Selected Primary Sources
- Acta Sanctorum This link opens in a new window
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A collection of documents examining the lives of saints, organized according to each saint's feast day, from two January volumes published in 1643 to the December volume published in 1940.
- ARTFL (American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language) This link opens in a new window
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Texts of nearly 2,000 French classic works, ranging from the 12th to the 20th centuries. Includes ARTFL-FRANTEXT (main database), French Women Writers, Provençal Poetry, Textes de Français Ancien (TFA), The Journal de Trévoux, Dictionnaire historique et critique, Le Grand dictionnaire historique, and Opera del Vocabolario Italiano (OVI) Database. - ARTstor This link opens in a new window
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High-resolution Images in the arts, architecture, humanities, and social sciences. Includes a suite of software tools to view, present, and manage images for research and teaching purposes. Images are contributed by museums, photographers, libraries, scholars, photo archives, artists, and estates, from a variety of sources including the Hartill Archive of Architecture and Allied Arts. UC campuses contribute additional images including: the Archivision Library, Saskia Art & Architecture images, the Visual Resources Collections from UCB, UCSB, UCI, UCLA, UCR, and the UCSC Library Instructional Collection. Now hosted on the JSTOR platform. - Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina This link opens in a new window
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All editions of Latin texts published in the Bibliotheca Teubneriana, ranging from antiquity and late antiquity to medieval and neo-Latin texts. - British Literary Manuscripts Online This link opens in a new window
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Part II "Medieval & Renaissance" - facsimile images of literary manuscripts, including letters and diaries, drafts of poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, and similar materials. Searching is based on tags and descriptive text associated with each manuscript. - Classiques Garnier Online This link opens in a new window
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Online editions of classic French works, plus modern studies and essays on French literature, language, history, art, music, and social sciences. Portions which UCLA subscribes to Include: Livres et revues numériques (mostly texts from and about the Renaissance), French language dictionaries and encyclopedias from the 9th to 20th centuries; and the Grand Corpus des littératures française et francophone (French literature, medieval literature, modern and Francophone literature from Black Africa and the Indian Ocean).
- Defining Gender, 1450-1910 This link opens in a new window
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Contains primary source material from British and European archives, and includes four thematic areas: Conduct and Politeness, Domesticity and the Family, Consumption and Leisure, Education and Sensibility, and The Body.
- Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
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Citations from early English texts from 1475 to 1700, presented as digital images. Includes works by Malory, Bacon, More, Erasmus, Boyle, Newton, Galileo; musical exercises by Henry Purcell and novels by Aphra Behn; prayer books, pamphlets, and proclamations; almanacs, calendars, and many other primary sources. - Early European Books This link opens in a new window
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Traces the history of printing in Europe from its origins through to the close of the 17th century, offering full-color, high-resolution facsimile images of rare and hard-to-access printed sources. - In Principio This link opens in a new window
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A collection of approximately 1,000,000 incipits covering all known Latin texts, in manuscript form, from the start of Latin literature to around 1500 A.D. Includes ancient, patristic, medieval, and humanist literature and covers all genres: theology and liberal arts, history and poetry, medicine and liturgy, civil and canon law, exact and occult sciences, summons and sermons, glossaries and correspondences, cooking recipes and cursing formulas, large and small treatises, even isolated sentences - Literature Online This link opens in a new window
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Also known as LION. An array of literary databases (including the full text of poems, plays, and fiction), reference works (including bibliographies, encyclopedias, etc.), and links to other Web resources for the study of literature. The complete text of journal articles is available on the database for all or some of the journals indexed. Fully searchable texts of over 250,000 works in English and American Literature. - Medieval Family Life This link opens in a new window
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Five collections of family letters from 15th-century England. The database contains full-color images of the original medieval manuscripts, viewable side-by-side with searchable transcripts. - Medieval Travel Writing This link opens in a new window
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Presents manuscripts of some of the most important works of European travel writing from the later medieval period. The chief focus is on journeys to central Asia and the Far East, including accounts of travel to Mongolia, Persia, India, China and South-East Asia. The collection also includes a number of important accounts of travels to or through the Holy Land although in this it makes no claims to full or even broad coverage: a separate collection, covering crusading and pilgrimage narratives, would be required for that. - Oxford Art Online This link opens in a new window
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Combines Grove Art Online, the Encyclopedia of Aesthetics, the Oxford Companion to Western Art, Benezit Dictionary of Artists, and the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Art Terms. Includes image partnerships with ARTstor, the British Museum, the Museum of Modern Art, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Art Images for College Teaching, Art Resource, Artists Rights Society, and numerous international art galleries and artists. - Parliament Rolls of Medieval England This link opens in a new window
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Official records of the meetings of the English parliament from the reign of Edward I until the reign of Henry VII (1272 - 1509). Reproduces the rolls edited in Rotuli Parliamentorum (RP), plus those subsequently published by Cole, Maitland, and Richardson and Sayles, as well as a substantial amount of material never previously published. Accompanied by full translations of all the texts (originals in Latin, Anglo-Norman, and Middle English). - Patrologia Latina This link opens in a new window
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"An electronic version of the first edition of Jacques-Paul Migne's Patrologia Latina, published between 1844 and 1855, and the four volumes of indexes published between 1862 and 1865. The Patrologia Latina comprises the works of the Church Fathers from Tertullian in 200 AD to the death of Pope Innocent III in 1216."
