LibGuides: History 498B: History of Travel: Other Source Collections

Introduction

The source base for the history of travel is, as your instructor notes in the syllabus, enormous. On this page you will find digital collections that are hybrid in nature--the collections tend to include a mixture of document types, and are organized around a specific theme or are of inquiry.

This page could have been organized in any number of ways, and we have chosen to organize it by travel destination; however, it features collections that document different kinds of travel:

travel for pleasure, or tourism;
travel for scientific discovery, or exploration;
travel for migration and colonization;
travel for trade and diplomacy;
and travel for religious evangelism, or missionary work.

Most of the collections on this page are digital collections, but sometimes even digitized sources are most easily discovered using the kinds of reference tools listed on the page "Reference Sources".

For an even more extensive list of digitized primary source collections, please see our Digital Collections guide.

Global

British Archives Online
Previously available only on microfilm, this collection provides online access to 20 record series from multiple repositories in Britain: Series 1, Records Relating to the Slave Trade at the Liverpool Record Office; Series 2, American Material in the Archives of the USPG (United Society for the Propagation of the Gospel); Series 3, Papers of William Davenport & Co., 1745-1797; Series 4, Jamaican Materials in the Slebech Papers; Series 5, Papers Relating to the Jamaican Estates of the Goulburn Family of Betchworth; Series 6, Papers of the Company of Scotland Trading to Africa and the Indies, 1694- ; Series 7, Journal, Annual Sermons and Reports of the SPG (Society for the Propagation of the Gospel), 1701-1870; Series 8, South American Missionary Society Records, 1844-1919; Series 9, Liverpool Street and Trade Directories, 1766-1900; Series 10, Early Colonial and Missionary Records for West Africa; Series 11, West Indies Material in the Archives of the USPG, 1710-1950; Series 12, Archives of the Associates of Dr. Bray to 1900; Series 13, Collected Papers of the Bolton Whitman Fellowship; Series 14, Canadian Papers of the 4th Earl of Minto; Series 15, American Material from the Tarleton Papers; Series 16, Liverpool Customs Bills of Entry, 1820-1900; Series 17, Tudway of Wells Antiguan Estate Papers, 1689-1907; Series 18, Bristol Presentments, 1770-1917; Series 19, Annual British Army Lists, 1740-1784; and Series 20, American Prisoners of War, 1812-1815.
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Formerly called British Records of the Atlantic World.
Early English Books Online (EEBO)
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Almost every book printed between 1473 and 1700 in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, and British North America, regardless of language, and English-language books printed elsewhere in the same time period.
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The entire text of the works is fully searchable, and you can also search the subject headings for each work. You can combine search terms, and you can limit your search to specific fields (author, title, subject, publisher, city of publication, date of publication, and other elements). You can print and/or download your search results.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)
Based on the English Short Title Catalog, includes almost every book printed in England,Ireland, Scotland, and Wales during the 18th century, regardless of language, along with thousands of English-language books printed elsewhere in the same time period. Includes some serials.
Empire Online
15th century to the present. Emphasis on the British Empire. Collection tilts heavily toward the 18th century, 19th century, and early 20th centuries.
Expeditions and Discoveries: Sponsored Explorations and Scientific Discovery in the Modern Age
Maps, photographs, field notes, letters, manuscript materials, and publications from Harvard University's library and museum collections, documenting 34 expeditions from 1626-1953. Includes documents from expeditions to the Arctic, Antarctica, Africa, and South America.
Frontier Life: Borderlands, Settlement, and Colonial Encounters
1650-1920, with bulk of documents from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Emphasis is on British colonialism in North America, Africa, and Australasia. Hybrid collection of books, government documents, legal records, correspondence, business records, maps, diaries and memoirs, pamphlets, ephemera, realia, artwork, and more. Organized around fifteen broad themes: Travel and Exploration; Natural World; Land and Property; Government and Politics; Warfare and Military History; Law and Order; Business and Commerce; Industry and Technology; Agriculture; Art and Entertainment; Healthcare; Women’s History; Children and Family; Religion; and Indigenous Peoples. Collection can also be browsed by subjects (topics, people, and places).
The Gerritsen Collection of Women's History, 1543-1945
Roughly 4,500 monographs and pamphlets, and more than 400 periodicals documenting women's history around the world. Books have both Library of Congress Subject Headings, and Gerritsen Subject Terms. Somewhat more than half of the material in the collection is in English, and the remainder is in German, French, and other European languages.
