Thomason Tracts

Microform Collection

Scope: This collection is a compilation of books, pamphlets, newspapers, and manuscripts collected by George Thomason, a London publisher and bookseller who tried to save copies of everything published in England 1640-1661.  Thomason Tracts contains a wealth of material for military, constitutional, political, or social study.  The collection includes more than 22,000 individual items representing about 80 percent of what was published during these two decades.  The collection complements the Wing series of Early English Books (STC II) and features: 

• speeches made in Parliament
• tracts on the religious issues that reinforced political divisions
• gossip from or about the court
• sermons and political diatribes
• news reports that provide detailed accounts of battles, negotiations, and political machinations

Especially valuable are 97 previously unpublished manuscripts, most written in Thomason's own hand, which were considered too dangerous to be circulated in their own time.

How to search the collection:  The index - Thomason Tracts 1640-1661: An Index to the Microfilm Edition of the Thomas Collection of the British Library  (Micro Reference DA 415 T48) - gives volume and page number of original material, its date,  and reel on which text can be found.

Guides:
Thomason Tracts 1640-1661: An Index to the Microfilm Edition of the Thomas Collection of the British Library  (Micro Reference DA 415 T48)

For more information about this subject in our Library Catalog, check out these
Subject Categories:

Time Period:  17th Century

Subject keywords: Great Britain - History,  Literature

Back to Alphabetical List of Microform Collections

dr