Scope:

This collection of early English newspapers on microfilm consists of the amalgamation of two notable British newspaper collections: the Burney Collection of the British Library, London, and the Nichols Collection of the Bodleian Library of Oxford University. Dr. Charles Burney, 1757-1817, classics critic and scholar, devoted the later years of his life to the accumulation of a large library, which included 700 volumes of newspapers. After his death, the library was purchased for the British Museum Library (now the British Library). The newspaper collection, augmented by later acquisitions, now contains over 1,100 volumes. It includes some 500 titles from the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, as well as such predecessors of the modern newspaper from the seventeenth century as corantos, diurnals, and newsbooks. John Nichols (1745-1826) was a prominent printer, author, and editor. His collection was purchased by the Bodleian in 1865. Some of the issues and titles not available in these combined collections have been located and filmed at Yale University and other institutions.

Arrangement:

The newspapers, originally interfiled by date, have been rearranged and filmed by title. The reels of film are shelved alphabetically by title where possible. Many reels contain more than one title, however, and in such cases the publisher's guide must be consulted to determine the reel on which a given title is located.

BIBLIOGRAPHIES and GUIDES: