Subject and Course Guides: Medieval and Renaissance Studies Resources: Primary Sources (through University of Nebraska-Lincoln)

Online Resources

ARTFL (American & French Research on the Treasury of the French Language) This link opens in a new window
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"The ARTFL implementation of the FRANTEXT database (formerly the Trésor de la Langue Française) consists of over 2900 texts, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing. The eighteenth, nineteenth and twentieth centuries are about equally represented, with a smaller selection of seventeenth century texts as well as some medieval and Renaissance texts. Genres include novels, poetry, theater, journalism, essays, correspondence, and treatises. Subjects include literary criticism, biology, history, economics, and philosophy. In most cases standard scholarly editions were used in converting the text into machine-readable form, and the data contain page references to these editions."
Artstor This link opens in a new window
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Note: The Artstor platform will be retired on August 1, 2024. All content currently hosted on Artstor is now available on the JSTOR platform.
Images of visual media from the world's leading museums, photo archives, scholars, and artists. (Images)
Early English Books Online This link opens in a new window
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Images of nearly all the books published in England between 1475-1700. Individual titles can also be found through the UNL Libraries catalog. Indexes more than 125,000 works listed in Pollard & Redgrave's Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640), Wing's Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700), and their revised editions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) collection and the Early English Books Tract Supplement. Subject areas include English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science. Some, but not all, of the titles are full-text searchable. (Full-Text)
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO) This link opens in a new window
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Full text searchable content for publications produced in England from 1701-1800. Valuable for research on topics in English history, literature, law, the arts, and other matters, not only for the 18th century, but also for medieval and Renaissance times.

English Reports (HeinOnline)
"More than 100,000 of the most important early English cases that laid the foundation for the laws of nations under the British Empire and influenced the development of laws across many lands."
Also see Statutes of the Realm in HeinOnline.

HeinOnline This link opens in a new window
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Legal information including law periodicals, the Congressional Record, U.S. Reports of the Supreme Court, famous world trials, legal classics from the 16th to 20th centuries, the United Nations and League of Nations Treaty Series, all United States Treaties, the Federal Register from inception in 1936, the Code of Federal Regulations from inception in 1938, and much more. (Full-Text)
JSTOR This link opens in a new window
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JSTOR includes a series of full text pamphlets. You can search them by limiting your search to Pamphlets and adding publication date limits. You need to put at least one term in the search boxes as well.

Library of Latin texts [stand alone electronic resource] : CLCLT-6 / moderante Paul Tombeur
This is the 2005 version, available on CD-ROM. The UNL Libraries do not subscribe to the online version; therefore, you will not have access to the most recent additions to this database. Be aware that the electronic version does not include all of the scholarly apparatus that the print editions do; you should plan to use the electronic version first and then complete your work with the print edition.

Making of the Modern World This link opens in a new window
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Books, journals, reports, correspondence, speeches, surveys, and other primary source materials that cover the expansion of world trade, the Industrial Revolution, and the progress of modern capitalism, social, economic, and business history, as well as political science, technology, industrialization, and the birth of the modern corporation. Covers 1450-1914. (Full-Text)
Naxos Music Library This link opens in a new window
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Listen online to the music of Medieval and Renaissance era composers (as well as musical works from all other eras and from around the world). Includes brief biographical information, but consult other sources (e.g., Grove Music, Oxford Dictionary of National Biography) for more nuanced and in-depth information.

Patrologia Latina database [electronic resource] [Migne, J.-P. (Jacques-Paul), 1800-1875. Patrologiae cursus completus.]
This is the 1995 version, available on CD-ROM. The UNL Libraries do not subscribe to the online version; therefore, you will not have access to the most recent additions to this database. Also available through HathiTrust.

Perdita Manuscripts: Women Writers, 1500-1700 This link opens in a new window
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Manuscripts written or compiled by women in the British Isles during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The word “Perdita” means “lost woman” and the quest of the Perdita Project has been to find early women authors who were “lost” because their writing existed only in manuscript form. (Full-Text)
Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection This link opens in a new window
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Early English news media, containing newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by the Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817). (Full-Text)
State Papers Online, 1509-1782 This link opens in a new window
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British State Papers from the 16th to the 18th centuries, covering the Tudor, Stuart, and Commonwealth governments, and the reigns of George I, George II, and (partially) George III. (Full-Text)

Print Collections

Print Sets or Series of both primary and secondary works, held all or in part by the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries

Acta sanctorum quotquot toto orbe coluntur... LOVE Oversize BX4655 .A2 volumes 1 through 63, plus Supplement

Albertus Magnus. Opera omnia ad fidem codicum manuscriptorum edenda... [Works. 1951] LOVE Folio BX890 .A4 1951 multiple volumes, not complete

Alcuin Club collections. Each volume is separately cataloged and classified.

[Altniederländische Malerei. English] Early Netherlandish painting. UNL has some, but not all volumes.

AMS Studies in the Middle Ages UNL has some, but not all volumes.

Analecta hymnica medii aevi. MUSIC Ref BV468 .A6 1961x Multiple volumes.

Ancient Christian Writers. LOVE BR60 .A35 UNL has many volumes.

Anglo-Norman texts. LOVE PQ1301 .A6 UNL has many volumes.

Anglo-Saxon poetic records. UNL has several volumes, which are separately classed.

Annales De La Typographie Neerlandaise Au Xve Siecle

[The above section is under development.]

