The following sources provide overviews of ideas, people, and branches of study in the history of early modern Europe.  They are a quick way to find out the basic facts and current points of debate.

When using an article in an encyclopedia or handbook, always check the bibliography for further reading at the end of the article. It will provide a selective list of the books, articles, and, frequently, Web resources considered to be the most up-to-date and reliable.

Online subject encyclopedia for early modern Europe with an emphasis on cultural history.  The bibliographies at the ends of articles are good places to find more information.

Essay-length sections address European social issues across time and geographic areas.  Very useful for contextualizing your topic.

Use the Tripod catalog to look for relevant books owned by Haverford, Bryn Mawr and Swarthmore.

The following subject searches are a sampling of possibilities. To find materials on a topic, try doing a keyword search in the Tripod Catalog to find relevant materials and then using the subject headings assigned to those titles to find more material.

          crime england early works to 1800 [Subject Search]

          cosmetics [Subject Search]

          oriental despot* [keyword search]

Tripod - For locating books, journals, and other materials held in the Tri-College libraries. Deliveries within the Trico usually arrive in one or two days. Use the "Request" button. You can mark and then email or print records for multiple items.

WorldCat - An important place to look for many materials not owned by the Tri-College Libraries. This combined library catalog contains more than 62 million records describing items owned by libraries around the world. Many of these items are available to you though interlibrary loan.

Interlibrary Loan and E-ZBorrow - Request items that are not available in Tripod on this page. Note that PALCI E-Z Borrow provides books in 3 to 5 days.  For books not in E-Z Borrow, request though Interlibrary Loan (ILL).  Again materials may arrive in as little as 3 days.   For journal articles not in Tripod, request through Article Delivery.  Most are delivered to you electronically.

Journal articles and other periodical publications provide scholarly information on specific aspects of European history.  Since articles are generally published on a shorter schedule than books, they can be more-up-to-date.  The following indexes are the best ways for you to identify journal articles related to your research.

Online Source Collections in Tripod

There are some online collections available for early modern printed texts.  Haverford has access to both Early English Books Online (EEBO) and Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO):

Important source collections available open access on the Web:

Sources in Printed Form

Those that have been edited, reprinted in facsimiles, or transferred to microfilm can be borrowed through E Z Borrow or interlibrary loan if they are not in Tripod.  Many of them will be listed in WorldCat under subject terms and the word "sources."  For example, the search child* england history sources   produces results including:

     Mother's Advice Books.  Ashgate, 2002.
        Contents: A ladies legacie to her davghters / Madam Elizabeth Richardson - The legacy of a dying mother to her mourning children / Mrs. Susanna Bell - The mother's blessing - Dear children, harken diligently ... / Mary Pennyman, Appendix from John Pennyman's instructions to his children - Containing some few of the directions she wrote for her children's instruction ..., Appendix from Anthony Walker's The holy life of Mrs. Elizabeth Walker.


Books printed in the 17th or 18th century are kept in libraries' rare book collections.  You can go to Bryn Mawr, the University of Pennsylvania, and other local libraries to see these books.


For visual evidence, popular prints are a good source:

Sharpe, J. A.  Crime and the law in English satirical prints, 1600-1832.
 

Selected Titles at Bryn Mawr's Rare Book Library

Librarians Eric Pomroy and Marianne Hansen have put together a short list of titles at Bryn Mawr concerning 17th and 18th century Europe:
         Books on London
         Books Relating to 18th Century France 2006
        

They welcome researchers from Haverford.  E-mail or phone them to tell them your research needs before going over to Special Collections.