Indexes to Primary Sources
Use these tools to help locate primary sources. You may need to use Interlibrary Loan to acquire the actual primary sources.
- Plays in Periodicals; An Index to English Language Scripts in Twentieth Century JouornalsCall Number: PR1272 .P28 1970
- Three Centuries of English and American Plays, A Checklist: England: 1500-1800, United States: 1714-1830Call Number: PN2585 .T47 1963
- JMU Library Catalog This link opens in a new windowFind journals, books, ebooks, films, sound recordings, and government documents available to JMU users.
- C19: The Nineteenth Century Index This link opens in a new windowAll-inclusive bibliographic tool for 19th-century research.
- English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC)Indexes over 460,000 that were published between 1473 and 1800 primarily in Britain and North America. Works are predominantly in English and are from the collections of the British Library and over 2,000 other libraries.
Primary Sources
The definition of primary source varies widely from discipline to discipline. In literature, primary sources are the original, creative work of an author, including poetry, plays, nonfiction prose, novels, and short stories. An author's correspondence or journals are also considered primary sources.
- African Writers Series This link opens in a new windowKey texts of modern African literature, including hundreds of volumes of fiction, poetry, drama and non-fictional prose.
- Archive of Americana This link opens in a new windowA cluster of collections reflecting the history of the United States through its congressional publications, popular newspapers, and commercial publishing: included are America's Historical Imprints, 1639-1800; America's Historical Newspapers, 1690-1876; American State Papers, 1789-1876; U.S. Congressional Serial Set, 1817-1980.
- Black DramaFull text of plays from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 100 African and African American playwrights.
- ECCO: Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new windowDigital editions of nearly all books published in Great Britain in the 18th century as well as important books from the Americas.
- English Verse Drama This link opens in a new window
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Full-text of works by named and anonymous authors from the Shrewsbury Fragments of the late 13th century, through the Elizabethan and Jacobean period, to British poets of the 19th century. - Sabin Americana, 1500-1926 This link opens in a new windowFull text of every book about the Americas published anywhere between 1500 and 1926.
- Theatre in Video This link opens in a new windowVideos, including documentaries and definitive performances of the world’s most important plays.
- JMU Library Catalog This link opens in a new windowFind journals, books, ebooks, films, sound recordings, and government documents available to JMU users.
