English Collections guide

The Collections guide is an A-Z listing with links to more detailed catalogue records for a range of printed books and archives in Special Collections. Our Archival handlists are included in the guide.

You can restrict the list of collections to a particular subject area by selecting from the dropdown list:

Select a subject area Arabic and Middle Eastern Studies Biological Sciences Business Chemistry Civil Engineering Classics Communications Studies Computing Dentistry Design Earth and Environment East Asian Studies Education Electronic and Electrical Engineering English Fine Art, History of Art and Cultural Studies Food Science and Nutrition French Geography German, Russian and Slavonic Studies Healthcare History Italian Law Lifelong Learning Centre Linguistics and Phonetics Mathematics Mechanical Engineering Medicine Medieval studies Modern Languages and Cultures Molecular Nanoscience Music NHS Performance and Cultural Industries Philosophy, Religion and History of Science Physics and Astronomy Politics and International Studies Psychology SPEME Sociology and Social Policy Spanish, Portuguese and Latin American Studies Sport and Exercise Sciences Theatre Translation Transport Studies World Cinemas

This A-Z is not exhaustive and researchers are advised to explore other search options or get in touch if items do not appear here.

 

1710-1719 collection

Printed books

Miscellaneous books published in England in the second decade of the 18th century. Includes subjects on Great British history, kings and rulers, politics and government, church and state and foreign relations. Also religion, sermons, literature and poetry.

1890s collection (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

Literary works published in the final decade of the 19th century. The collection also contains a small number of more recent works surveying the literary and artistic movements and ideas of the closing years of the century. Subjects include English literature, fiction, short stories and verse.

A

Abercrombie, Lascelles

Archival

Literary and other manuscripts. [BC MS 20c Abercrombie (2)]

Arnold Family

Archival

Correspondence, diaries, notebooks and other papers relating to the Arnold family

B

Beardsley, Aubrey (Fay and Geoffrey Elliott Collection)

Archival

Part of the expansive collection of rare books and manuscripts donated by the Elliotts

Betjeman, John (Fay and Geoffrey Elliott Collection)

Archival

Part of the expansive collection of rare books and manuscripts donated by the Elliotts

Blake collection

Printed books

Books and periodicals relating to William Blake, the English Romantic poet, painter and engraver, including those collected by the poetical critic. The texts themselves date from between 1791 and 1995, and contain both editions of Blake's poetry and engravings, and critical works. Subjects include Henry Fuseli, painter, and Samuel Palmer, painter. In addition to this named collection concerned with William Blake, the Spcial Collections English Collection also contains many works by and about this author, and letters and papers of Ruthven Todd relating to his studies on William Blake.

Bridgen, John William

Archival

Literary archive of Humphrey Moore (1913-1968) and associated materials of 20th-century poetry, assembled by Bridgen

Briggs, Katherine, Mary, (1898-1980)

Archival

Letters and papers

Brontë (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

First and other early editions of works by the Brontë sisters, their father Patrick and their brother Branwell, together with critical and biographical studies of them, mostly dating from the 1930s and earlier. The rarest item is a copy of the Aylott and Jones first edition of the Brontë sisters' poems. The printed books accompany the collection of manuscripts and correspondence of the Brontës.

Brontë Family

Archival

Correspondence and literary manuscripts of, or relating to, members of the Brontë family

Brontëana, [BC MS 19c Brontë]

Archival

Letters, press cuttings and scrapbooks about and by the Brontës

Brotherton Collection Manuscript Verse (17th/ 18th Century)

Archival

The Leeds Verse Database (BCMSV) contains detailed information about individual items of English poetry contained in the 17th- and 18th-century manuscripts from the Brotherton Collection.

Byron, Lord

Archival

Correspondence and literary manuscripts

C

Cameron, Norman, (1905-1953)

Archival

Letters by or about Norman Cameron, with photocopies of drafts of four of his poems

Crossley-Holland, Kevin

Archival

Literary papers with some related correspondence and publications

D

Dobrée, Bonamy, (1891-1974), Professor of English Literature, 1935-1966

Archival

Correspondence and literary papers including a large number of letters from T S Eliot. Also, the Brotherton Collection contains a printed book collection.

