WELCOME!

Early Modern Resources is a gateway for all those interested in finding electronic resources relating to the early modern period in history. My intention with these pages is to bring together a wide range of online resources for this period. I have not intensively or extensively evaluated the sites; their inclusion here is not a guarantee of quality or historical accuracy. All the usual cautions concerning the use of online materials (or any other information source, for that matter) should be applied. Try this useful Guide.

My definition of 'early modern' covers the period roughly from 1500-1800. Roughly: if you want an idea of the sheer diversity of the term, have a look at the debate in the H-Albion discussion logs for May-June 2000. Equally, you could mull over the historian Peter Burke's thoughts on the subject. As he says, no one can agree on this one.

I only list resources that are free to access. I do not include sites whose only discernible function appears to be to persuade you to spend money, and I don't (except for a handful of good general reference sites) usually list the many sites that cover long periods of history and happen merely to include short sections on early modern topics: by 'early modern resources' I mean sites/pages that are primarily or substantially about early modern history.

If you know of a good resource that is not listed here, you can either email me or leave a suggestion here.

And NB: I cannot do your homework for you. If you can't find something to help you here, try Google or the Open Directory project. Or read some books.

Sharon Howard

 

LATEST ADDITIONS

 

John Strype’s Survey of London Online
full-text electronic edition of John Strype’s 1720 Survey of London, complete with its maps and plates, as well as an introductory essay and bibliography (The Stuart London Project)

Britain • E-texts • Maps • Urban  

English Broadside Ballad Archive
site dedicated to early ballads in English, especially 17th-century broadside ballads; provides full transcriptions and images of the originals, search facilities, sung versions of ballads, and background essays (Early Modern Center, University of California-Santa Barbara)

E-texts • Print culture  

Italy on the Grand Tour
website for three exhibitions held in 2002 on the 18th century Grand Tour in Italy; contains overview and selected images (Getty Exhibitions)

Visual • Italy  

A Cuppe of Newes
News and resources blog from the Renaissance Research Group in the Department of English, University of Exeter.

Weblogs  

The Records of the Parliaments of Scotland to 1707
online edition of the proceedings of the Scottish parliament from the first surviving act of 1235 to the union of 1707; fully searchable database includes a wide range of records. Also provides historical background, tables of statutes, bibliography, etc (Scottish Parliament Project, University of St Andrews)

E-texts • Government • Scotland  

Primary Sources on Copyright (1450-1900)
digital resource relating to the history of copyright in five jurisdictions (France, Germany, Italy, the UK and US) for the period up to 1900 (DSpace@Cambridge)

Britain • E-texts • Americas • Law & Order • France  

Linda Hall Library History of Science Collection
collection of digital editions of significant 16th- to 18th-century scientific texts (Cultural Heritage Language Technologies)

E-texts • Science  

First Fleet Online
website about convicts transported to Australia in 1787, for students and teachers, professional historians, family historians and other researchers; includes a database of the First Fleet convicts; information about the sources used; extracts from primary sources; research guidance; links (University of Wollongong)

Australasia • New worlds • Punishment  

European State Finance Database
website for an international project “concerned with the collection of the sources and data of European Fiscal History and their interpretation”; includes varied resources directory, related publications and bibliography (Richard and Margaret Bonney)

Europe • Material worlds • Government  

Revolt of the Netherlands: Revolution and civil war in the Low Countries (ca. 1550 - ca. 1650)
multilingual resource containing bibliography and selected primary source documents, translated into English (University Library of Leiden)

Wars/revolutions • Primary sources • Netherlands