This collection of 26,000 19th century British pamphlets is available free of charge to UK further and higher education institutions, research councils, publicly funded schools, publicly funded libraries, publicly funded archives and record offices within the UK, and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office Library as part of the JISC Digitisation Programme. This programme is providing online access to some of the most significant collections of 19th century pamphlets held in UK research libraries. The digitisation of some 26,000 paper copy pamphlets, has created over 1 million page images that focuses on the political, economic and social issues that fuelled the great Parliamentary debates and controversies of the 19th century. This resource provides researchers, students, academics and teaching staff with an immensely rich and coherent corpus of primary sources with which to study the socio-political and economic landscape of 19th century Britain.
Researchers, students, academics and teaching staff will be able to access the digitised pamphlets via JSTOR.
The 19th Century British Pamphlets comprises seven individual collections held in universities within the UK, many of which are whole collections that belonged individual politicians or political families:
Cowen Tracts – Newcastle University
Personal collection of Joseph Cowen (1829-1900). A social reformer and Member of Parliament for Newcastle, this collection reflects his interests in social, educational, and economic issues.
Earl Grey Pamphlets Collection – Durham University
Still owned by the family, this collection was largely accumulated by the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Earls Grey. The Greys were particularly interested in parliamentary reform, colonial affairs, and Catholic emancipation.
Foreign and Commonwealth Office Collection – University of Manchester
Sent back to London by British ambassadors to help with policy formation, many of these overseas publications are now rare. They include pamphlets related to South America, Australisia and the Near East, and many covering the various European political "questions" of the 19th century.
Hume Tracts – UCL
Personal collection of Joseph Hume (1777-1855), Radical member of Parliament. Hume’s collection covers the major political, economic, and social developments and reforms taking place in Britain in the early part of the 19th century along with the causes he particularly championed, such as universal suffrage, Catholic emancipation, a reduction in the power of the Anglican church, and an end to imprisonment for debt.
Knowsley Pamphlet Collection – University of Liverpool
This collection reflects the political careers of the Earls of Derby, primarily Edward George, the 14th Earl and three–time Prime Minister, and his son, Edward Henry, the 15th Earl, who was Colonial Secretary and later Indian secretary in his father’s administration. India and Ireland figure prominently here, along with many pamphlets on religion and church affairs, finance and taxation, and education and law reform.
Selections – London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE)
These selected pamphlets cover political party materials, including election manifestos and political cartoons. There are also collections from pressure groups such as the Fabian Society, Imperial Federation Defence Committee, Poor Law Reform Association, Workhouse Visiting Society, Liberal and Property Defence League, and from cooperative movements such as the Cooperative Women’s Guild.
Selections – University of Bristol
Bristol’s selection, especially strong on 19th century commerce, economics, finance, politics, religion, and sociology, includes pamphlets from the library of the National Liberal Club, along with those from other political parties.
Subscription instructions for publicly funded libraries (excluding libraries that are members of MLAG)
A separate licence is available for publicly funded libraries* within the UK.
Please contact JSTOR direct about arranging a subscription to this Collection. Eligible institutions will need to:
JISC Collections Helpdesk
Unit 7, North Leigh Business Park
North Leigh
Oxfordshire
OX29 6SW
Please retain a copy for your institutional records.
* MLAG member libraries can subscribe to this Collection by adding the resource to your basket and proceeding to the checkout in the normal manner.
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