- Thesaurus Linguae Graecae This link opens in a new window
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TLG has collected and digitized most texts written in Greek from Homer (8 c. B.C.) to the fall of Byzantium in AD 1453 and beyond. Its goal is to create a comprehensive digital library of Greek literature from antiquity to the present era. Individual login account required, in addition to campus authentication.
- Women Writers Online This link opens in a new window
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A full-text collection of early women's writing in English, published by the Women Writers Project at Northeastern University. It includes full transcriptions of texts published between 1526 and 1850, focusing on materials that are rare or inaccessible and women's literate culture in the early modern period.
- Ahmanson-Murphy Aldine CollectionThe collection, numbering approximately 1500 titles, includes the imprints of the press of the Venetian scholar-printer Aldo Manuzio (1449 or 1450-1515), his son Paolo Manuzio (1512-1574), his grandson Aldo Manuzio the Younger (1547-1597), as well as those of associates and imitators...
- Belt (Elmer) Collection of Vinciana Graphic ArtsThe Elmer Belt collection of Vinciana graphic arts is a special collection of original artwork, original printed lithographs, and materials concerning Leonardo da Vinci and the Italian Renaissance. It was donated to UCLA in 1961 by Dr. Elmer Belt, Professor Emeritus in the UCLA School of Medicine and a collector of Vinciana for more than sixty years.
- Blaeu Atlas (UCLA Library)The Charles E. Young Research Library owns the first volume of the set, "Europa-Germania-Germania Inferior". The volume was given to the UCLA Center for Medieval and Renaissance Studies as part of a donation from the Margaret W. Romani Estate, and the Center offered the Atlas to the UCLA Library. The atlas contains extensive text, but only the map pages were scanned for this project. Scanning was funded by the Henry J. Bruman Educational Foundation.
- Books printed in the low countries before 1601Microfilm of originals in various libraries.
- Bound Manuscripts CollectionThe bound manuscripts collection consists of over 700 manuscripts from the 7th to the 19th century and covers a wide variety of topics. The collection includes a papyrus fragment from the 7th century, a North French or Flemish Book of hours (late 15th or early 16th century), Persian and Arabic manuscripts, manuscript books from the 16th through 18th century, commonplace books, Friendship albums, and personal journals.
- Canon Law5285 microfiches in Latin, French, and German.
- Center for Research Libraries Topic Guide: Medieval StudiesThe Center for Research Libraries has a number of microfilm sets covering the medieval and renaissance period. Their guide lists these resources under tab "CRL Collections." CRL is a consortial library of which UCLA is a member. UCLA students and faculty can borrow materials from CRL.
- Consilia / Statuti CollectionA collection of juridical work from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries, containing material for the legal history of the later Middle Ages and the early modern period, especially in Italy. The works are, in part, jurisprudential in nature, and, in part, the outgrowth of actual legal practice.
