e-gallery offers the modern visitor a historical reconstruction of that long-lost Regency blockbuster. Enter via the Rowlandson print below, the original 1813 Catalogue, or the floor plan.
Digitized Texts in Large Online Collections
Google Books
Book Search works just like web search. If the book is out of copyright, or the publisher has given us permission, you'll be able to see a preview of the book, and in some cases the entire text. If it's in the public domain, you're free to download a PDF copy. If you find a book you like, click on the "Buy this book" and "Borrow this book" links to see where you can buy or borrow the print book.
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg offers over 42,000 free ebooks: choose among free epub books, free kindle books, download them or read them online.
Search Finding Aids
Manuscript and Archives Repositories Elsewhere
Archifau Cymru/Archives Wales
The Archives Wales online catalogue allows you with a single search to obtain information about more than 7,000 collections of historical records in the holdings of 21 archives in Wales.
Archives Hub
The Archives Hub provides a gateway to thousands of the UK’s richest archives. Representing over 220 institutions across the country, the Archives Hub is an effective way to discover unique and often little-known sources to support your research.
Use the Hub to instantly scan the archival landscape and bring together diverse sources held in repositories across the country. Historians will find the Hub an essential tool for their dissertations. Postgraduate students can bring that extra unique something to their research. Educators can take advantage of the Hub to introduce students to primary sources for their course work.
Archon Directory
Principal information gateway for UK archivists and users of manuscript sources for British history.
National Archives (UK)
As the official public archive of the United Kingdom government, the National Archives hold records covering more than 1,000 years of history. Government records which have been selected for permanent preservation are sent to The National Archives.
National Register of Archives (UK)
The NRA contains information on the nature and location of manuscripts and historical records that relate to British history.
National Register of Archives for Scotland
The National Register of Archives for Scotland (NRAS) was established by the National Records of Scotland (NRS), formerly the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), in 1946 to compile a record of papers of historical significance in private hands in Scotland.
Public Records Office for Northern Ireland
The Public Record Office of Northern Ireland (PRONI) is the official archive for Northern Ireland. PRONI holds millions of documents that relate chiefly, but not exclusively, to Northern Ireland. They date largely from c.1600 to the present day (with a few dating back as far as the early 13th century). The records held in PRONI fall into two main categories: Pubic Records and Privately Deposited Archives
Scottish Archive Network
The Scottish Archive Network is a project whose partners are the National Archives of Scotland (NAS), the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), and the Genealogical Society of Utah (GSU).
The project aims to revolutionise access to Scotland's archives by providing a single electronic catalogue to the holdings of more than 50 Scottish archives.
