Published by Primary Source Microfilm

The Eighteenth Century Collection is one of the largest sources of rare materials ever collected in microform and captures the essence of the Enlightenment in Great Britain between 1701 and 1800.

In 1695, printing in England was severely restricted. The 18th century opened with the expiration of the strict controls over printing, as well as the birth of the Industrial Revolution. The combination of these two factors resulted in the proliferation of printing operations across the country -- and, in turn, created an explosion of literacy. For the first time, a large segment of the population was exposed to a vast array of printed material. Social and economic criticism flourished; theories on man and society were set forth and debated. It was in the 18th century that western civilization made the transition to what we now think of as the modern world.

The collection is an ongoing project based on The Eighteenth Century Short Title Catalogue (ESTC), a machine-readable union list of the holdings of the British Library, as well as those from more than 1,500 university, private and public libraries worldwide.

A variety of materials are included -- from books and broadsides, Bibles, tract books and sermons to printed ephemera -- with works by many well-known and lesser-known authors, all providing a diverse collection of material for the researcher.

Also appearing in this collection are all the works of 28 major 18th century authors including Henry Fielding, Edmund Burke, Alexander Pope, Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin and Jonathan Swift.

Ongoing collection:
Currently 501 units, 35 reels per unit

The Eighteenth Century may also be purchased in microfilm in eight major Eighteenth Century Collection Subject Subsets and in 26 smaller Eighteenth Century Collection Special Subsets. Please also see Eighteenth Century Collections Online.

Machine-Readable Cataloging: MARC cataloging records for this on-going collection are available for purchase through Primary Source Microfilm.