Research Guides: English: Transatlantic &amp; Early Atlantic

Transatlantic & Early Atlantic

At Purdue we define transatlantic literature in its longest and broadest sense: faculty and students in the area are engaged in research and teaching that encompass colonial America beginning in the early 17th-century, 18th-century British and American literature, and long 19th-century literatures. We consider the British as well as the Black Atlantic; New England and New Spain; London and Surinam.

On this page you will find a listing of resources relevant to this research area. For more information on Transatlantic & Early Atlantic Literature in the Purdue English department, see the link below.

Transatlantic & Early Atlantic Studies
A page maintained by the Purdue English Department defining their approach to the field and summarizing the current state of Transatlantic & Early Atlantic Studies within the English Department.

African American Poetry
Contains poems by African-American poets of the 18th and 19th centuries.
Afro-Americana Imprints
From the Library Company of Philadelphia's Afro-Americana Collection, this resource provides researchers with full-text searchable, digital facsimiles of printed works. These books, pamphlets and broadsides, including many lesser-known imprints, span nearly 400 years, from the early 16th to the early 20th century. Afro-Americana Imprints can be searched along with Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans (1639-1800).
American Fiction, 1774-1920
Prose fiction written by Americans from colonial times to the early twentieth century. The collection includes novels, short stories, romances, fictitious biographies, travel accounts and sketches, allegories, and tract like tales typifying the development of American literature in a changing culture.

Coverage 1774-1920
British Literary Manuscripts Online
Contains facsimile images of literary manuscripts, including letters and diaries, drafts of poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, and similar materials dating from roughly 1120-1900. Searching is based on tags and descriptive text associated with each manuscript (note: the text of the manuscripts is not full-text searchable).
British Periodicals
This database provides access to the searchable full text of periodicals from the late seventeenth century to the early twentieth in high-resolution facsimile page images. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture.
C19: The Nineteenth Century Index
A vast resource that forms the "bibliographic spine" of 19th century research. It provides integrated access to the most important finding aids for books, periodicals, official publications, newspapers, archives, and reference material.

C19 Index draws on the strength of established indexes such as the Nineteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (NSTC), The Wellesley Index, Poole's Index, Periodicals Index Online and the Cumulative Index to Niles' Register 1811–1849 to create integrated bibliographic coverage of books and official publications, archival collections and articles published in journals, magazines and newspapers. Includes records from British Periodicals Collections I and II, together with the expanded online edition of the Dictionary of Nineteenth-Century Journalism (DNCJ).

COVE Studio Purdue
Containing over 17 million words of content, this database allows you to create anthologies of literature and to annotate collectively with students.

Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans
Full-text archive of early American publications based on Charles Evans' American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of all Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical Publications Printed in the United States of America from the Genesis of Printing in 1639 down to and including the Year 1800. Includes Early American Imprints, Series I: Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Early English Books Online - Proquest Platform
Early English Books Online (EEBO) contains digital facsimile page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700 - from the first book printed in English by William Caxton, through the age of Spenser and Shakespeare and the tumult of the English Civil War.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Full-text searchable facsimile pages of items 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; plus all relevant items printed wholly or partly in English, or other British vernaculars, in any part of the world. ECCO includes a variety of materials from books, directories, Bibles and sermons to shipping lists, advertisements and works by many well-known and lesser-known authors, all providing a diverse collection in History, Geography, Science, Technology, Medicine, Law, Philosophy, Religion, Social Sciences, Literature, and the Fine Arts. ECCO is based on the British Library's Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (ESTC).