Global Commodities: Trade, Exploration, and Cultural Exchange
1500-present. Business records, shipping manifests, correspondence, government reports, pamphlets, statistical records, maps, photographs, paintings, prints, advertising, and other artifacts, thematically arranged by the following commodities: chocolate, coffee, cotton, fur, opium, oil, porcelain, silver, spices, sugar, tea, timber, wheat, wine, and spirits.
Leisure, Travel, and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism
Brochures, posters, guidebooks, maps, ephemera, periodicals, films, correspondence, scrapbooks, travel journals, photographs, postcards, company records, government documents, and monographs documenting the history of tourism on all continents, and organized around the following themes: Women and Tourism; Children and Families; Road, Rail and Air Travel; Accommodation, Hospitality and Entertainment; Package Tours, Cruises and Organized Travel; Beachfront: Seaside and Coastal Destinations; The Great Outdoors; Urban Tourism; Health and Medical Travel; Historical, Cultural or Religious Tourism; International Relations; and Planning and Business. 1850 to the 1980s.
Making of the Modern World, 1450-1914
Books, pamphlets, periodicals documenting the economic history of the West, very broadly defined, including political writings, works on international relations, international trade and commerce, and slavery, travel narratives, legal cases, and government publications. Based on the Goldsmiths’ Library of Economic Literature at the University of London and the Kress Collection of Business and Economics at Harvard University, The Making of the Modern World includes more than 60,000 books and 450 journals.
Mapping the World: Maps and Travel Literature
Travel narratives; travel literature; guidebooks; maps; India Office atlases and gazetteers; British Ministry of Defense maps; British Royal United Services Institution (R.U.S.I.) maps; Crace Collection of Maps of London; selected papers on voyages to the East Indies and Asia; King George III Topographical Collection; maps and atlases of North America and the Polar Regions; maps from the American Antiquarian Society; Pacific Railway surveys, 1853-1855: reports of explorations and surveys to ascertain the most practicable and economical route from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean; travel literature of the Ohio River Valley and the American South; and travel and tourist periodicals from the British Library. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
National Geographic Historical Archive
1888-present.
Nineteenth Century Travel Literature
1800-1899. 2,510 books from the Bryn Mawr College Library. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Nineteenth Century U.K. Periodicals
Periodicals published in Great Britain from 1800-1900. Many periodicals reproduced in full color. Series 1: New Readerships (emphasizing women, children, humour, leisure, and sport). Series 2: Empire (emphasizing travel, anthropology, economics, evangelism, colonialism). Part of Gale Primary Sources: Newspaper and Periodical Databases (formerly Gale NewsVault).
Photography: The World through the Lens
The Bauduin Collection of Photographs; British Admiralty Office Photographs; British Colonial Office Photographs; the British Journal of Photography and Annual, 1854-1914; Early Rare Photographic Books from the Northwestern Museum of Science and Industry Collection; Early Rare Photographs from the Victoria and Albert Museum; photographs by David Octavius Hill and Robert Adamson, 1843-1848; 2,100 monographs and 80 periodicals on the history of photography; Japanese photographs of the Bakumatsu-Meiji period; the Meiji and Taisho eras in photographs; portraits of modern Japanese historical figures; photographs from the Royal Archives, Windsor; the Photographic News, 1859-1908; photographs from the India Collection at the British Library; photographs from the National Media Museum in Bradford; photographs from the Royal Photographic Society Collection; photographs from the Science Museum; photographs from the Talbot Collection at the British Library; photographs from the Wellcome Library for the History of Medicine; and records of the Copyright Office of the Stationers' Company: Photographs. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Travel and Tourist Periodicals: Selections from the British Library
1848-1913. 16 periodicals from the collections of the British Library. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Travel Narratives and Personal Reminiscences
1786-1921. Almost 300 travel narratives by British and French travelers. From the collections of the British Library. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Travels and Travelers in the 19th Century: Selected Journals and Papers
1808-1878. Manuscripts from the collections of the British Library. British travelers. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Travel Writing, Spectacle, and World History
World travel accounts by women from the early 19th century to the late 20th century. Comprises manuscripts, diaries, correspondence, drawings, guidebooks and photographs. Documents from the collections of the Schlesinger Library at the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study, Harvard University.

