LibGuides: Humanities: Periodicals

Primary Sources: Periodicals

A periodical is anything such as a journal, a newspaper, or a magazine that is published on an ongoing basis. Periodicals are excellent sources to consult when undertaking research into the way historical figures and events were represented to particular segments of the reading public. They also open a way for you to access voices marginalized by later historiography. These particular online resources concentrate on periodical literature published in English from the eighteenth to the twentieth century.

Burney Collection of 17th and 18th Century Newspapers
Claiming to be the "largest single online collection of English news media" from the period, the Burney Collection offers access to 1,270 newsbooks, newspapers, pamphlets, and other ephemera printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, as well as British colonies in the Americas and Asia.
Eighteenth Century Periodicals (c1685-1815)
Full access to a wide assortment of eighteenth-century political, religious, theatrical, and literary journals published in England, Scotland, Ireland, Nova Scotia, India, and the Caribbean.
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index
An index to many key British and American periodicals and newspapers of the nineteenth century. Also includes bibliographic citations to books and government documents.
British Periodicals I & II (c1861-1920)
Full access to major British periodicals including also those listed in the Wellesley Index ( Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, the Dublin Review, the Edinburgh Review, the London Quarterly Review, the Quarterly Review, the Westminster Review, &c.).
American Periodicals Series Online (1740 -1990)
Provides full-text access to a wide range of American magazines and journals. Titles include Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine, America's first scientific journal Medical Repository, as well as popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal.
19th Century British Library Newspapers
Full access to 48 representative newspapers published in Britain during the nineteenth century. Includes newspapers that helped lead particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also present in the collection.
Eight Centuries (formerly 19th Century Masterfile)
A vast scholarly database for finding published material, with the scope of the bulk of searchable material extending from the 12th century through 1960. Through enhancement and implementation of dozens of historically significant scholarly indexes, it offers multidisciplinary coverage of primary materials including periodicals, magazines and newspapers.
Readers Guide Abstracts
Contains indexing and abstracting of many popular general-interest periodicals published in Canada and the United States from 1983 forward. The Retrospective option covers the period from 1890-1982.
Periodicals Archive Online
Full access to c500 periodicals mostly publihsed in the US and UK. Also includes 65 foreign-language titles.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The New York Times
A searchable archive of the new The New York Times, 1851 - 2013. Offers full page and article images with searchable full text back to the first issue.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: The Globe and Mail
An electronic newspaper archive of The Globe and Mail beginning in 1844. Coverage includes all the stories, images, advertisements, classifieds, political cartoons, births and deaths. Results are displayed as images (photographs) of an entire newspaper page.
ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Toronto Star
An electronic newspaper archive of The Toronto Star beginning in 1894. Includes stories, editorial and opinion pieces,advertisements, birth and death notices. Results are displayed as images (photographs) of an entire newspaper page.

Cambridge Histories

The Cambridge History of the Book in Britain
ISBN: 0521573467
This six-volume set provides an invaluable history of book and print culture in Britain from Roman times until the beginning of World War I.