If you experience problems viewing pages from results in the ECCO database you may find you are able to view materials if you:
1) Refresh the page when getting an error message, or
2) Switch to another browser, such as Chrome
Eighteenth Century Journals
Digital reproductions of unique and rare eighteenth century periodicals chosen to convey the eclecticism and evolution of the publishing world between 1712 and 1835.
Grand Tour
Accounts of The Grand Tour from about 1550 to 1850 highlight the influence of continental travel on British art, architecture, urban planning, literature and philosophy. Documents include manuscript, visual, and printed works such as letters, diaries, journals, account books, printed guidebooks, published travel writing, paintings and sketches, architectural drawings, and maps. Topics covered include transportation; money; communications; food and drink; health and sex; European political and religious life; British diplomacy; life at court; social customs on the Continent; and Europe’s urban spaces such as Paris, Rome, Florence, and Geneva. Information on the cities includes written accounts and visual representations of street life, architecture and urban planning.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online
Focuses on primary source collections of the nineteenth century, including a variety of material types--monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, statistics, and more--in one cross-searchable location. Purdue has access to all twelve modules.
Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment
Oxford University Studies in the Enlightenment series, previously known as Studies on Voltaire and the Eighteenth Century, includes over peer-reviewed scholarly volumes published since 1955 as part of the Voltaire Foundation at the University of Oxford. This series covers wide-ranging aspects of the eighteenth century and the Enlightenment, from gender studies to political theory, and from economics to visual arts and music, and are published in English or French.
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape
Through the manuscript collection of the Wordsworth Trust, comprising the primary works, notebooks, correspondence, diaries, and travel journals of the major romantic writers, and images fine art works, Romanticism offers an insight into the working methods of William Wordsworth and the wider social, political and natural environment that shaped much of his work and that of his contemporaries.
Slavery & Anti-Slavery: a Transnational Archive
Slavery and Anti-Slavery includes collections on the transatlantic slave trade, the global movement for the abolition of slavery, the legal, personal, and economic aspects of the slavery system, and the dynamics of emancipation in the U.S. as well as in Latin America, the Caribbean, and other regions. Includes: Part 1. Debates over slavery and abolition, Part 2. Slave trade in the Atlantic world, Part 3. The institution of slavery , and Part 4. The age of emancipation.
Slavery in America and the World: History, Culture & Law
This HeinOnline collection brings together a multitude of essential legal documents, eBooks, articles, and other materials on slavery in the United States and the English-speaking world.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice
Brings together Primary and secondary documents and collections covering an extensive time period from libraries and archives across the Atlantic world. Close attention is given to the varieties of slavery, the legacy of slavery, the social-justice perspective and the continued existence of slavery today.

Coverage 1490 - 2007

Bodleian -- Early Modern and Modern Rare Books
Rare printed books produced after the 15th century, including Shakespeare's First Folio. The rare books holdings of the Bodleian Library reflect its history as the library of the University of Oxford since 1602, with particular strengths in theology, law, the classical tradition, mathematics, life sciences, literature and early children’s books, although almost all subjects and genres are represented.
Bodleian -- Modern Manuscripts and Archives
Manuscripts and archives from the year 1801 to the present day. The Bodleian holds one of the world’s largest and most wide-ranging collections of archives and manuscripts. The modern holdings (1801-) provide excellent sources for: British political, diplomatic, social and economic history, including the personal archives of seven prime ministers, and the official archive of the Conservative Party; The politics, economics and social development of African and Commonwealth countries during the colonial and post-colonial period, including the personal archives of former colonial administrators; International development and international relations, including the archive of Oxfam GB as well as the personal archives of many former United Nations personnel; British literature, including the Romantic and Pre-Raphaelite movements of the 19th century (particularly Shelley and his circle); writers connected to the Anglo-Catholic Oxford Movement; Oxford-related authors of all periods, including coherent groups of writers (eg. the Inklings and the ‘Pylon poets’); and many others; Science and medicine, including the archives of individual scientists and physicians connected with the University of Oxford, as well as those of scientific organisations, such as the archives of the British Association for the Advancement of Science and the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning; Art history and visual culture, including the archives of photographers, illustrators, engravers, etc., particularly those relevant to the history of the book.
Huntington Digital Library -- Henry David Thoreau's Walden
A collection of Thoreau's surviving drafts and manuscripts produced in the writing of Walden.
Huntington Digital Library -- Slavery and Abolition
The Huntington Library is home to extensive collections documenting the history of slavery and abolition in the Americas, the British Isles, and the Atlantic World. This collection contains materials selected from those holdings, including financial records, correspondence, and supporting documents.
OPenn -- Jay I. Kislak Digital Library of the Americas
Over the course of many decades, Jay I. Kislak (1922-2018) built a collection of primary source material - rare books, manuscripts, maps, photographs, and artifacts that convey the multifaceted history of the Americas, hemispheric cultural encounters, and global exploration beginning with Native American cultures and extending to modern times. The Jay I. Kislak Digital Library of the Americas aims to unite these materials to tell a compelling story about early American history and culture.