The library subscribes to a number of resources which you can use to access primary texts (e.g. novels, plays and other literary works) and other original source material. A few of the most important resources for Literature are listed below.
A fully searchable library of English and American literature. It contains over 350,000 works of poetry, prose and drama in full text, written between 600 A.D. and the present day. It also includes secondary litereature, such as biographies of major writers and the full text of over 330 literature journals.
A digital library of the most studied, performed and critically acclaimed plays from the last two and a half thousand years, accompanied by scholarly notes, annotated texts, critical analysis and contextual information.
The Drama Texts Collection from is a collection of over 14,000 plays spanning nearly a millennium of dramatic writing, covering the core works of the Western canon alongside often-forgotten World Drama titles.
Full-text digital archive enabling you to cross search, view and download over 460,000 texts published in the late C15th to the long C19th. The resource encompasses a wealth of content ranging from the Romantic to the Victorian period and covers a wide range of subject areas including English literature, history, geography, science, social science, religion and medicine. Materials include books, pamphlets, sermons, prayer books, sheet music, broadsides, newsbooks and much more.
A significant collection of primary sources for the historical study of sex, sexuality, and gender. With material dating back to the sixteenth century, researchers and scholars can examine how sexual norms have changed over time, health and hygiene, the development of sex education, the rise of sexology, changing gender roles, social movements and activism, erotica, and many other interesting topical areas. The library has access to the following collections: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Parts I & II; Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century; International Perspectives on LGBTQ Activism and Culture
From personal collections and rare printed material, to military files, ephemera and artwork, The First World War highlights the experiences of soldiers, civilians and governments on both sides of the conflict and in multiple theatres of war. Covering an array of international perspectives, the resource showcases intimate personal narratives, wartime propaganda and recruitment material, the truly global reach of the conflict, and the role of women in war through various documentary and visual forms.
Essential primary sources documenting the changing representations and lived experiences of gender roles and relations from the nineteenth century to the present. This expansive collection offers sources for the study of women's suffrage, the feminist movement, the mens movement, employment, education, the body, the family, and government and politics.
Archival runs of 26 of the most influential, longest-running serial publications covering LGBT interests. Includes the pre-eminent US and UK titles The Advocate and Gay Times, respectively. Chronicles more than six decades of the history and culture of the LGBT community. In addition to LGBT/gender/sexuality studies, this material also serves related disciplines such as sociology, political science, psychology, health, and the arts. Some publications may contain explicit content.
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape offers access to rare literary sources relating to William Wordsworth and the Romantic period. The collection offers an insight into the working methods of the poet and the wider social, political and natural environment that shaped much of his work and that of his contemporaries. In addition, the collection makes available the writings of Dorothy Wordsworth, as well as verse manuscripts and correspondence from leading figures in the Romantic period such as Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Thomas De Quincey and Robert Southey.
An archival research resource comprising the backfiles of leading women's interest consumer magazines. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period.
