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Useful Databases and Websites
Early Books, Newspapers, and Journals
Early English Books Online (EEBO)
(Trinity College Dublin Subscription)
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
Irish Newspaper Archives
British Periodicals (Collection I)
House of Commons Parliamentary Papers (HCPP)
English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)
Lists over 460,000 items published between 1473 and 1800
Mainly, but not exclusively, in English
Published mainly in the British Isles and British colonies
From the collections of the British Library and over 2,000 other libraries
Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (NSTC)
Library of Congress Online Catalogs
Catalogue of the Library of Congress in the United States.
See also the Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs Online Catalog.
Locate more than 20 million documents in the French library system
Search the catalogues of the Bibliothèque Nationale and French academic and public libraries using a single search interface
Search a directory of 4,100 French libraries and documentation centres, and access a description of their contents
Universal Short Title Catalogue (USTC)
The USTC is a collective database of all books published in Europe between the invention of printing and the end of the sixteenth century.
Book History Databases
The British Book Trade Index
Indexes workers in the book trade in England and Wales up to 1851
Covers a wide range of book-related trades, including printers, publishers, booksellers, stationers, papermakers, and engravers.
Gives names, biographical and trade details, and sources of further information
Searchable by name, trade, location, and date
Scottish Book Trade Index (SBTI)
Indexes names, trades, and addresses of people involved in the Scottish book trade
Covers the period from the beginnings of Scottish printing to about 1850
Includes printers, publishers, booksellers, bookbinders, printmakers, stationers and papermakers
A work in progress, updated periodically
Exeter Working Papers in Book History
Extensive coverage of the book trade in London and Devon
Some coverage of the wider UK and international book trade
Indexes, checklists, and biographical information
Covers a range of dates, with emphasis on the 18th and early 19th century
London Book Trades: A Biographical Resource
Biographical information about people who worked in the London book trades
Contains entries for over 30,000 individuals
Covers the period from the introduction of printing to around 1830
A work-in-progress and does not provide comprehensive coverage
Downloadable as a Microsoft Access file
Book History Online (BHO)
Online bibliography of the history of the printed book and libraries
Book production, distribution, conservation, description and analysis.
History of the arts, crafts, techniques, and equipment in relation to books
History of books and libraries in their economic, social and cultural environment
Database of Mid-Victorian Illustration (DMVI)
High quality images of 868 literary illustrations published around 1862
Searchable by keyword, illustrator, engraver, and iconographic category
Bibliographic and iconographic details with the images
The Reading Experience Database (RED)
Details what people read, where they read it, and what they thought of it
Covers the period 1450-1945
Limited to the experiences of British subjects
Searchable by keyword, name, date, socio-economic group, gender, religion, occupation, and type of text read
Book History Societies
The Printing Historical Society
Indexes the Society's Journal
Lists relevant publications
Links to websites of relevance to printing historians
Details events and available research grants
SHARP Web - The Society for the History of Authorship, Reading and Publishing
Lists conferences, events and calls for papers
Provides an extensive list of links to related websites, such as research resources, online exhibitions, book history courses, and projects and societies
Lists relevant journals and publications
CESAR - Calendrier Electronique des Spectacles sous l'Ancien Régime et sous la Révolution
Contains a database and image bank dedicated to Ancien Régime and Revolutionary theatre
Searchable by category and name
Information and images on all aspects of the French theatre between 1600 and 1800
Supplementary materials such as contemporary reviews, police reports and treatises
Available in French and English
RASCAL - Research and Special Collections Available Locally
Contains details of research and special collections held in libraries, museums and archives in Ireland
Records details of content, location, format and access
Can be searched or browsed by title or institution
The Library of Trinity College Dublin > Research Collections > Useful Databases & Websites