- Corpus Juris Canonici (1582)The UCLA Libary Department of Special Collections is fortunate to have a complete set of the 1582 Corpus Juris Canonici, the "Body of Canon Law." These three volumes contain not only the medieval collections of laws—notably, Gratian's Decretum (ca. 1140), Gregory IX's Liber Extra (1234), and Boniface VIII's Liber Sextus (1298)—but also the elaborate Ordinary Glosses and further commentaries on the laws that take up the vast inner margins, with further annotations on outer margins...
- Epistolæ: Medieval Women's LettersEpistolæ is a collection of medieval Latin letters to and from women. The letters collected here date from the 4th to the 13th centuries, and they are presented in their original Latin as well as in English translation...
- French Books Before 1601Microfilm containing the full texts of of books printed in France and of French books printed in other countries from 1470 to 1600.
- German Books Before 1601Includes over 3,000 German, Swiss, and Austrian printed books from the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries.
- Hispanic Culture SeriesThis collection includes Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American books of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, covering both belletristic writings and critical and scientific works in all fields. Individual titles in the collection are listed in UC Library Search and the Center for Research Library Catalog.
- Incunabula the Printing Revolution in Europe, 1455–1500UCLA Library has Chronicles and Historiography (Units 4-5); Printing in Italy before 1472 (Units 7-10); and Incunabula Hebraica (Units 16-17).
- Italian Books Before 1601Microfilm of original texts held by various libraries.
- Le théâtre dv monde; ou, Novvel atlas contenant les chartes et descriptions de tous les païs de la terre. Willem Janszoon Blaeu. 1571–1638The world theater; or, New atlas containing the charters and descriptions of all the countries of the earth by the Dutch carographer W. J. Blaeu.
- Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection—UCLA Library Special Collections (ca. 1198–1616)This finding aid lists the Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts holdings of the Department of Special Collections as cited in Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts at the University of California, Los Angeles (1991), compiled by Mirella Ferrari and edited by R.H. Rouse (Call Number - Z6621 C123m 1991). The catalog identifies the contents, illumination, physical makeup, binding, and provenance for all Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts in the UCLA library system...
- Medieval and Renaissance Manuscripts Collection——UCLA Library Digital Collections (ca. 1198-1616)The present catalog, begun over a decade ago, stands at the beginning of modern cataloging of medieval manuscripts in North America. Its completion may serve as the occasion to pause for a moment and examine the beginnings and progress to date of manuscript cataloging in America, as well as to offer some comment on what it has taught us and how best to continue.
- Microfilms of Rare and Out-of-print BooksSubscription lists issued from 1957 to 1983 under the aegis of the journal Manuscripta and the Vatican Film Library describing rare and out-of-print books microfilmed at the Vatican Library and the Jesuit Library at Les Fontaines, Chantilly.
- Online Archive of California (OAC) This link opens in a new windowFinding aids for primary source collections in all UC campuses and other contributing institutions, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California.
- Scandinavian Culture SeriesBased on Collijn's two bibliographies, Sveriges bibliografi intill år 1600 and Sveriges bibliografi, 1600–talet, Nielsen's Dansk Bibliografi, 1482–1500, 1551–1600, Braun's Bibliotheca danica (1482–1830), and Petersen's Bibliotheca norvegica (1643–1813). Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic books are represented in the series.
- Bibliotheca Hertziana Rare Books OnlineThe digitized full-text of rare books in the Bibliotheca Hertziana collection, Rome, Italy.
- British Library Manuscripts Catalogue (TEMPORARY)Collection of Western manuscripts.
- The Canterbury Tales ProjectThe Canterbury Tales Project aims to transcribe, collate, and edit the 88 fifteenth-century witnesses of the text. We have pioneered the use of digital tools for the analysis and presentation of textual data.
- Catalogo Manoscritti della Biblioteca Apostolica VaticanaManuscript catalog of the Vatican Library.
- Det Kongelige Bibliotek (The Royal Library of Denmark)The library system contains physical and electronic materials from the National Library, Aarhus University, IT University, University of Copenhagen and Roskilde University. You will find articles, books, databases, journals, images, manuscripts, music and much more.
- e-codices—Virtual Manuscript Library of SwitzerlaneSince 2005 e-codices has been digitizing manuscripts from all regions of Switzerland.
- Gallica (The Bibliothèque Nationale de France)Contains more than one million digitized documents, including many medieval manuscripts, held by the French National Library.
