Primary & Reference Sources - France - European History - Research Guides at The Claremont Colleges Library

Primary Sources in Early Modern and Modern History

Electronic Enlightenment This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Discover the rich variety of life in the early modern societies of Europe and the Americas through the correspondence of both influential leaders and the general public.
Content type: Primary sources, correspondence
Coverage dates: 1480-1900
Language: English, French, Italian
ARTFL (The Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language) This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here to find a variety of texts, from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing from the 17th to the 20th century.
Content type: Novels, verse, theater, journalism, essays, correspondence, treatises
Coverage dates: 1100s-2000s
Additional public databases available from the ARTFL homepage. Find works by author last name or date of publication. Search for keywords found in the text with the search feature.
Language: French
Keywords: FRANTEXT
Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore primary sources related to the history of western trade with a focus on the coal, iron, and steel industries, the railway industry, the cotton industry, banking and finance, and the modern corporation.
Content type: Primary sources, eBooks, reports, maps, diagrams, photographs, paintings, etc.
Coverage dates: 1400s-1940s
Additionally, there are sources discussing the history of the working class, the history of slavery and colonization, the labor movement, as well as other topics that relate to and challenge capitalism.
Language: English, French, Spanish, German, Latin, Italian, and other European languages.

Gallica: Digital Library of France

Gerritsen Women's History Collection of Aletta H. Jacobs‎ This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore this large women's history collection to trace the evolution of feminism and women's rights in various countries over the span of five centuries.
Content type: Primary sources, books, pamphlets, periodicals, correspondence
Coverage dates: 1543-1945
Publications originate from continental Europe, the U.S., the United Kingdom, Canada, and New Zealand.
Language: English, French, German, Spanish, Dutch, etc.
Archives of Sexuality and Gender This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search for primary sources about LGBTQ life around the world from political, social, and governmental organizations.
Content type: Primary Sources, books, images, documents, pamphlets, magazines, government records, letters
Coverage dates: 1500s- 1900s
The Library has access to the following sections of this resource: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part I; LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II; International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture; L'Enfer de la Bibliothèque nationale de France; and Community and Identity in North America.
Language: English
Nexis Uni This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Search here for comprehensive coverage of news and current events, government, business, medical, and legal topics, as well as general reference information.
Content type: Newspaper articles, trade journal articles, broadcast transcripts, financial reports, federal and state case law, medical abstracts, corporate profiles
Coverage dates: 1980-present
Language: English, Spanish, French, Dutch, German, Portuguese
Keywords: Lexis Nexis

List of online newspaper archives
Wikipedia list of online historical and contemporary newspapers, some for free, some for pay. For other newspapers available from the Libraries, see the newspaper list under Databases on the library homepage: http://libraries.claremont.edu/resources/databases/

Past Masters Full Text Humanities This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access to full text of scholarly editions in literature, philosophy, and theology, plus correspondence of selected authors.
Content type: Books, correspondence
Language: English

Post-Reformation Digital Library
Rich Collection of primary texts from theologians, religious figures, and philosophers -- many in the original languages. Includes major editions of Bibles.

New York Times, Historical This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access full page scans of the print edition of The New York Times newspaper complete with advertisements.
Content type: Newspaper articles, advertisements
Coverage dates: 1851-2012
Language: English
Keywords: NYT ProQuest Historical Newspapers
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Access full page scans of this daily, national British newspaper, including images and advertisements.
Content type: Newspaper articles, primary sources
Coverage dates: 1785-2019
Includes coverage of business, sports, and the arts, as well as weather reports, birth and marriage announcements, death notices, and obituaries.
Language: English
HathiTrust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
An enormous collection of both in-copyright and public domain book and serial resources, many from the 19th and early 20th century.
HathiTrust is a collective of academic and research libraries that digitizes materials, whether they are in-copyright or the public domain, for the purpose of preservation. Eligible students with a print disability can request a copy of any book in the collection, regardless of copyright status.
Language: English, German, French, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, etc.
Keywords: Hathi Trust

Primary Sources in Library Catalogs

Primary sources of all types can also be found in our regular, circulating books, in special collections, and beyond. Here are few ways to find primary texts and sources by using our own Library Search.

1. Use the author search to find books we have by a particular author, politician, journalist or another type of historical witness

2. Do an advanced keyword search in The Library Search and then limit by publication year under “limit your search”) (note: you can also limit by language and many other ways)

3. . Do an advanced keyword in Library Search and then limit to the word "sources" in the subject field (by using the dropdown menu), for example:

"France and Revolution" in the keyword field

"sources" in the subject field.

(this brings us the Library of Congress Subject subheading “sources” which is sometimes used to designate primary source collections of different kinds — as in

France History Revolution, 1789-1799--Social aspects--Sources.