Collection Spotlight: Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape and Nineteenth Century Literary Society
By Patrick Williams, Humanities Librarian, Digital and Open Scholarship Lead
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape is a rich collection of primary source materials focused on the period through visual art and documents including working notebooks, verse manuscripts and correspondence of William Wordsworth and his fellow writers. Sourced from The Wordsworth Trust, this digital resource includes that repository’s Dove Cottage Manuscripts, Wordsworth Library Letters, The Wordsworth Library Manuscripts and The Wordsworth Library Manuscripts Alphabetical Sequence. Additionally, the collection includes 2,500 full-color digital images from artists including J.M.W. Turner, John Constable and Benjamin Robert Haydon, among others. Alongside the primary sources, context is provided in the form of literary biographies, secondary sources and regional guides.
Nineteenth Century Literary Society allows users to explore Nineteenth Century publishing history through the collections of the archives of legendary publisher John Murray, with items representing the work of writers including Darwin, Austen, Livingstone and more. This collection includes the most complete archive of the papers of Lord Byron as well. Forms and genres include manuscripts, publications, advertisements, internal publishing documents, financial papers and ledgers. The collection is organized thematically and orients users to the following topics: Business and Finance, Literature and Poetry, Politics, Society and Religion, Private and Domestic Life, The Sciences, Travel and the World—each with its own guide and supporting documentation. Furthermore, Nineteenth Century Literary Society’s Life Cycle of The Book series offers contextual insight into the production of several influential titles published by John Murray, making use of a variety of related documents in the archive.
Like many AM Products, both of these collections are equipped with Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR), allowing users to search the thousands of pages of manuscript material for search terms. Additionally, each resource includes tips for reading handwritten documents from the period as well as videos and thematic, item and object guides to assist users in digging into the collection.
These collections are very well suited to users undertaking research and coursework on the historical period who may already be making use of related materials in long-held tools and collections like Nineteenth Century Collections Online, Victorian Popular Culture, Literary Manuscripts: Berg and Poverty, Philanthropy and Social Conditions in Victorian Britain as well as many items and rare books in our Special Collections Research Center. To provide feedback or suggest a title to add to the collection, please complete the Resource Feedback Form.