The Papers of Sir Joseph Banks, 1743-1820 (Correspondence and Papers Relating to Voyages of Discovery)
Call Number: FILM B. B218b1p
ISBN: 1857110528
65 reels.
Joseph Banks Correspondence and Other Papers
Call Number: FILM B. B218b1j
6 reels.
Colonial Discourses Series Three, Colonial Fiction, 1650-1914
Call Number: FILM 823.08 C7182
54 reels.
East Meets West: Original Records of Western Traders, Travellers, Missionaries and Diplomats to 1852
Call Number: ILL
Use the online guides to identify reel numbers, and request through WorldCat.
Online Guide.
Colonial Discourses: Women, Travel, and Empire, 1660-1914
Call Number: FILM 910.40820941 C718
Presbyterian Board of Foreign Missions, 1833-1911 by Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A. Board of Foreign Missions
Call Number: FILM 266.5109 P92p
Publication Date: 1953-1969
Primarily correspondence between missionaries in the field and the mission headquarters, with other primary sources like sermons and records.
Nineteenth-Century Travels, Explorations and Empires: Writings from the Era of Imperial Consolidation, 1835-1910 by Peter J. Kitson; William Baker (Volume Editor); Indira Ghose (Volume Editor); Susan Schoenbauer Thurin (Volume Editor)
Call Number: 910.409034 N622
ISBN: 1851967605
Publication Date: 2003
v. 1. North and South Poles -- v. 2. North America -- v. 3. India -- v. 4. The Far East -- v. 5. Middle East --v. 6. South Seas and Australasia -- v. 7. Africa -- v. 8. South America.
Women's Travel Writing, 1750-1850 by Caroline Franklin (Editor)
Call Number: ILL
ISBN: 0415320348
Publication Date: 2007
v. 1-2. Letters from France / Helen Maria Williams -- v. 3. Narrative of two voyages to the River Sierra Leone during the years 1791-2-3 / A.M. Falconbridge, and; History in a six weeks' tour through a part of France, Switzerland, Germany, and Holland / Mary Shelley and Percy Shelley -- v. 4. Original letters from India / Elizabeth Fay -- v. 5. Letters from the island of Tenerife, Brazil, the Cape of Good Hope and the East Indies / Mrs. Kindersley -- v. 6-8. Italy / Lady Morgan.

