Early Modern Studies
Collection overview
Material related to the early modern period can be found across the Library’s collections.
It is important that you use the catalogue, as many early works are held in Special Collections or other closed stacks, and so will not be apparent from shelf browsing. If you cannot find a book published before 1980, please check the online card catalogue.
Collection strengths include:
- Early editions of texts from the period, and modern critical editions
- Thousands of books and pamphlets printed 1450-1700 in modern European languages, Latin and ancient Greek
- Secondary literature in all fields, especially history, literature, philosophy, manuscript studies and music
- Range of periodicals dealing with the period: from specialist titles such as Shakespeare quarterly to more general titles, eg Journal of medieval and early modern studies, many of which are available in print and electronic formats, eg via JSTOR
- Facsimiles of important manuscripts, often illustrated
- Online access to major bibliographic databases
Other libraries of particular interest in this area within the University of London Research Library Services (ULRLS) include the Warburg Institute and the Institute of Historical Research, which share a catalogue: http://catalogue.ulrls.lon.ac.uk/search~S24
Special Collections
The early modern period is well represented in our Special Collections and archives. Many books can be found using the main catalogue. Manuscripts can be located on Senate House Library’s Archive & Manuscript Catalogue: http://archives.ulrls.lon.ac.uk; or via AIM25 (Archives in London and the M25 Area): www.aim25.ac.uk.
Manuscripts:
A wide collection of early modern manuscripts are held, mostly historical or political, and some literary. Examples include: materials relating to the Exchequer, Tudor economic documents, licenses to beg and a commonplace book. We hold legal and political tracts and customs accounts, as well as judicial proceedings.
Texts to assist with reading early modern handwriting can be found in the Palaeography Room, eg G.E. Dawson and L. Kennedy-Skipton (1968), Elizabethan Handwriting
The Library holds incunabula (books printed before 1501), some in the following collections:
The Goldsmiths’ Library of Economic Literature contains manuscripts, original editions of books, pamphlets and periodicals primarily on economic and social matters published from the fifteenth to the early twentieth centuries. The database Making of the Modern World (MoMW) is based on this collection and contains the full text of many publications. A printed catalogue is also available in Special Collections, Palaeography Room.
The De Morgan Library is a rich resource for the study of mathematics and early astronomy, including first and early editions of works by major figures, such as Kepler and Newton, among the over 700 items published before 1701.
Other Special Collections of note include the:
- Eliot-Phelips Collection – items originating in or relating to Spain
- Elzevier Press Collection – books printed by members of the Elzevier family and other seventeenth-century Dutch presses
- Sterling Library - first and early editions of English books
- Durning-Lawrence Library - devoted to its founder’s belief that Francis Bacon wrote the plays of Shakespeare, includes early and subsequent editions of works by Bacon and other early modern writers, and associated publications such as emblem books and early bibles
- Harry Price Library - items on witchcraft and magic, the occult and fraud, from the fifteenth century to the modern day
- Bromhead Library – focuses on the history of London, particularly strong in seventeenth-century tracts
Early Printed Books
Reference sources include:
Catalogue |
Location |
|---|---|
| ESTC (English Short Title Catalogue) | Online |
| HPB (Hand Press Book Database) [European printed books] | Online |
| IISTC (llustrated Incunabula Short Title Catalogue) | Networked CD-ROM |
| Full-text books of the period | Location |
| EEBO (Early English Books Online, 1473-1700) | Online |
| Making of the Modern World (MoMW) | Online |
Bibliographies and Databases
Useful resources include:
Resource |
Location |
|---|---|
| Bibliographie internationale de l’humanisme et de la Renaissance (1965-) | 016.94 [Bibliographie] |
| Bibliography of the history of art, 1973- | Online |
| Historical abstracts, 1982- | Online |
| History of Science, Technology and Medicine, 1975- | Online |
| MLA International Bibliography, 1963- | Online |
| New Cambridge bibliography of English literature, Vol. 1: 600-1660 (1974); Vol. 2: 1660-1800 (1971) | 016.82 [Cambridge] |
| Periodicals Archive Online and Periodicals Index Online, 1665- | Online |
| Philosophers’ Index, 1940- | Online |
| Renaissance Humanism, 1300-1500: a bibliography of materials in English (1985) | 63 MACD2 Koh |
| Royal Historical Society Bibliography, 1901- | Online |
Reference works
Include:
Resource |
Location |
|---|---|
| Dictionary of Art (1996) | Art V11 Dic |
| ... and Grove Art Online, 1998- | Online |
| Dictionary of literary biography (1978-) | 809.3 [Dictionary] |
| Encyclopedia of the Renaissance (1999) | 909 [Encyclopedia] |
| New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, 2nd ed. (2001) | ML Rapid Reference |
| … and Grove Music Online, 1992- | Online |
| Oxford Dictionary of National Bibliography, 2004- | Online |
| Oxford dictionary of the Renaissance (2003) | Pal. Room CC18.1 [Campbell] |
| Oxford encyclopedia of the Reformation (1996) | 909 [Oxford] |
Contact details
For further help, please contact the Information Desk (4th floor)
shl.enquiries@london.ac.uk 
020 7862 8461 or 8462
