Early English Newspapers

Early English newspapers, 1622-1820. (aka the Burney Collection) Woodbridge, CT, Research Publications, 1978- . ca. 2115 reels as of 11/04/2014. Library Annex Film 5053

Online access: 17th - 18th century Burney Collection Newspapers. Gale Cengage Learning.

Scope: This collection of early English newspapers on microfilm consists of the amalgamation of two notable British newspaper collections: the Burney Collection of the British Library, London, and the Nichols Collection of the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. Dr. Charles Burney, 1757-1817, classics critic and scholar, devoted the later years of his life to the accumulation of a large library, which included 700 volumes of newspapers. After his death, the library was purchased for the British Museum Library (now the British Library). The newspaper collection, augmented by later acquisitions, now contains over 1,100 volumes. It includes some 500 titles from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as well as such predecessors of the modern newspaper from the seventeenth century as corantos, diurnals, and newsbooks. John Nichols (1745-1826) was a prominent printer, author, and editor. His collection was purchased by the Bodleian in 1865. Some of the issues and titles not available in these combined collections have been located and filmed at Yale University and other institutions.

Arrangement:The newspapers, originally interfiled by date, have been rearranged and filmed by title. The reels of film are shelved alphabetically by title where possible. Many reels contain more than one title, however, and in such cases the publisher's guide must be consulted to determine the reel on which a given title is located.


Bibliographies and Guides:

Early English newspapers, 1622-1820.
Woodbridge, CT: Research Publications, rev. 1981. Film 5053 Guide.
Contains a working bibliography of the Burney Collection, listing titles of newspapers alphabetically and giving inclusive dates of the holdings. This is followed by separate listings for each of the titles filmed, which give bibliographic information, the years available, and cross references to variant titles, etc.


English Literary Periodicals


Bibliographies and Guides:

Accessing English Literary Periodicals: A guide to the microfilm collection with titles, subject, editor, and reel number indexes.
Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1981.
Library Annex Oversize Z 692 .S5 U56 1981
Reference Film Guide - Analyzed Series.
All but the reel number index will be helpful to Cornell users. Each title held by Cornell has been separately cataloged and numbered. The publisher's reel numbers have not been used.

English Literary Periodicals, 17th, 18th, and 19th Centuries.
Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, [1951-.]
Library Annex Z 6956 .E5 E58 1970.
Cornell's film number for each title is added in manuscript. For each title, guide also gives brief bibliographic description: place of publication, title variations, inclusive dates, editor, frequency, index (if any).