North America

The American West: Sources from the Graff Collection at the Newberry Library
Tavel narratives, manuscripts, personal papers, printed books, maps, city directories, store catalogs, newspapers, company records, and ephemera (e.g. trade cards, posters, photos, claim certificates, city prospectuses, and more) that document the American west in its frontier period.
Colonial America
When complete, this digital collection will comprise all 1,450 volumes/bundles of the British National Archives Record Series CO 5 (Records of the Colonial Office: Board of Trade and Secretaries of State: America and West Indies, Original Correspondence). The collection will be released in modules, with the first three modules currently available: Module 1: Early Settlement, Expansion and Rivalries; Module 2: Towards Revolution; and Module 3: The American Revolution.
California as I Saw It: First-Person Narratives of California's Early Years, 1849 to 1900
180 first person accounts.
Early Encounters in North America, 1543-1850: Peoples, Cultures, and the Environment
Personal accounts from traders, slaves, missionaries, explorers, soldiers, native peoples, and officials, both men and women. Includes multiple indexes for exploring the collection in different ways. Includes a complete, transcribed edition of the Jesuit Relations.
The First American West: The Ohio River Valley, 1750-1820 (University of Chicago Library and Filson Historical Society)
Books, periodicals, newspapers, pamphlets, broadsides, letters, journals, legal documents, financial records, maps, physical artifacts, and pictorial images documenting the land, peoples, exploration, and transformation of the trans-Appalachian West from the mid-eighteenth to the early nineteenth century.
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Digitized from the collections of the University of Chicago Library and the Filson Historical Society of Louisville, Kentucky.
Louisiana: European Explorations and the Louisiana Purchase
Focuses on the various documents—from maps to newspapers to cultural artifact—that help to describe the region of North America that stretched from as far east as Alabama into what is now the state of Montana. The 119 items presented here come from the various special and general collections of the Library of Congress.
Meeting of Frontiers: Siberia, Alaska and the American West
Primary sources that document the "exploration and settlement of the West, the parallel exploration and settlement of Siberia and the Russian Far East, and the meeting of the Russian-American frontier in Alaska and the Pacific Northwest." From the Library of Congress
Mystic Seaport
Includes logbooks, diaries, letters, business papers, and published narratives of voyages and travels.
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories, 1800-1950
Documents authored by over 2,000 immigrants. Keyword search the collection, or browse by subject (e.g. Ku Klux Klan, Eugene Debs, Abortion, Amnesty, Crime), personal events (e.g. Arrest, Death of child, Wedding), nationality/cultural heritage, places in North America, or date.
Pioneering the Upper Midwest
Books from Michigan, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, ca. 1820 to 1910.
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From the Library of Congress.
North American Women's Letters and Diaries
Colonial period to 1950. Letters from 1,325 women. Letters have been transcribed, rather than reproduced as digital facsimiles, and they are extensively indexed, as well as searchable by keyword. Biographical information is provided for each author, as well as synopses of many of the source documents, reprinted from Joyce Goodfriend’s 1987 bibliography, The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women. Based on six additional bibliographies: The Published Diaries and Letters of American Women by Joyce Goodfriend; American Diaries: An Annotated Bibliography of Published American Diaries and Journals by Laura Arksey, Nancy Pries, and Marcia Reed; Women's Diaries, Journals, and Letters by Cheryl Cline; American Diaries in Manuscript, 1580-1954; Canadian Diaries and Autobiographies by William Matthews; And So to Bed: A Bibliography of Diaries Published in English; and New England Diaries, 1602-1800: A Descriptive Catalogue of Diaries, Orderly Books and Sea Journals.
Illustrators of the Golden West
1890-1998. 91 paintings and drawings by Western illustrators, along with 968 illustrated Western novels and pulp fiction magazines.
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From the Sidney and Rosalyn Wiener Collection at the Eiteljorg Museum of American Indians and Western Art in Indianapolis, Indiana.
Reports of Explorations Printed in the Documents of the United States Government
Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Selected Travel Titles from the Collections of the American Antiquarian Society
1787-1916. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Smithsonian Collections Online
A collection of books from both world's fairs and state fairs during the period 1834-1918, digitized from a 174 reel microfilm set; records from the Smithsonian Institution and the United States National Museum documenting their roles in world's fairs and international expositions during the period 1867-1940; world's fair memorabilia from the period 1851-1940; publications by and about world's fairs during the period 1843-1922; agricultural trade literature from the period 1820-1926; and trade catalogs and miscellaneous trade literature from the period 1850-1926.
American Notes: Travels in America, 1750-1920
Comprises 253 published narratives by Americans and foreign visitors recounting their travels in the colonies and the United States and their observations and opinions about American peoples, places, and society from about 1750 to 1920. Also included is the thirty-two-volume set of manuscript sources entitled Early Western Travels, 1748-1846, published between 1904 and 1907 after diligent compilation by the distinguished historian and secretary of the Wisconsin Historical Society Reuben Gold Thwaites.
Early American Imprints, Series I: 1639-1800
Based on Charles Evans's American Bibliography. Includes almost every book printed in the United States between 1639-1800. See also the two supplements: the Library Company of Philadelphia supplement, and the American Antiquarian Society supplement. Part of the Archive of Americana.
Early American Imprints, Series I: 1639-1800, Supplement from the American Antiquarian Society
Adds 2,300 books to the original collection. Part of the Archive of Americana.
Early American Imprints, Series I: 1639-1800, Supplement from the Library Company of Philadelphia
Adds 1,100 books to the original collection. Part of the Archive of Americana.
Early American Imprints, Series II: 1801-1819
Based on Ralph Shaw and Richard Shoemaker's American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819, includes almost every book printed in the United States between 1801-1819. Part of the Archive of Americana.
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926
Based on Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, this collection includes books, pamphlets, and periodicals about the Americas from 1492 to 1868. Includes publications both from the Americas and from elsewhere.

Western Americana: A Collection of 1012 Books and Documents of the 18th, 19th, and Early 20th Century
Call Number: MFICHE 978 W5253
Includes a sub-section of travel accounts. Consult the collection guide for more information. See also Western Americana : Frontier History of the Trans-Mississippi West, 1550-1900 : Guide and Index to the Microfilm Collection, which goes with a separate microfilm collection, not owned here but available through Interlibrary Loan.