Douglas, Keith (1920-1944)

Archival

Literary papers and correspondence of, with related material, including his paintings and drawings, and Douglas family photographs.

E

Encyclopaedias

Printed books

Multilingual collection, mainly spanning the years 1750-1950. It consists of some two dozen titles, all but a few of which represent many volumes. The largest is the mighty Encyclopédie méthodique (the enlarged version of Diderot's Encyclopedia), published 1782-1832, which consists of 200 volumes. Over 250 volumes of the collection belong to half a dozen Russian titles, which include two editions of the large Bolshaia sovetskaia entsiklopediia. German is represented by the Allgemeine deutsche Real-Encyclopädie fär die gebildeten Stande, 1843-45, Hungarian by the Révai nagy lexikona: az ismeretek enciklopédiája, 1911-35. The English-language encyclopaedias, of which there are some dozen, include a 1797 edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica. The books are also of interest for their many illustrations.

English

Printed books

The English Collection forms the largest subject section within Special Collections and contains many old and rare materials dating from the mid-17th century onwards. Its classification follows that of the English loan collection which it complements. Authors whose works are particularly strongly represented in the collection include Shakespeare; Ben Jonson; Milton; Pope; Swift; Samuel Johnson; the Romantic poets such as Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats and Shelley; Scott; Dickens; Thackeray; Yeats; Stevenson; Shaw; and Wodehouse. 20th century poetry is also a strength of the collection, from Eliot, Auden and Belloc through to the present day. The collection also features many works written in, or about, Yorkshire dialect; a section of American literature; and a wide range of literary journals containing both creative work and criticism.

G

Gaskell, Elizabeth Cleghorn, (1810-1865)

Archival

Literary manuscripts

General (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

Works chiefly dating from the middle of the 18th century to the present day, with each century represented by a large number of works. It supplements other, more specialised sections of the Brotherton Collection which focus on the period 1600-1750. History is well represented, as is literature. Other works in the collection cover aspects of early science, travel, poetry, drama, British politics and government. Authors include Lord Byron, Walter Scott, William Blake and Shakespeare.

Gosse family; Sir Edmund Gosse, writer and literary critic (1849-1928)

Archival

Gosse Collection of manuscripts and correspondence. [BC Gosse] A printed book collection can also be found within the Brotherton Collection

H

Howard de Walden (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

Comprises books acquired by Lord Brotherton from the library of Thomas Evelyn Scott-Ellis, 8th Baron Howard de Walden (1880-1946). All items in the collection were bound in Rivière bindings (early in the 20th century), imitating much earlier binding styles. The works themselves were published between 1471 (including four incunabula) and 1889, although most date from the 16th and 17th centuries, including subjects of art, travel, British history, geography and poetry.

K

Keown (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

Containing two main elements, the personal library of the writer and physician Dr Philip Gosse (1879-1959) and a supplementary collection of works by 20th-century English poets. The former, reflecting Dr Gosse's interests in literature, pirates, cricket and many other topics, was presented to the library in memory of his wife, the novelist Anna Gordon Keown. A financial endowment from Dr Gosse has allowed development of the supplementary collection. Manuscripts and correspondence of Dr Gosse and his wife are also held.

L

Language (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

English language in the period 1600-1750. As well as many language dictionaries, it also contains some examples of law and medical dictionaries, dating from the 18th century, and an early example of a geographical dictionary. This collection also contains individual works which deal with other aspects of language, such as a work on wit, early works on fables, and an early work on aphorisms and apophthegms.

Leeds Poetry 1950-1980

Archival

Relates to poets working at the University of Leeds between 1950 and 1980

Letters Database

Archival

An informal finding-list that details Special Collections' substantial holdings of manuscript correspondence, from across all the collections

Literature (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

The core English literary section of the Brotherton Collection (based on the bequest of Lord Brotherton's personal library in 1936), with its emphasis on English poetry and drama from 1600 to 1750. The holdings of major works (such as the four 17th-century folios of Shakespeare), of major authors like Dryden, Pope and Swift, and of work by more obscure figures are all good. Literary criticism of the period and translations from European languages into English are also important interests.

