Transform the study of nineteenth century history, literature, and culture at your institution

Nineteenth Century Collections Online is the result of partnerships between Gale and almost one hundred libraries to preserve and make digitally available content for academic research. With guidance and feedback of professionals and end-users to ensure that we were selecting and preserving unique, invaluable documents, Gale is excited to bring you a wide range of content covering the long nineteenth century and beyond. Nineteenth Century Collections Online unites multiple, distinct archives into a single resource of over one hundred types of primary source documents.


The content is sourced from the world's preeminent libraries and archives. It consists of monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, manuscripts, ephemera, maps, photographs, statistics, and other kinds of documents in both Western and non-Western languages. Because some documents are rare and in delicate or extremely fragile condition, Gale works in close coordination with curators and preservationists to maintain the originals for posterity. With authoritative content, trustworthy and extensive bibliographic information, and technology that fits the needs of today's researchers, Nineteenth Century Collections Online is poised to revolutionize research on the nineteenth century.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Children's Literature and Childhood

Researchers can find a wealth of children's literature texts from around the world with Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Children's Literature and Childhood. This collection documents the changing construction of childhood, the growing popularity of children's literature, and the legal and sociological context for both. This collection opens an array of compelling subjects for research and teaching, making it a rich resource for many academic disciplines and areas of study.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, the Corvey Collection, 1790–1840

This unique collection of monographs includes a wide range of Romantic literature published in English, French, and German. Sourced from Castle Corvey in North Rhine - Westphalia, Germany, the Corvey Collection is one of the most-important surviving collections of works from the period. With a special focus on these rare works, especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known women writers, more than 9,500 titles are included.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Europe and Africa, Colonialism and Culture presents a dramatic, gripping chronicle of exploration and missions from the early nineteenth century through the Conference of Berlin in 1884 and the subsequent scramble for Africa. Unique sources provide a wealth of research topics on explorers, politicians, evangelists, journalists, and tycoons blinded by romantic nationalism or caught up in the competition for markets and converts. These monographs, manuscripts, and newspapers cover key issues of economics, world politics, and international strategy.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Maps and Travel Literature

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Maps and Travel Literature provides geographical images from all areas of the globe. The nineteenth century encompassed tremendous growth in maps and map making as the field of cartography gained visibility and professional standards. Mapping of the world during this time period was driven by massive industrialization and exploration. As people ventured further from traditional population centers, a new market for reliable maps was created. This collection supports studies on the evolution of travel and transportation and spans multiple disciplines, providing insight into societal values, interests, colonialism, and exploration.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Photography

As a complement to studies of history, culture, media, and many other disciplines, this collection provides the visual evidence to support and supplement written sources through photographs of people both at work and at leisure, images of scientific research and medical practices, photographs documenting travel and exploration, portraits of people, and coverage of major events such as coronations, funerals, and wars.

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Religion, Reform, and Society

Nineteenth Century Collections Online: Religion, Reform, and Society examines the influence of both faith and scepticism on the shaping of many aspects of society, including politics, law, economics, and social and radical reform movements.

Product Features & Tools

Term Frequency

Researchers can see the frequency of search terms within sets of content to begin identifying central themes and assessing how individuals, events, and ideas interact and develop over time.

Topic Finder

By grouping commonly occurring themes, this tool reveals hidden connections within search terms—helping to shape research by integrating diverse content with relevant information.

Cross-Search Capability

Search across the content of complementary primary source products in one intuitive environment, enabling innovative new research connections.

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