Our collections

Discover two hundred years of worldwide missionary history. This online portal makes available periodicals from the Church Missionary Society Archive, a vital collection for students, researchers and teachers of missiology and world Christianity. It also contains valuable material on wider themes in global history, in particular the history of global education, healthcare and medicine.

Spanning three centuries (c1750-1929), this digital collection makes available for the first time extremely rare pamphlets from the Charles W Wason Collection on East Asia, at Cornell University Library; one of the oldest and most distinctive collections of its kind, and a very rich source for research on China.

A repository of source materials on the work of this globally influential organisation, founded in 1799 as an Anglican evangelical movement and still active today. It includes records of both the CMS and the many other missionary societies which have become associated or amalgamated with it over its lifetime.

An unparalleled resource for nineteenth century culture and the literary luminaries who shaped it.

Directly compare official records with popular sources to explore the political and social issues of the decade.

This exciting new video resource comprises around 7,000 early twentieth century Topical Budget newsreels drawn from British Film Institute and Imperial War Museums.

A collection of rare books, games, ephemera and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries that reveals the socio-cultural history of these times. Showcasing innovative new publishing methods characteristic of the golden age of children’s literature, from mass-produced chapbooks to richly illustrated ‘book-beautifuls’, this resource examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination which went on to fundamentally shape established notions of childhood.

Covering the 18th and 19th centuries, China, America and the Pacific provides primary source materials for the study of the history of North American trade and cultural exchange with China. This collection also provides coverage of China’s and the United States' economic dealings with the whole of East Asia and the Pacific.

Material is sourced from the American Jewish Historical Society, New York. It contains primary sources on the history of Jewish immigration to the United States, life and culture among the Jewish population there, and records of business and trade from Jewish-owned companies.

Primary sources on the history of tourism. Bringing together collections from multiple archives, including Thomas Cook, this resource presents an untapped multi-national perspective on the evolution of affordable tourism around the world.

Manuscripts for the study of Meiji society, culture, ethnology and education from the papers of Edward Sylvester Morse (1838-1925).

A range of archival sources charts the contradictions of the age. The resource includes the personal and business papers of key industrialists and financiers; records of rail, steel and oil corporations; material on labour disputes, politics and progressivism; rich visual content on fashion, material culture and architecture.

Explore three centuries of life at sea through the individual histories of ships’ crews during the Age of Sail and into the era of steam.

The online version of the J Walter Thompson Company archive - the single most complete and informative corporate record of the history of modern advertising. It includes the account files of some of the world’s biggest brands, such as Kraft, Kodak, Oscar Mayer and Pan Am.

Explore five centuries of journeys across the globe, scientific discoveries, the expansion of European colonialism, conflict over territories and trade routes and decades-long search and rescue attempts in this multi-archive collection dedicated to the history of exploration.

The stories of American military personnel and civilians during the Second World War through their oral histories, correspondence, diaries, photographs, artefacts and military records. This digital resource offers an insight into the personal experiences of those involved in the conflict, both on the United States home front and on deployment overseas in Europe, the Mediterranean, the Pacific, China, Burma and India.

A varied array of records of traders, travellers, missionaries and diplomats, offering Western perspectives on many aspects of Chinese culture and society.

A vital resource for the study of Empire, the British Raj, and the history, culture and literature of the Indian subcontinent

A range of important sources from Britain and America, covering key subjects within this field including a complete run of The Stock Exchange Official Year-Book for 1875-1945.

This collection of primary sources looks at two centuries of everyday, political, religious, working, trading and administrative life in England during this pivotal epoch. Documents cover an array of topics relating to England during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, with a significant focus on the lives of ‘everyday’ people.

Delve into the theatrical world of eighteenth-century society and explore how the Larpent plays reflect the politics of the time, the role of women, views on race and religion, opinions on empire, and European and British history.

Unique and extremely rare eighteenth-century periodicals, each chosen to convey the eclecticism and evolution of the publishing world between 1685 and 1835. Highlights include a complete run of The Lady's Magazine, and rare titles missed out of other collections focused on the Eighteenth Century.

Spanning five centuries and charting the rise and fall of empires around the world, Empire Online is a digital archive enabling research of colonial history, politics, culture and society. There is a focus on the British Empire, but documents also give information on other European empires and the experience of colonised people.