Literature, general

Printed books

The chief feature of this collection is a body of some 580 texts of concrete poetry; purchasing and collecting in this area is a special priority. While the poetry is mainly in English, other languages are also included, especially German. Of the whole collection, about one-fifth of the texts are in languages other than English (mainly German, French, Spanish, Portuguese and Italian). The subject-matter of the collection is literature and literary movements and theories which do not belong exclusively to one language or culture.

London Magazine Editions

Archival

Correspondence and manuscripts relating to the magazine editions.

M

Maude, Aymler, (1858-1938)

Archival

Letters to George Herbert Perris, Charles F Cazenove and others, on literary matters

Moore, Humphrey, (1913-1968)

Archival

Literary archive of Humphrey Moore

N

New Statesman

Archival

Correspondence and literary papers, 1914-1919 and 1960-1983

Newspapers

Printed books

Newspapers and magazines from the 18th century to the present day. This collection is particularly strong on newspapers from the Yorkshire region, including Leeds Intelligencer, Leeds Mercury, Halifax Courier, Halifax Guardian, Yorkshire Post and Evening Post and the Yorkshire Factory Times. National and foreign newspapers include Les Temps Nouveaux, The Daily News, Private Eye, Illustrated London News, L'Illustration, the Gazette de Lettres, Gil Blas, Picture Post, Parliamentary Spy, and The Sketch

Novello-Cowden Clarke (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

Principally from the library of Mary Cowden Clarke (1809-1898), daughter of the music publisher Joseph Novello. They reflect her scholarly interest in Shakespeare and her friendship with Dickens, Leigh Hunt and many other contemporary English literary authors. The associated manuscript collections have strong musical as well as literary interest.

P

Poetry, 20th century (Brotherton Collection)

Printed books

Minor poetry written around the time of the First World War. The great majority of the poems were published during the actual war years, though not all the poetry has a war theme. The earliest work is dated 1907, the latest 1935. The collection was compiled by Lord Brotherton and is no longer added to; it is complemented by other Special Collections poetry holdings.

Pybus, Rodney

Archival

Literary papers and correspondence.

R

Ransome, Arthur, (1884-1967)

Archival

Papers and correspondence of Ransome

Read, Herbert Collection (1893-1968)

Printed books

Personal library of Sir Herbert Read (1893-1968), reflecting his career as art critic, theorist, advocate and administrator, poet, novelist and publisher, and much else. The contents range from the rare and unique - such as a proof copy of Finnegans Wake, presentation copies of T S Eliot's works, scarce volumes by Marcel Duchamp - to relatively commonplace books annotated by Read himself. Read's own works are well represented and his collection of art exhibition catalogues is extensive. A large collection of Read's professional and personal papers is also held.

Read, Piers Paul, (1941-)

Archival

Literary papers and correspondence of Piers Paul Read

Review, The

Archival

Correspondence and articles and poems submitted to The Review

Rolfe, Frederick (Fay and Geoffrey Elliott Collection)

Archival

Part of the expansive collection of rare books and manuscripts donated by the Elliotts

Romance

Printed books

The books, published between 1774 and 1847, are primarily in French, and are examples of Romance literature. Subjects include troubadours, Provence and Provencal poetry

Ruskin, John (Fay and Geoffrey Elliott Collection)

Archival

Part of the expansive collection of rare books and manuscripts donated by the Elliotts

S

Science fiction

Printed books

Works of science fiction, published from 1899 onwards. The collection, which illustrates the history and development of the science fiction genre, is particularly notable for its science fiction magazines. Authors include Brian Aldiss, Isaac Asimov, James Blish, Ray Bradbury, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Arthur C Clarke, Robert Heinlein, Anne McCaffrey and Michael Moorcock.

Shorter, Clement

Archival

Correspondence

Swinburne, Algernon Charles

Archival

Literary manuscripts and transcriptions of A Swinburne

T

Times Literary Supplement

Archival

Poems submitted to the Times Literary Supplement

Todd, Ruthven

Archival and printed books

Letters and papers relating to his studies of William Blake

W

Waugh, Evelyn (Fay and Geoffrey Elliott Collection)

Archival

Part of the expansive collection of rare books and manuscripts donated by the Elliotts

Wilde, Oscar (Fay and Geoffrey Elliott Collection)

Archival

Part of the expansive collection of rare books and manuscripts donated by the Elliotts