LibGuides: History: European History

Primary Sources

Picture of Europe for July 1772 retrieved from Library of Congress

Keep in mind that as you begin to develop a specific research topic there may be more pertinent primary source archives for you to utilize, the below resources are just jumping off points.

The Avalon Project Contains digital documents relevant to the fields of Law, History, Economics, Politics, Diplomacy and Government from across the World and from a plethora of time periods.

Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window Provides full-text and full-page-image access to a comprehensive range of English-language and foreign-language titles printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas. Includes books, pamphlets, broadsides, and ephemera. Primarily in English, but includes other languages. Scope: Works published in the United Kingdom and its territories. Dates: 1701 to 1800.

EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History Links to selected transcriptions, facsimiles and translations from European countries.
European History Primary Sources "The purpose of EHPS is to provide an easily searchable index of scholarly digital repositories that contain primary sources for the history of Europe. "
Historical Archives of the European Union "The HAEU was established in 1983 following the regulation by the Council of the European Communities and the decision by the Commission of the European Communities to open their historical archives to the public." Their mission is to "preserve and make accessible for research the archives deposited by EU institutions, collect and preserve private papers of individuals, movements and international organizations involved in European integration, facilitate research on the history of the European Union, promote public interest in European integration and enhance transparency in the functioning of EU Institutions."

Nineteenth Century Masterfile: 1106-1930 This link opens in a new window Provides access to primary resources for studies in Anglo-American literature published before 1930. Search across dozens of subject indexes to periodicals, newspapers, books, patents, US and UK government documents and more. Scope: Great Britain, United States. Dates: 1106 to 1930.

WessWeb of the European Studies Section (ESS) The European Studies Section (ESS) is a section within the Association of College and Research Libraries and this resources lists resources for primary and secondary sources pertaining to many European countries.
World Cultures & History Digital Collections from Library of Congress World Cultures & History Digital Collections from Library of Congress includes collections such as the Discovery and Exploration collection, Groups of Images (LOTs), Lessing J. Rosenwald Collection, and more.
World Digital Library: Europe "The World Digital Library (WDL) is a project of the U.S. Library of Congress, carried out with the support of the United Nations Educational, Cultural and Scientific Organization (UNESCO), and in cooperation with libraries, archives, museums, educational institutions, and international organizations from around the world." This is the section dedicated to 44 countries of Europe.

See the Primary Sources page to gain a better understanding of what a primary source is.

Looking for Images or Newspapers? More options will be located under the Primary Sources page on this guide.

Suggested Databases

Britannica Online (Encyclopedia) This link opens in a new window Online encyclopedia with over 100,000 new and revised articles written by Nobel laureates, historians, curators, professors and other experts. See “Media Browse” for short videos and images on a wide variety of topics. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.
Historical Abstracts This link opens in a new window Covers the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from the 15th century to the present, including world history, military history, women's history, history of education, and more. This authoritative database provides indexing of more than 2,300 academic historical journals in over 40 languages. Scope: Worldwide (excluding the United States and Canada) Dates: 1953 to present (some titles back to early 20th century).
Humanities Full Text This link opens in a new window Provides full text, abstracts, and bibliographic citations for noted scholarly resources as well as specialized magazines in the humanities. Topics include art, classical studies, dance, film, journalism, philosophy, religion, and much more. Scope: International. Dates: Varies.
HeinOnline This link opens in a new window Full text collections of legal journals, texts, cases, statutes, regulations, presidential materials, treaties, as well as international and foreign legal journals, cases and materials. Content is in the original page-image (PDF) format, ensuring the authenticity of the original hardcopy document. Content includes historical and current materials. Collections include Law Journal Library, History of International Law, Code of Federal Regulations, Federal Register Library, Legal Classics, Women and the Law (Peggy), U.S. Treaties and Agreements Library, U.S. Attorney General & Department of Justice Collection, U.S. Federal Legislative History Library, U.S. Presidential Library, U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Supreme Court Library. Though having more resources for United States history there are world documents represented as well.
Iter Gateway to the Middle Ages & Renaissance This link opens in a new window A massive bibliography of more than 1.3 million citations for secondary source material about the European Middle Ages and Renaissance, 400-1700. Scope: Europe. Dates: 1784 to present.
JSTOR This link opens in a new window Full text scholarly, multidisciplinary, database that currently includes thousands of academic journal articles, along with thousands of monographs and other materials relevant for education. Scope: Worldwide. Dates: Varies.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography This link opens in a new window The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of people who have shaped British history and culture, from the Romans to the 21st century. DNB offers up-to-date biographies published by Oxford University Press. Scope: Worldwide (but with a specific focus on Great Britain). Dates: Varies; includes coverage of persons who have died before the year 2010.
Religion and the Law This link opens in a new window Contains thousands of unique titles and more than a million pages, including books, periodicals, and bibliographies. This collection provides a research platform for the development, history, organization, and fundamental principles of various world religions. The collection also includes the Christian Legal Society publications, an assortment of Canon Law, and rare historical bibles. Scope: Worldwide Dates: Varies

Librarian Tip: When searching for names of people and/or places be sure to include alternative spellings to capture all pertinent results. Additionally, if searching across multiple languages think about how different languages refer to the person, place, or thing and utilize all terms.