Early English Books, 1475-1640 (Pollard and Redgrave)

English Books before 1600 [i.e. 1640]. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms [1937- ].Library Annex Film 470

Received through Unit 80, reel number 2288 . We do not have the microfilm beyond that point. Records for single-item analytics have been added to the catalog for each title beginning with reel 229. The microfilm set includes most of the approximately 26,500 titles listed in Pollard & Redgrave.
Records for single items in units 47-58 (reels 1699 through 1885) have also been added to the online catalog. Records for some items on earlier reels appear sporadically.

Online Access: Early English Books Online (EEBO)

(Note: As of November 1, 2019, Units 1-94, reels 1-2460 are available online.)

Scope:

The collection is based primarily on the bibliography of Pollard and Redgrave, which lists and describes books printed in English from the advent of printing in England in 1475 through 1640. The filming of the early editions, now scattered in public and private collections throughout the world, makes these works readily available. Almost all of the titles in Pollard and Redgrave, and many more not listed there, will be included in the completed collection.

Arrangement:

The books are filmed by University Microfilm (UM) in units and are arranged within them alphabetically (which is also the short-title catalogue [STC] number order) either by author or title entry. UMI publishes a guide to each unit and cumulates the guides periodically. If an STC number does not appear in the latest Cross Index, the title it represents has not yet been filmed.


Bibliographies and Guides:

Pollard, Alfred William, 1859-1944.
A short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland and Ireland, and of English books printed abroad, 1475-1640. Comp. by A. W. Pollard and G. R. Redgrave ... Second edition, revised & enlarged. London, The Bibliographical Society, 1976-1991. 3 vols. Cited in UM guides as RSTC. Olin Library Reference Z 2002 .P77 1976 ++ First two volumes are author indexes. The third contains indexes to printers and publishers, places of publication other than London, false London imprints, and anomalous imprints, as well as a chronological index.

Allison, Antony Francis.
Titles of English books (and of foreign books printed in England): an alphabetical finding list by title of books published under the author's name, pseudonym or initials. Folkstone, Eng., Dawson, 1976-1977. v. 1, 1475-1640. Olin Reference Z 2002 .P771+ 1976 v.1

Early English books, 1475-1640, selected from Pollard and Redgrave's short-title catalogue: a guide to the microfilm collection. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International. Subtitle varies. Olin Reference Z 2002 .U582

_______ . Cross index to the microfilm collection. Olin Reference Z 2002 .U5821

Williams, Franklin B.
Index of dedications and comendatory verses in English books before 1641. London, Bibliographical Society, 1962. Olin Reference Z 2002 .W72 +
The preliminary matter indexed does not include holographs, but only printed epistles, dedications, etc.


Early English Books, 1641-1700 (Wing)

Early English books, 1641-1700. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1961- . Library Annex Film 1297
The Library stopped receiving microfilm with Unit 110, reel number 2612, though we have continued to receive the printed guides that come with the units in Olin Reference (Olin Ref Z 2002 .U583). We assume that records for most single items in units 1-64 (reels 1 through 1733) have been added to the online catalog.

Online Access:Early English Books Online (EEBO)

(Note: As of November 2017, Units 1-140 are available online.)

Scope:

This series carries forward the filming of English books based on the bibliography by Wing, who intended his work as a continuation of Pollard and Redgrave's. The scope and method are approximately the same as the earlier work.

Not all items in Wing are being filmed: "Separate prints of the Bible, separate statutes and proclamations, American imprints in Evans, Baptist books listed by Whitley, and later prints of books first listed before 1641 will be omitted. Selections will be made from almanacs, sermons, liturgical works, Quaker tracts, and Irish and Scottish official publications." (Preface to Index)

Arrangement:

Entries in the bibliography are numbered consecutively within each letter of the alphabet, e.g. A1-A4316, B1-B64232, to avoid the unwieldy numbers resulting from one numerical sequence throughout the bibliography.

The books are filmed by University Microfilms (UMI) in units and are arranged alphabetically (which is also Wing number order) by author or title entry within each unit. UMI publishes a guide to each unit and cumulates the unit guides periodically. If a Wing number does not appear in the latest Cross Index, the title it represents has not yet been filmed.


Bibliographies and Guides:

Wing, Donald Goddard, comp.
Short-title catalogue of books printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America and of English books printed in other countries, 1641-1700. 2d ed., newly revised and enlarged. 4 volumes. New York, Modern Language Association of America, 1972-1998. Olin Reference Z 2002 .W76+ 1972 (vol. 1 labeled '1994'). Arranged alphabetically by title and/or author. Vol. 4 contains an index of printers, publishers, and booksellers, as well as a chronological index of non-London publishers. No subject index.

Allison, Antony Francis.
Titles of English books (and of foreign books printed in England): An alphabetical finding-list by title of books published under the author's name, pseudonym or initials. Folkestone, England: Dawson, 1976-1977. 2 volumes, 1641-1700.Reference Z 3003 .P771 + 1976
volume. 1. 1475-1640.
volume. 2. 1641-1700.

Early English books, 1641-1700, selected from Donald Wing's short-title catalogue: A guide to the microfilm collection. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International.Olin Reference Z 2002 .U583

_________ : a cross index to the microfilm collection.Olin Reference Z 2002 .U5831
Lists of Wing numbers cross-referenced to UMI reel numbers. Three cross indexes exist so far: for reels 1-40, 41-56, and 57-86. This last was issued in the Fall of 1993.