South America and the Caribbean

Church Missionary Society Periodicals
26 periodicals published between 1804 and 2009 by Britain's Church Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society Mid-Africa Ministry, and the South American Missionary Society. No subject index for individual articles.
Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de America Y Oceania
42 volumes, originally published in the 19th century, of transcriptions of documents selected from the Archivo General de Indias in Spain. Continued by the Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de ultramar. Part of World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean.
Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de ultramar
A continuation of the Colección de documentos inéditos relativos al descubrimiento, conquista y organización de las antiguas posesiones españolas de America Y Oceania. 25 volumes of transcriptions of documents selected from the Archivo General de Indias and the Real Academia de la Historia in Spain. Part of World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean.
Colonial State Papers
The Privy Council and Related Bodies: America and West Indies, Colonial Papers, a collection of papers presented to the Privy Council and the Board of Trade between 1574-1757, and The Calendar of State Papers, Colonial: North America and the West Indies 1574-1739, an essential guide to those papers.
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, Central America, 1930-1945: Cuba, Part 1: 1930-1939
Currently unavailable online. Might be available on microfilm--inquire with librarian. NARA RG 84: Records of the Department of State Diplomatic Post Files: Embassy, Havana, Cuba. Part of ProQuest History Vault: U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945.
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, Central America, 1930-1945: Cuba, Part 2: 1940-1945
Currently unavailable online. Might be available on microfilm--inquire with librarian NARA RG 84: Records of the Department of State Diplomatic Post Files: Embassy, Havana, Cuba. Part of ProQuest History Vault: U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945.
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, Central America, 1930-1945: El Salvador
Currently unavailable online. Might be available on microfilm--inquire with librarian NARA RG 84: Records of the Department of State Diplomatic Post Files: Legation: San Salvador (Embassy, San Salvador after 1943). Part of ProQuest History Vault: U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945. (From 28 reel microfilm set.)
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, Central America, 1930-1945: Honduras
Currently unavailable online. Might be available on microfilm--inquire with librarian NARA RG 84: Records of the Department of State Diplomatic Post Files: Legation, Tegucigalpa (Embassy, Tegucigalpa after 1943). Part of ProQuest History Vault: U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945. (From 42 reel microfilm set.)
Confidential U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, Central America, 1930-1945: Nicaragua
Currently unavailable online. Might be available on microfilm--inquire with librarian. NARA RG 84: Records of the Department of State Diplomatic Post Files: Legation-Embassy, Managua, Nicaragua. Part of ProQuest History Vault: U.S. Diplomatic Post Records, 1914-1945. (From 38 reel microfilm set.)
Conquistadors: The Struggle for Colonial Power in Latin America, 1492–1825
1530-1824. Manuscripts from the British Library documenting Spanish occupation of Trinidad, Margarita, Guiana, Venezuela and neighboring territories. Included are Egerton MSS 771-3297, Sloane MSS 159-4028, Stowe MSS 168-921, Add. MSS 11410-35916, and Add. MSS 36314-73542 (with some exclusions). Part of Archives of Latin American and Caribbean History, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century (formerly World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbea)n.
Correspondence and Record Cards of the Military Intelligence Division Relating to General, Political, and Military Conditions in Central America, 1918–1941
Reports from United States military attachés assigned to Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. Part of Latin America and the Caribbean History.
Despatches From United States Consuls in Havana, Cuba, 1783–1906
Part of Latin America and the Caribbean History. (From 133 reel microfilm set.)
Despatches From United States Ministers to Cuba, 1902–1906
Part of Latin America and the Caribbean History. (From 18 reel microfilm set.)
Latin American History and Culture: An Archival Record, Series 1: The Yale University Collection of Latin American Manuscripts, Parts 1–7
1500-1935. Document types include first-hand accounts, royal treasury account books, monastic records, records of nunneries, military documents, mining production, wills, records of sales, dowries, collections of 17th-century sermons, testimonies of miracles, correspondence, and viceregal reports. Part of World Scholar: Latin America and the Caribbean.
Presbyterian Church of Cuba Archives
Records of the Iglesia Presbiteriana-Reformada en Cuba (IPRC), 1901-2012, including a run of its periodical, Heraldo Cristiano from 1919 to 1928.
Sabin Americana, 1500-1926
Based on Joseph Sabin's Bibliotheca Americana, this collection includes books, pamphlets, and periodicals about the Americas from 1492 to 1868. Includes publications both from the Americas and from elsewhere.

Methodist Missionary Society Archives, London. Section 1. Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. West Indies. Correspondence. Haiti, 1834-1930
Call Number: CRL
Request through Inter-Library Loan.
Methodist Missionary Society Archives, London. Section 1. Wesleyan Methodist Missionary Society. West Indies. Correspondence. Honduras, 1833-1945
Call Number: CRL
Request through Inter-Library Loan.

