Research Guides: Jane Austen: Finding Primary Sources

What Are Primary Sources?

Primary sources outside of the sciences

are created at the time of or close to an event
do not include scholarly analysis
are the objects (such as artwork, literature, documents, etc) that you analyze

They can include advice columns, news articles, magazine essays, personal accounts, letters, images, novels, plays, speeches, etc.

Finding Jane Austen's Writing

List of books by Austen available at the Library
use the filters at left to find ebooks or print books

Literature Online This link opens in a new window
A search for Jane Austen will find full text of her novels and poetry as well as links to literary criticism
Criticism includes the database ABELL.
Language: English
Past Masters Full Text Humanities: Women Writers This link opens in a new window
Includes Austen's letters
Language: English

Finding 18th and 19th Century Primary Sources Online

These databases include texts written in a variety of contexts for a variety of audiences and include scans of books, articles, and pamphlets

Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Good for getting a sense of what constituted knowledge in eighteenth century England, Ireland, and Scotland, including journals and diaries, religious materials, creative works, and political documents.
Content type: Primary sources, books, pamphlets, diaries, broadsides
Coverage dates: 1701-1800
Includes some (but not many) works from other countries and in other languages.
Language: English, French, Latin
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore primary sources that provide a variety of insights into and opinions of 18th century life in England and the places it ruled.
Content type: Primary sources, journals
Coverage dates: 1685-1835
This collection contains scans of journals and pamphlets that include society gossip, political controversies, poetry, and other insight into 18th century life. This collection also holds a variety of journals written by and for women.
Language: English
Keywords: AM Explorer
17th and 18th Century Burney Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Good for primary sources about social, political, and literary life in 17th and 18th century England, Scotland, and Ireland.
Content type: Primary sources, newspapers, pamphlets, proclamation's, newsbooks
Coverage dates: 1604-1804
This collection is held at the British Library and includes more than 1,000 pamphlets, proclamations, newsbooks and newspapers from the period, spanning from Parliamentary papers and the London daily news to English humor.
Language: English
Keywords: UK, Seventeenth, Eighteenth, Centuries
19th Century UK Periodicals This link opens in a new window
Why search here? For those researching the Victorian Era, this database has a wide range of British publications from the 19th century covering news, arts, sports, business, and more.
Content type: Primary sources, magazine articles
Coverage dates: 1800s
Includes publications such as John Bull, Bell's Life in London and Sporting Chronical, The Australasian, The Friend of India, etc. The Library has access to Part I: Women's, Children's, Humour, and Leisure and Part II: Empire.
Language: English
Keywords: Nineteenth, England
Times Digital Archive This link opens in a new window
1785–1985
Includes coverage of business, sports, and the arts, as well as weather reports, birth and marriage announcements, death notices, and obituaries.
Language: English

Finding Historical Primary Sources by and about Women Online

Defining Gender This link opens in a new window
Why search here? Explore primary sources describing traditional models and contemporary perceptions of gender in British society from the fifteenth to the early twentieth century.
Content type: Primary sources, correspondence, diaries, advice literature, periodicals, government documents
Coverage dates: 1450-1910
Language: English
Keywords: AM Explorer
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.
Women Writers Online This link opens in a new window
Full-text access to books by and about women published from 1400 to 1850.
Does not include anything by Austen
Click on "Enter WWO" to actually search.
Language: English
Keywords: Women Writers Project

Using Special Collections to Find Primary Sources

You can find special collections materials relating to Jane Austen and Britain during her lifetime by using Library Search on the Library's Homepage and filtering by Special Collections

Library Search
Find books, and other materials the library owns or has access to (books, journal articles, DVDs, etc).

Jane Austen's Britain
Materials from Special Collections on the arts, politics, and culture
How to Cite Archival Materials