Morrison, Paul G.
Index of printers, publishers, and booksellers in Donald Wing's Short-Title Catalogue...1641-1700. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1955. Olin Reference Z 2002 .W76 A1+

Smith, Hilda L. and Susan, Cardinale, comps.
Women and literature of the Seventeenth Century. An annotated bibliography based on Wing's Short-title Catalogue. New York, Greenwood, 1990. Olin Reference Z 2002 .S66
In two parts: publications by women, and works for and about women ("as well as material mistakenly attributed to women but likely written by men" - Preface). Each section arranged alphabetically by author or title. Subject access through a general index.

University Microfilms International.
English books, 1641-1700: A cumulative index to units 1- 60 [reels 1-1662] of the microfilm collection. Ann Arbor: University Microfilms, 1990. Olin Reference Z 2002 .U5933 +
The index consists of nine volumes: Vols. 1.-2, Author index; Vols. 3-5, Title index; Vols. 6-8, Subject index; Vol. 9, Wing number and Reel Position Indexes.


Thomason Tracts

Thomason, George, d. 1666, collector.
Thomason Tracts. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1977-1980. 256 reels. Library Annex Film 4655

Online Access: Early English Books Online (EEBO). As of December 2008, EEBO includes the first unit from Tract Supplement and part of Unit II. Scanning the remainder of this collection will continue in 2009.

History:

At the sign of the Rose and Crown in St. Paul's churchyard in London, George Thomason did a thriving business as a book- seller and publisher in the middle of the seventeenth century. This was an especially troubled era in English history. Contention between Charles I and the Parliament led to the Civil War (1642-1651), the eventual execution of the king, and the exile of his heir.

Scope:
Because of his occupation, Thomason was in an excellent position to acquire the publications of the times. He began systematically collecting pertinent political pamphlets, books, newspapers, and manuscripts in 1640. He continued without interruption through the war, the Commonwealth, and into the Restoration period. His collection closed in December 1661, although only a few items were acquired after the coronation of Charles II on April 23 of that year.

The collection consists of microfilm of the more than 23,926 tracts now held in the British Library. The material was filmed in nine units in tract number order. Each reel begins with a table of its contents.


Bibliographies and Guides:

(Note: Records for individual items in this set have been added to the Library's online catalog. Records for items in the Thomason Tracts are also included in the ESTC database.)

The Thomason tracts, 1640-1661: An index to the microfilm edition of the Thomason collection of the British Library: with a cross index by Wing number. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1977-1980. 2 volumes
Olin Reference Z 2002 .B871, also Film 4655 Guide
Volume 1: Index arranged by Thomason Tract number gives volume and page number of original material, its date, Wing number, and reel on which text can be found.
Volume 2: Same material arranged by Wing number.

British Museum. Department of Printed Books. Thomason Collection.
Catalogue of the pamphlets, books, newspapers, and manuscripts relating to the Civil War, the Commonwealth, and Restoration, collected by George Thomason, 1640-1661.
Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1977. 2 v. in 4. Olin Reference Z 2002 .E87 1977.
A facsimile of the original edition, London, 1908, edited by G. K. Fortescue. The first three volumes list all books, pamphlets, and manuscripts chronologically by date of the recorded events. The fourth volume lists newspapers chronologically, contains an appendix listing additional tracts, and an index of titles, persons, places, organizations, etc. in one alphabet.


Eighteenth Century

The Eighteenth Century. [microform] Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, [1983 - ] Library Annex Film 5597. CUL owns reels 1 - 3780 only. We stopped subscribing to the set in 1987.

Online access: Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)

Scope:

The Eighteenth Century is a continuing project to microfilm approximately 200,000 items from the British Library's Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (ESTC). The contents of the ESTC database have been combined with records for early imprints to form the English Short-Title Catalog Database.

The Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue was to include "all relevant items printed and for published in the British Isles, colonial America, the United States (1776 - 1800), Canada, and territories governed by Britain during any period of the eighteenth century, in any language; and all relevant items printed wholly or partly in English, or other British vernaculars, in any part of the world." (ESTC, An Eighteenth-Century Short Title Catalogue, p. 2)

Items which are omitted include engraved material (maps, music, views, portraits ); printed forms intended to be completed in manuscript (indentures, warrants, passports); trade cards, labels, tickets, invitations, bookplates; playbills, concert and theatre programs. playing cards, games, periodicals issued more frequently than once a year, etc.

The British Library's file of relevant eighteenth century holdings forms the core collection and is augmented by records of eighteenth century imprints in North American libraries. These are collected by the North American center for ESTC (ESTC/NA) located at Louisiana State University. The British Library, for its part, canvasses libraries in Europe and Australasia for additional titles.

In 1994 the ESTC database began including records for pre-1701 items. These records provide access to materials listed in UMI's Early English Books, (EEB) both the 1475-1640 and 1641-1700 components, as well as items contained in UMI's Thomason Tracts (1640-1660) set. The database also includes some records for materials that do not appear in the later portion of EEB.


Bibliographies and Guides:

The Eighteenth Century. [Guide to the microfilm collection]. Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, 1984- . Olin Reference Film 5597 Index (or Guide), also: guide to units 75-106, Uris Library Stacks Oversize Z 1016 .E38. 5 volumes.
This index provides access to the approximately 35,000 individual titles on the reels of microfilm which comprise units 1 - 74. It provides points of entry through three separate indexes: main entry, title, and subject.
The subject index is divided into eight broad subject categories: Religion and Philosophy; History and Geography; Social Science; Literature and Language, Fine Arts; Science, Technology and Medicine; General Reference; and Miscellaneous. Volume 4, however, consists of separate fascicles for units 41-56, uncumulated. Arrangement is by author or (in cases where no author is given) title main entry within the section for each unit. No subject index is included.
All items listed within each index are arranged alphabetically and the citations in each case give reel number and position number on the reel.


Related Sets:

Early American imprints: first series. 1639-1800. (Evans)