Research Collections
The University Library and local archives are especially rich in source material for all historical periods. In addition, there are a number of important papers held in the University and city archives which have been the subjects of recent high-profile and pioneering research projects. The preparation of CD-ROM editions of the Hartlib Papers and the Strafford Papers, for example, has generated, in each case, a major international conference and an important published collection of essays by leading authorities in the period.
The University of Sheffield Library contains over a million volumes, and subscribes to around 2,500 periodicals. Important collections of printed primary and secondary literature for all periods are easily available, and the Library and nearby archives also house a number of outstanding bodies of research materials, some of which are described below.
Urban History
- London Newspapers 1716-1795 on microfilm.
- Fairbank papers - a unique manuscript collection of surveyors records and maps of work undertaken for major local landowners in Sheffield and its region c.1750-1848 in the City Archives.
- Records of the Cutlers Company at Cutlers Hall, seventieth-century to present.
- Microfilm records of Old Bailey Proceedings, 1714-1834 (accounts of felony trials in London).
British Labour History
- Papers of George Howell, Victorian politician and trade unionist, in the University Library.
- Collection of writings of G.D.H. Cole, a major influence on labour and socialist thought in the 20th-century, in the University Library.
- Library of the late John Mendelsohn MP (particularly important for the history of European social democracy) in the University Library.
- Microfilm editions of radical and labour journals, including Black Dwarf, New Moral World, Cobbett's Political Register, Chartist Circular, Beehive, Justice and Northern Star in the University Library.
- Correspondence of Edward Carpenter, socialist, in the City Archives.
- Papers of George Howell, Victorian politician and trade unionist, in the University Library.
- Collection of writings of G.D.H. Cole, a major influence on labour and socialist thought in the 20th-century, in the University Library.
- Library of the late John Mendelsohn MP (particularly important for the history of European social democracy) in the University Library.
- Microfilm editions of radical and labour journals, including Black Dwarf, New Moral World, Cobbett's Political Register, Chartist Circular, Beehive, Justice and Northern Star in the University Library.
- Correspondence of Edward Carpenter, socialist, in the City Archives.
British Social and Cultural History
- Advice books for women written by women, c1625-1837 and womens diaries and related sources, 1500-1940 on microfilm.
- The National Fairground Archive - a unique archive of documentary material relating to British fairs and the amusement industry, is housed in the University Library.
- The Jack Rosenthal archive, deposited after the death of the noted Anglo-Jewish playwright.
Twentieth-Century British History
The University is also particularly rich in its holdings of early twentieth-century materials relating to protest and mass opinion, including the following Harvester microfilm collections:
- Protest Movements and Disorder and the Police in Interwar Britain.
- Tom Harrisson's Mass Observation Archive 1937 - 1949.
- The British People and World War II.
- Home Intelligence Reports.
- The Underground and Alternative Press in Britain.
In addition, the library has holdings in economic and political history, including:
- British and European statistical yearbooks (in both microform and hard copy).
- Census of Production for 1907, l924, 1930, 1935 and since 1948.
- Important papers of political figures such as A.J. Mundella, H.J. Wilson MP and W.A.S. Hewins.
- The Krebs Papers.
American History
- Abraham Lincoln papers (microfilm).
- Newspapers from the Civil War period (microfilm).
- Morgenthau Presidential Diaries.
- New Deal Economic Policies: FDR and the Congress, 1933- 1938 (microfilm collection).
- Papers of Charles Sumner, nineteenth-century US senator (microfilm).
- Papers of Bayard Rustin, major twentieth-century black civil rights activist (microfilm).
Jewish Affairs and Anti-Semitism
The very substantial University Library holdings related to this topic include:
- Microfilm of the Jewish Chronicle and Sobranie Dokumentov Samizdata, which includes Jewish samizdat journals.
- Materials from the British Union of Fascists (including the Saunders archive), and works of British anti-semitic writers such as Arnold Leese.
- Important collection of tapes and transcripts on Britain and the Refugee Crisis, 1933-47.
- Zaidman collection of pamphlets and papers on Jews and socialism in Britain and related themes.
Social History of Medicine and Health
- Substantial collection of eighteenth-century medical books and journals in the University Library.
- Collection of the original Medico-Chirurgical Society in the University Library.
- Important special collections of the papers of Professor Hans Krebs, Professor Ernest Finch and Professor Sir Arthur Hall in the University Library.
- Substantial holdings of records relating to medicine and health in local and regional record offices e.g. MOH reports, hospital records.
- Hartlib Papers (seventeenth-century) in the University Library.
Medieval History
- CD-ROM edition of Migne's Patrologia Latina.
- Complete runs of major 19th-century sourcebooks such as the Monumenta Germaniae Historica, Rolls Series, Calendar of Pipe Rolls, etc.
Early Modern English History
- Microfilm collection of all books published in England between 1475 and 1700, held in the University Library.
- Papers of Sir Thomas Wentworth, 1st Earl of Strafford (1593-1641), Minister of Charles I, held in the City Archives (c.4000 letters).
- Papers of Samuel Hartlib, polymath and intelligencer of the Civil War period (c.20,000 folios; available on CD-ROM).
- Important collections of Public Record Office materials from the Civil War period on microfilm; Calendars of State Papers.
- The Thomason Tracts (English Civil War pamphlet collection) on microfilm.
- London Consistory Court Records, 1669-1783 on microfilm.
Early Modern Irish
- The Wentworth papers (City Archives).
- Papers of Richard Boyle, 1st Earl of Cork (Lismore Papers) at Chatsworth House.
Eighteenth-Century British History
- Correspondence and notes of Edmund Burke, held in the City Archives.
- Rockingham and Fitzwilliam papers of the eighteenth- and early nineteenth-centuries in the City Archives.
- Devonshire collections at Chatsworth House, containing mostly uncalendared papers of successive Dukes of Devonshire and other members of the Cavendish family.
- Parliamentary poll-books of eighteenth- and nineteenth -centuries in the City Archives.
French Labour History
- Hachette microfilms of nineteenth-century works on the French working class.
Regional Research Holdings
- The Local Studies Service and the Sheffield Archives Service also have rich collections of local materials, including business records, microfilms of the 1841-71 censuses, and early twentieth-century Inland Revenue records. In addition, there are substantial police records from 1820 onwards and eighteenth- and nineteenth-century local hospital records. The Derbyshire County Record Office at Matlock contains the local government records for Derbyshire, the Gell papers, and family and private collections from South Derbyshire.