Asia and the Pacific

South Seas: Voyaging and Cross-Cultural Encounters in the Pacific, 1760-1800
Travel narratives; memoirs; contemporary publications on the South Seas; an interactive map tracking the voyage of H.M.S. Endeavour (August, 1768-July, 1771); an extensive reference library; and more.
China, America, and the Pacific: Trade and Cultural Exchange
18th to early 20th centuries. Ship logs, manuscripts, business records, newspapers, books, maps, realia, ephemera, paintings, photographs, and other illustrative documents, organized around 18 research themes: Cultural Exchange; Arts and Artifacts; Religion, Faith, and Philosophy; Social Life; Education; Crime; Employment and Labor; Health and Welfare; Race Relations; Travel and Tourism; Exploration and Discovery; The Natural World; Migration and Immigration; Politics, War, and Diplomacy; Trade and Commerce; Regulation and Legislation; Transport and Communication; and Advertising and Consumption.
Digital South Asia Library
Images and maps, as well as reference sources, newspapers, scholarly monographs, statistics, and more.
Medieval Travel Writing
Manuscripts that document journeys by European travelers to the Holy Land, India, and China during the 13th through the 16th centuries.
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: Colonialism and Nationalism in the Dutch East Indies, 1910-1930
TRIAL. Digitized from NARA Record Group 59, Records of the U.S. State Department, Central Classified Files, Class 800, Netherlands, 1910-1929: 856d, 856e, 856f, 856g, 856h, and 856i. Part of Archives Unbound.
German Foreign Relations and Military Activities in China, 1919-1935
TRIAL. Digitized from NARA Record Group 242: National Archives Collection of Foreign Records Seized, T-1141: Records of the German Foreign Ministry Pertaining to China, 1919-1935. Part of Archives Unbound.
Indochina, France, and the Viet Minh War, 1945-1954: Records of the U.S. State Department, Part 1: 1945-1949
TRIAL. Part of Archives Unbound.
East India Company
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Documents from the collection of India Office records, held by the British Library. In addition to the records of the East India Company, this collection includes records of other agencies charged with administering India, especially after the British Crown took over direct administration of India in 1858 (the Company's charter officially expired in 1874). The collection at the British Library is organized into record series based on the agencies from which the records originated, and the digital collection is based on this classification scheme. Because most of the India Office Records primarily comprise manuscript material, the documents are not keyword searchable, so the interface provides many different ways of interacting with the collection, including by record series, by date, by theme, by index terms (where available), and a hierarchical index of government. Some documents are keyword searchable.
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Module 1: Trade, Governance and Empire, 1600-1947. This module includes record series IOR/A (East India Company: Charters, Deeds, Statutes and Treaties c1550-c1950); IOR/B (East India Company: Minutes of the Court of Directors and Court of Proprietors 1599-1858); IOR/C (Council of India Minutes and Memoranda 1858-1947); IOR/D (East India Company: Minutes and Memoranda of General Committees 1700-1858); and parts of IOR/Z (indexes to portions of IOR/B and IOR/D). Module 2: Factory Records for South Asia and South-East Asia, 1613-1830. This module includes parts of record series IOR/G (Factory Records, 1613-1836); and parts of record series IOR/L/PS/9 (Political and Secret Department Records: Correspondence relating to areas outside India, 1781-1911). Module 3: Factory Records for China, Japan and the Middle East. This module includes parts of record series IOR/G (Factory Records, 1613-1836); and all of record series IOR/R/19 (Records of East India Company and India Office Agencies in Egypt, 1832-1870). Modules 4 and 5 comprise record series IOR/E, which are the correspondence volumes, 1600-1859. Module 4 is titled "Early Voyages, Formation and Conflict," and Module 5 "Domestic Life, Governance and Territorial Expansion." Like other modules, these Modules 4 and 5 include the relevant index volumes from IOR/Z/E/1.
India, Raj, and Empire
1710-1937. Diaries, journals, official papers, letters, sketches, paintings, histories and literary works documenting the British presence in India. Emphasis on the role of the Scottish in India as traders, generals, missionaries, viceroys, governor-generals. Documents drawn from the manuscript collections of the National Library of Scotland
India from Crown Rule to Republic, 1945-1949: Records of the U.S. State Department
Digitized from the 2 reel microfilm set, Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files. India: Internal Affairs, 1945-1949. Documents selected from National Archives and Records Administration Record Group 59, decimal numbers 645, 745, 845 and 711.45. Part of Archives Unbound.
Indian Army and Colonial Warfare on the Frontiers of India, 1914-1920