Microform Collections Available for Use in Love Library

Microforms are housed in Love North Lower Level, in the southwest quadrant. Ask library staff for directions. Microform reader-scanners are located in the Link, Love Library 2nd floor.

Decimal index of the art of the Low Countries : D.I.A.L
LOVE Mcard MCARD B 7 guide

Decimal index of the art of the Low Countries [picture]
LOVE Mcard B7 [microcard reproductions of the art]

Books Published in Europe before 1601/1701
The Libraries provide several microfilm collections of books published before 1601 or 1701. Records for individual titles in these collections may be found in the UNL Libraries catalog, as well as through WorldCat. I would recommend using WorldCat to perform your searches, because you have greater flexibility in accessing relevant works. Example: a catalog search in German Books Before 1601 for works on Turkey resulted in no returns, but the same search in WorldCat identified nine entries.

Books Printed in the Low Countries Before 1601 [1701 from reel 456 on.] LOVE Mfilm Z2402 B6.

French Books Before 1601. LOVE Mfilm Z2162 F7.

German Books Before 1601. LOVE Mfilm Z2222 G4.

Hispanic Culture Series. Books Before 1601. LOVE Mfilm Z2682 H5.

Italian Books Before 1601. LOVE Mfilm Z2342 I8.

Scandinavian Culture Series. LOVE Mfilm Z2601 .S32. The Libraries own 356 reels. The Center for Research Libraries has additional reels not held by University of Nebraska-Lincoln; request them through Delivery / Interlibrary Loan.

Plays

General note: The UNL Libraries have thousands of plays from England in the microprint collection, Three Centuries of Drama: English, but few of them are listed in the library catalog. Many of the plays are available online through resources such as Early English Books Online (EEBO), Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO), or HathiTrust, but the cautious researcher will consult WorldCat as well, because it contains records for individual plays within the big microform sets. If you would like assistance, please contact Kathy Johnson kjohnson6@unl.edu September 2016.

Three Centuries of Drama: English covers 1500-1800. LOVE Mprint B4

This set consists of plays in 22 boxes. Plays are filed by last name of the playwright and then by title. Equipment is available to create PDFs of the plays. Ask library staff for assistance.

Boxes 1-4 contain Three Centuries of Drama. English. 1500-1641.

Boxes 5-8 contain Three Centuries of Drama. English. 1642-1700.

Boxes 9-10 contain Three Centuries of Drama. Larpent Collection. English 1701-1750 1751-1800

Boxes 11-13 contain Three Centuries of Drama. English. 1701-1750

Boxes 14-22 contain Three Centuries of Drama. English. 1751-1800

Note that University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Quick Search does NOT include records for individual titles within this set. If you want to explore the list of titles, take a look at the records in WorldCat. Look for three centuries of drama as a series title search, Or, if you prefer to use a print guide, consult the Bergquist volume noted here:

Bergquist, G. William. Includes Wells, Henry W. (Henry Willis), 1895-1978. Three centuries of drama. (Indexes)
Three centuries of English and American plays, a checklist. England: 1500-1800, United States: 1714-1830
New York, Readex Microprint Corp., 1963

LOVE Storage Z2014.D7 B45
"Originally compiled to serve as an index to the contents of the Microprint edition of the Three centuries of English and American plays [edited by H. W. Wells]"

Steps for locating either a specific playwright or play:

1. I would recommend searching for your playwright or play in WorldCat, to see what is cataloged and in HathiTrust as well. With WorldCat and HathiTrust, you can search for keywords in titles of plays and you can also search by publication dates. Many of these plays may also show up in Early English Books Online, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Nineteenth Century Collections Online, or HathiTrust, but, there may be some plays in this set that are not available electronically.

2. If it appears that your play or playwright is not included in any of the online resources, but you found a record for it in WorldCat for Three Centuries of Drama: English, 1500-1800, then your next step is to go to Love North Lower Level. The North Lower Level has two sections: books shelves for the P-PZ4 print collection and the walled off Love Storage area in the southwest quadrant of the space. The door into Love Storage is near the west elevator in Love North Lower Level. Or, you can go to Love South Lower Level and in the northwest area, there is a hallway that takes you directly to the microform shelving area.

These boxes of plays are shelved in Love Storage. Plays are filed alphabetically by author within the boxes. Plays are alphabetized by title within the authors’ names. If you remove a card from the box, please place a marker in the space where the card came from. You can read or scan the plays on the second floor in Media Services, The Link, Love Library. When you finish using the microprint, return the card to Love South First Floor AskUs Desk. Or take it back to Love Storage and place it in a reshelving box.

Source Materials in the Field of Theatre
Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms, 1956
LOVE Mfilm MFILM B 1575 Ask library staff for assistance in retrieving these.
22 reels ; 35 mm
Comprises 135 vols., some illustrated

Most of the titles in this set appear to be listed in the University of Nebraska-Lincoln catalog, but it would probably be wise to consult WorldCat first. If you prefer to consult the print guide, see entry below.

Source materials in the field of theatre: an annotated bibliography and subject index to the microfilm collection / by Vincent L. Angotti. Ann Arbor, Mich., XEROX, Education Division, University Microfilms Library Services [1967]
LOVE Storage Z5781 .A57

Page revised January 2019.

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Subjects: Digital Humanities / Digital Scholarship, Great Plains Studies, History, Women's & Gender Studies