Libraries & Archives

The British Library’s collection includes books, journals, manuscripts, maps, stamps, music, patents, photographs, newspapers and sound. Many of their digital collections provide material for free online.

Discover over a million images of rare books, manuscripts, and other treasures from the Bodleian Libraries and Oxford college libraries.

An index of scholarly websites that offer online access to primary sources on the history of Europe.

The European Library is designed to meet the needs of the research community worldwide, our online portal offers quick and easy access to the collections of the 48 National Libraries of Europe and leading European Research Libraries.

The LC European holdings are especially strong in history, literature, and the social sciences. The French, German, and Russian collections, an estimated 3,500,000 volumes, are the strongest among the European collections.

The Institute of Historical Research is part of the University of London's School of Advanced Study.

Their collections number over six million digitized items, 21 million volumes, 400 million manuscripts, one million maps, and tens of millions of digital images, and their rare and special collections are amongst the most remarkable in the world.

Collections include rare books and manuscripts principally in the areas of British and American history and literature, 15th century European books, history of science, maritime history, and Renaissance exploration and cartography.

Library Hub Discover gives you access to details of materials held in many UK national, academic and specialist libraries. Library Hub Discover currently contains 47,053,759 records created from 125,629,197 records contributed by 172 institutions.

A unique collection of illuminated, literary, and historical manuscripts, early printed books, and old master drawings and prints. Located in New York City.

The Newberry Library is an independent research library concentrating in the humanities with an active educational and cultural presence in Chicago. Free and open to the public, it houses an extensive non-circulating collection of rare books, maps, and manuscripts.

This site produced and maintained at the University of Idaho describes collections of primary sources for European countries.

Site of the Royal Academy of Science in Lisbon. Covers many aspects of Portuguese culture, language, literature and history.

Links to archives in Europe by region.

Contains an excellent collection of medieval manuscripts. Owns a manuscript of the Cantigas de Santa María. (Italian)

A database for searching medieval manuscripts in Italian libraries.