Official Army war diaries for the North-West Indian Frontier. Diaries selected from British Library record series IOR/L/MIL/17/5/4066-4121. War diaries are an official category of British government document, and provide information on the activities of the Army for which each diary reports. These are not personal diaries of soldiers, officers, or other military personnel. Part of Archives Unbound.
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For more information, see records in the British Library catalog of Archives and Manuscripts: http://searcharchives.bl.uk/IAMS_VU2:IAMS038-000795114.
Journeys to the East Indies and Asia: Selected Journals and Papers
1800-1906. From the manuscript collections of the British Library. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Missionary and Socio-Economic Journals
The Bangkok Calendar, 1848-1873; the Chinese Social and Political Science Review, 1916-1941; the Far-Eastern Review, 1904-1941; the Journal of the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1845-1870; the Journal of the China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1847-1912; the Journal of the North-China Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1858-1948; Mélanges Asiatiques, 1849-1894; and shorter runs of other periodicals: Chinas Millionen; the World's Chinese Students' Journal; the Chinese Missionary Gleaner; China's Young Men: Nanking University Magazine; Chine et Ceylond; and more. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Nineteenth Century English-Language Journals from the Far East
TRIAL. Three sub-collections: A Compilation of Rare English Journals Published inside and outside China before 1911; The China Review: or Notes and Queries on the Far East (1872-1901); and Indo-Chinese Gleaner (1817-1822). Part of Archives Unbound.
China: Trade, Politics, and Culture, 1793-1980
English-language documents from London University's School of Oriental and African Studies, and from the British Library. Includes diaries, journals, correspondence, atlases, travel narratives, missionary periodicals, government documents, scrapbooks, and more.
Asia and the West: Diplomacy and Cultural Exchange
British and American diplomatic records, missionary correspondence records; and Western language periodicals dealing with the Far East. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
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British Foreign Office Japan correspondence, 1856-1923; despatches from United States consulates in China, 1790-1906; despatches from United States consulates in Siam, 1856-1906; despatches from United States consulates in Java, 1818-1906; despatches from United States consulates in Japan, 1856-1906; despatches from United States consulates in the Philippine Islands, 1876-1899; despatches from United States consulates in Sumatra, 1853-1898; despatches from United States consulates in Vietnam, 1889-1906; despatches from United States consulates in Korea, 1886-1906; despatches from United States consulates in Singapore, 1833-1906; despatches from United States Ministers to China, 1843-1906; despatches from United States Ministers to Japan, 1855-1906; despatches from United States Ministers to Korea, 1883-1905; despatches from United States Ministers to Siam, 1882-1906; notes from the Chinese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1868-1906; notes from the Japanese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1858-1906; notes from the Korean Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1883-1906; notes from the Siamese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1876-1906; records relating to the United States Surveying Expedition to the North Pacific Ocean, 1852-1863; selected records of the United States Consulate in Siam, 1856-1912; selected records of the United States Legation in China, 1849-1931; selected records of the United States Legation in Japan, 1855-1912; and Methodist Episcopal Church missionary correspondence (China, Japan, Korea), 1846-1949.
European Colonialism in the Early 20th Century: German Colonies in Asia and the Pacific: From Colonialism to Japanese Mandates, 1910-1929
TRIAL. Digitized from NARA Record Group 59, Records of the U.S. State Department, Central Classified Files, Class 800, Germany, 1910-1929: 62a, 62c, 62d, 62e, 62f, 62g, 62h, 621, 62k, 62L, 62m. Part of Archives Unbound.
Journeys to the East Indies and Asia: Selected Journals and Papers
1800-1906. From the manuscript collections of the British Library. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1846-1912 (China, Japan, Korea)
Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Missionary Files: Methodist Episcopal Church Missionary Correspondence, 1912-1949 (China, Japan, Korea)
Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Notes from the Korean Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1883-1906
Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Notes from the Siamese Legation in the United States to the Department of State, 1876-1906
Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Rufus Jones Diary
Diary of a 1926 trip to China, Japan, and other parts of East Asia.
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From Bryn Mawr College Library.