- Handschriften Portal (Manuscript Portal)Manuscripts in German libraries.
- Medieval Illuminated ManuscriptsThis database contains all kinds of information about the illuminated medieval manuscripts of the Koninklijke Bibliotheek and the Museum Meermanno-Westreenianum.
- The Morgan Library & Museum CORSAIR Online Collection CatalogNamed after Pierpont Morgan's yacht, CORSAIR is a single database providing unified access to over 330,000 records for medieval and Renaissance manuscripts, rare and reference books, literary and historical manuscripts, music scores, ancient seals and tablets, drawings, prints, and other art objects. Records continue to be added for new acquisitions.
- Early English Books Online — Text Creation Partnership This link opens in a new windowSearchable SGML/XML text editions of image files contained in Early English Books Online.
- EuropeanaA digitized multimedia library of the European cultural heritage: digitized books, manuscripts, photos, paintings, maps, audio and film material, newspapers, etc.
- Index of Medieval Art This link opens in a new window
Previously known as Index of Christian Art, this database indexes medieval art in books, manuscripts, and photographs (Princeton University). Records works of art produced without geographical limitations from early apostolic times up to A.D. 1400. Focuses on art of the western world. Seventeen different media are represented in the archive, including manuscripts, metalwork, sculpture, painting, glass, etc. Search for musical instruments, musical notation, other music-related terms using Find searches.
- Internet Medieval SourcebookFrom Fordham University, a collection of translated online primary source materials from the Medieval era.
- Online Archive of California (OAC) This link opens in a new windowFinding aids for primary source collections in all UC campuses and other contributing institutions, including libraries, special collections, archives, historical societies, and museums throughout California.
- Dartmouth Dante ProjectThe Dartmouth Dante Project (DDP) is a searchable full-text database containing the full text of Dante's Divine Comedy— La Commedia—and commentaries from the 14th–21st centuries.
- Images from the History of MedicineAccess to the nearly 60,000 images in the prints and photograph collection of the History of Medicine Division of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- Images of Medieval Art and ArchitectureA database of medieval architecture sites in England and France.
- Index of Medieval Medical Images (IMMI)The Index of Medieval Medical Images project began in 1988 and aimed to describe and index the content of all medieval manuscript images (up to the year 1500) with medical components held in North American collections. The goal of this 2001 pilot project was to make a substantial sample of the images and descriptions available via a searchable database on the Web.
- The Labyrinth: Resources for Medieval StudiesThe Labyrinth provides free, organized access to resources in medieval and late antique studies. The Labyrinth’s easy-to-use links provide connections to databases, services, texts, and images around the world.
- The Medici Archive ProjectThe Medici Archive Project (MAP) was founded in the early 1990s to promote the vast wealth of the Mediceo del Principato, the epistolary collection of the Medici Grand Dukes (1532-1743) housed at the Archivio di Stato in Florence. Comprising more than five million letters, this archival corpus is as much a global archive as it is a local and personal one. Roughly two-thirds of these letters were penned by an extensive network of Medici diplomats and informants, chronicling the political and cultural developments in Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Americas. Other letters document the mechanisms that connected the Medici court with its administrative capillaries, including the legislative, judicial, financial, and public health branches of government. At the same time, this collection also records the more personal dimension of the Medici themselves, as well as the cultural and artistic events that took place at their court.
- The Medieval and Classical Literature LibraryThe Medieval and Classical Literature Library is a collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization.
- Monastic MatrixA scholarly resource for the study of women’s religious communities from 400 to 1600 CE edited by Lisa Bitel and Katherine Gill (University of Southern California). The database is a collection of primary and secondary sources, as well as images, related to religious women in premodern Europe.
- Online Medieval Sources BibliographyThe Online Medieval Sources Bibliography provides detailed information about modern editions—both in print and online—of medieval primary sources.
- Opera del Vocabolario Italiano (OVI) Database1,780 vernacular texts dated prior to 1375, including Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, as well as many lesser-known texts.
- The Philological MuseumAn analytic bibliography of Latin texts written during the Renaissance and later that are freely available to the general public on the web.
- Provençal Poetry38 collections of texts from the 12th and 13th centuries.
- Textes de Français Ancien65 works from the 12th through 15th century.