Historical Texts

Finding Representative Texts

Finding Texts
Identifying cultural debates

Finding documents in print

Sourcebooks or readers on a time period often include selected representative texts and provide a view of the contemporary debate. Search the Tomlinson Library catalog or other library catalogs on your topic, including the word sources in your search. Example: modernism and sources

Finding documents online

Use the online primary source collections available through the library (listed to the right). The HathiTrust Digital Library provides complete scans of many older books.

University archives, national libraries and historical and cultural societies often have online digital collections with representative cultural texts and other primary sources. Example: The National Library of Ireland includes key documents relating to Home Rule as well as The Gaelic League.

Google can also be an effective tool for tracking down a particular document - Search on the title of the document with the author and the word text (or digital or document) to track down the original text. Example: A Retrospect Ezra Pound text

With documents found through Google, be sure to consider the provenance of the text. What agency has taken responsibility for digitizing or publishing this text online? Do they have guidelines for maintaining the integrity of sources?

Historical Criticism considers a work of literature as a statement, a text engaged in debate with contemporary cultural mores and other texts. This historical context provides "a larger field of meaning in which a text can and should be situated in order to be understood fully." * How do you identify representative texts within a cultural debate or discourse? Some approaches:

Look at biographical sources about an author to discern the author's concerns and opinions within the cultural, artistic, and political debates of their time. (For example, James Joyce's views on Catholicism, British imperialism in Ireland, & realism in literature). What contemporary texts or cultural movements was the author responding to?
Look at literary criticism of the work grounded in cultural or political history. These analyses usually refer to historical texts that represent the cultural climate and debate.
Do some research on the time period when the work was written, with an eye toward political and cultural controversies. Are there historical texts that represent these controversies?
Consult encyclopedias and other reference sources. Reference articles concerning a historical figure, event or movement may note important texts.

*"Historical Criticism" From An Introduction to Criticism: Literature/Film/Culture by Michael Ryan

Sources from Multiple Times and Places

Milestone Documents in World History This link opens in a new window

Internet History Sourcebooks Project
The Internet History Sourcebooks Project is a collection of public domain and copy-permitted historical texts. Includes primary sources for ancient history, medieval history, and modern history. In addition to western civilization, also includes sources for African, East Asian, Indian, Islamic, Jewish, Lesbian and Gay, Science, & Women's History. Supported by Fordham University.

Hathi-Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Biological Sciences, Social Sciences, Health Sciences, Business,
Education, Literature Open Access Resource HathiTrust is a partnership of academic & research institutions, offering a collection of millions of titles digitized from libraries around the world. Titles out of copyright and in public domain are viewable.

American Sources

19th Century US Newspapers Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Subjects: US History, Political Science
19th Century U.S. Newspapers provides access to primary source newspaper content from the 19th century, featuring full-text content and images from numerous newspapers from a range of urban and rural regions throughout the U.S. The collection encompasses the entire 19th century, with an emphasis on such topics as the American Civil War, African-American culture and history, Western migration and Antebellum-era life, among other subjects.

Historical Newspapers Online
This research guide highlights national and state level historical newspaper archives.

American Revolution (from Sources in U.S. History Online) This link opens in a new window
Subject: U.S. History The American Revolution digital collection contains nearly 500 significant documents of the time-official correspondence, personal letters, political speeches, memoirs, histories, biographies, and contemporary reference works--enabling students, faculty and patrons to study one of the key events in American history. Sources in U.S. History Online is a series of archival digital collections intended for public library patrons as well as high school, community college, and university students.
Civil War (from Sources in U.S. History Online) This link opens in a new window
Subject: U.S. History The Civil War digital collection contains nearly 500 significant documents of the time--personal narratives, monographs, regimental histories, collected essays, sermons, songs, legal tracts, and political speeches--enabling students, faculty and patrons to study one of the key events in American history. Sources in U.S. History Online is a series of archival digital collections intended for public library patrons as well as high school, community college, and university students.
Slavery (from Sources in U.S. History Online) This link opens in a new window
Subject: U.S. History The Slavery in America digital collection contains more than 600 significant documents of the time--personal narratives, pamphlets, addresses, monographs, sermons, and political speeches--enabling students, faculty and patrons to study the institution of slavery from the 17th century through the end of the 19th century. Sources in U.S. History Online is a series of archival digital collections intended for public library patrons as well as high school and community college students.
Eighteenth Century Collection Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Literature, History Open Access Resource ECCO-TCP resulted from a a partnership with Gale, part of Cengage Learning, to produce highly accurate, fully-searchable, SGML/XML-encoded texts from among the 150,000 titles available in Gale’s Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) database.on.

English Sources

Times Digital Archive 1785-2019 This link opens in a new window
Subjects: Social & Behavioral Sciences, History The (London) Times has offered readers in-depth, award-winning and objective coverage of world events since its creation 1785 and is the oldest daily newspaper in continuous publication. The Times Digital Archive is an online, full-text facsimile of more than 200 years of The Times, a valuable resource for 19th – 20th Century history detailing every complete page of every issue from 1785 onward.

Medieval and Elizabethan Sources

Please see the Medieval and Early Modern Primary Sources research guide for more

Renascence Editions
A digital repository of works printed in English between the years 1477 and 1799, provided by the University of Oregon.
The DIgital Scriptorium
A repository of digital images for medieval and Renaissance manuscripts. The DS website enables free and open access of historically significant but often understudied manuscript materials. Special emphasis is placed on identifying touchstone materials, such as manuscripts signed and dated by their scribes.
Internet Medieval Sourcebook
Provides medieval texts and maps addressing many aspects of medieval life. Supported by Fordham University.
The Geoffrey Chaucer Website
Provides primary source material addressing aspects of daily life in Chaucer's time as well as sources pertaining to literary subjects and Chaucer's own life, from Harvard University.
Folger Shakespeare Library Digital Image Collection
Tens of thousands of digital images from the Folger Shakespeare Library's collection. Searchable by time, place, play, person, and keywords.
English Emblem Book Project
English emblem books scanned for this project are cultural artifacts frequently used in the analysis of reading practices, printing history, Elizabethan popular culture, the use of allegory, and the relationship of word to image.

To find texts from a particular time period and/or place, use the catalog below and type in the time and/or place and the word sources. For example: Modernism and sources.

Titles with texts from particular time periods & places are compiled below:

American Sources

Texts from Early American History - Click to see results

Texts from 19th Century America - Click to see more

Texts from 20th Century America - Click to see more

English Sources

Texts from Medieval England - Click to see more

Texts from Elizabethan England - Click to see more

Texts from 18th and 19th Century England - Click to see more

Texts in English Women's History - Click to see more

Texts on Modernism - Click to see more

To find primary source materials for placing a particular work in historical context, search the library catalog below on the title of interest and the word sources. For example: King Lear and sources