Africa and the Middle East

Voyages en Afrique
Travel narratives and related documents about travel in Africa, mostly from the "long 19th century".
Annales de l'Extrême Orient et de l'Afrique
1878-1891. Official bulletin of the Société Académique Indo-Chinoise. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Medieval Travel Writing
Manuscripts that document journeys by European travelers to the Holy Land, India, and China during the 13th through the 16th centuries.
Bulletin du Comite de l'Afrique francaise
1891-1914. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Europe and Africa: Commerce, Christianity, Civilization, and Conquest
Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online. The African Mail, 1845-1917; the African World and Cape-Cairo Express, 1905-1913; the Annales de l'Extreme Orient et de l'Afrique, 1878-1891; the Bulletins du Comite de l'Afrique francaise, 1891-1914; a collection of colonial African newspapers from the British Library; despatches from United States consulates in Africa, 1818-1906; the Deutsche Kolonialzeitung, 1884-1922; correspondence and entry books from the British War and Colonial Department, 1794–1843, related to the exploration of Africa; a collection of books from the Kolonialbibliothek at the Universitätsbibliothek J.C. Senckenberg at Goethe Universität, Frankfurt am Main on German colonization of Africa; colonial censuses of Africa, 1820-1931; papers of Joseph Chamberlain relating to Africa; Methodist Episcopal Church African missionary correspondence, 1846-1912; travel narratives of African exploration; official statistical registers and blue books of Cape Colony; official statistical yearbooks and censuses of the Natal Colony; Report of the Boundary Survey between British Bechuanaland and German Southwest Africa of 1898-1903; selected Africa collections from the Bodleian Library; selected British Cabinet papers on Africa; selected Colonial Office files on Africa; selected Dominions Office files on Africa; selected Foreign Office files on Africa; selected India Office records on colonial Africa; selected War Office files on Africa; selected maps and plans files on Africa; memoirs of colonial Africa; and Yale Divinity School periodicals on Africa.
African Mail
1845-1917. Official organ of: the British Cotton Growing Association, and: and the West African Sanitation of the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
African World and Cape-Cairo Express
1905-1913. Business weekly published in London, devoted to "“Commerce, Exploration, Mining, Finance.” Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Church Missionary Society Periodicals
26 periodicals published between 1804 and 2009 by Britain's Church Missionary Society, the Church Missionary Society Mid-Africa Ministry, and the South American Missionary Society. No subject index for individual articles.
Colonial Africa Newspapers from the British Library
1821-1922. 24 newspapers. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Selected Africa Collections from the Bodleian Library
1809-1903. Personal correspondence, notes, and photographs from the manuscript collections of the Bodleian Library of Commonwealth and African Studies at Rhodes House, University of Oxford, University of Oxford. Part of Nineteenth Century Collections Online.
Church of Uganda Archives
Previously available only on microfilm or on site at the Uganda Christian University, Mukono, this collection provides online access to 8 series of records from the Church of Uganda archives: Series 1, Office of the Bishop of Uganda (1882-1961); Series 2, Education Secretary General (1936-1964); Series 3, General Secretary (1924-1963); Series 4, Financial Secretary (1929-1963); Series 5, Archbishop's Office (1960-1993); Series 6, Provincial Secretary (1960-1995); Series 7, Mother’s Union (1960-1991); and Series 8, Provincial Treasurer (1960-1991). The records in this collection document the activity of the Anglican Church in Uganda from 1882 through 1995.

Europe

Itineraria
Over 1,400 travel narratives, from the 16th Century to the 20th.
Migration to New Worlds
Sources documenting the emigration of people from Europe and Asia to the United States, Canada, and Australasia. Document types include letters, diaries, scrapbooks, artwork, photographs, maps oral histories, pamphlets, ship logbooks, realia, legal papers, and government documents, including all 195 volumes of the British National Archives Record Series CO 384 (War and Colonial Department and Colonial Office: Emigration Original Correspondence).
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Being released in modules: Module 1, Century of Immigration, 1800-1924; and Module 2, The Modern Era.
Travels in Southeastern Europe
Over 130 travel narratives, primarily 19th and early 20th century, with emphasis on travels in Bosnia and Hercegovina.
Vision of Britain Through Time, 1801-2001
Maps, statistical datasets, and full text reproductions of travel narratives. From the Great Britain Historical GIS (Geographical Information System) Project, based at the University of Portsmouth.
The Grand Tour, 1550-1850
Letters, diaries, journals, account books, printed guidebooks, published travel writing, paintings, sketches, and maps that document the experiences of Englishmen and Englishwomen who took the Grand Tour in the Early Modern period.
Voyages en France (Gallica)
Travel narratives and related documents about travel in France, from Medieval through 19th century.
Voyages en Italie (Gallica)
French language travel narratives and related documents about travel in Italy, from Medieval through the early 20th century.
Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees: The West’s Response to Jewish Emigration, 1938-1947
TRIAL. Digitized from the microfilm set Records of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, 1938-1947. Part of Archives Unbound.
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape
The manuscript collection of the Wordsworth Trust. Document types include: verse manuscripts, printed manuscripts, prose manuscripts, printed verse, correspondence, diaries, travel journals, autograph albums, guide books, fine art and maps.
Commercial and Trade Relations Between Tsarist Russia, the Soviet Union and the U.S., 1910-1963
TRIAL. Records from the U.S. State Department. Part of Archives Unbound.