Research Guides: AM (Adam Matthew) Primary Source Collections: Overview

Update: Access to Adam Matthew collections

Effective January 1, 2025, Atkins Library no longer maintains a subscription to Adam Matthew (AM) collections. However, we continue to provide perpetual access to more than 50 AM collections. You can see a list of the collections we own and will continue to offer access to in perpetuity below.

AM collections accessible through Atkins Library

1980s Culture and Society (Adam Matthew)
This collection draws on material from the late 1970s through to the early 1990s, focusing on the voices of under-represented groups, grassroots organizations, and countercultural movements to showcase the key social, cultural, and political concerns of the decade.
African American Communities (Adam Matthew)
Focusing predominantly on Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, New York, and towns and cities in North Carolina this resource presents multiple aspects of the African American community through pamphlets, newspapers and periodicals, correspondence, official records, reports and in-depth oral histories.
American History, 1493-1945 (Adam Matthew)
Documents American History from the earliest settlers to the mid-twentieth century. Sourced from the Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.
American West (Adam Matthew)
Collection of digitized primary sources depicting the history of westward expansion in the United States from the early 18th to the mid-20th centuries
Apartheid South Africa, 1948-1980 (Adam Matthew)
Letters, diplomatic dispatches, reports, trial papers, activists’ biographies and first-hand accounts of events from British government files offer access to the history of South Africa’s apartheid regime.
Children's Literature and Culture (Adam Matthew)
This collection brings together rare books, games, and artwork from the nineteenth to early twentieth centuries revealing the socio-cultural views and environment of the time. It examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination and introducing them to lessons in morality, nationality, and their place in society.
China, America and the Pacific (Adam Matthew)
Explore primary sources connected to the trading and cultural relationships that emerged between China, America and the Pacific region between the 18th and early 20th centuries
China: Culture and Society (Adam Matthew)
Spanning three centuries (c1750-1929), these rare pamphlets represent an extensive collection of literature on China and the Chinese in the Western world.
China: Trade, Politics and Culture (Adam Matthew)
English-language primary sources relating to China and the West, 1793-1980
Church Missionary Society Periodicals (Adam Matthew)
Documenting missionary work from the nineteenth to the twenty-first century, this resource includes publications from the CMS, the Church of England Zenana Missionary Society and the latterly integrated South American Missionary Society.
Colonial America (Modules I and II) (Adam Matthew)
Covering the period 1606 to the 1770s, the collection covers the early history of the colonies, records of piracy and seaborne rivalry with the French and Spanish, military material from the French and Indian War of 1756-63, and the social and political protest that led to the Declaration of Independence. It is also particularly rich in material relating to military affairs and American Indians.
Confidential Print: Africa (Adam Matthew)
Collection consists of the Confidential Print for Africa. Topics covered include coastal trading in the early nineteenth century, the Conference of Berlin of 1884 and the subsequent Scramble for Africa, the abuses of the Congo Free State, World War II, and apartheid in South Africa. Topics range from c. 1834-1966.
Confidential Print: Latin America (Adam Matthew)
Collection consists of the Confidential Print for Central and South America and the French- and Spanish-speaking Caribbean. Topics covered include slavery and the slave trade, immigration, relations with indigenous peoples, and wars and territorial disputes. Topics range from c. 1833-1969.
Confidential Print: Middle East (Adam Matthew)
Collection consists of the Confidential Print for the countries of the Levant and the Arabian peninsula, Iran, Turkey, Egypt and Sudan. Topics include the Egyptian reforms of Muhammad Ali Pasha in the 1830s, the documents trace the events of the following 150 years, including the Middle East Conference of 1921, the mandates for Palestine and Mesopotamia and the 1956 Suez Crisis. Topics range from c. 1839-1969.
Confidential Print: North America (Adam Matthew)
Collection consists of the Confidential Print for the United States, Canada and the English-speaking Caribbean, with some coverage of Central and South America. Covers such topics as slavery, Prohibition, the First and Second World Wars, racial segregation, and territorial disputes, sources range from c. 1824-1961.
Defining Gender (Adam Matthew)
Provides access to a vast body of original British source material that will enrich the teaching and research experience of those studying history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective.
Eighteenth Century Drama (Adam Matthew)
A unique archive of almost every play submitted for licence between 1737 and 1824, includes hundreds of documents that provide social context for the plays.
Eighteenth Century Journals Portal (Adam Matthew)
Bringing together rare journals printed between c. 1685 and 1835, this resource illuminates all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life. Topics covered are wide-ranging and include colonial life, provincial and rural affairs and the French and American revolutions.
Empire Online (Adam Matthew)
This resource brings together manuscript, printed and visual primary source materials for the study of 'Empire' and its theories, practices and consequences. The materials span across the last five centuries and are accompanied by a host of secondary learning resources.
Everyday Life and Women in America (Adam Matthew)
Showcases unique primary source material for the study of American social, cultural, and popular history in the 19th and early 20th centuries, c. 1800-1920.
First World War Portal (Adam Matthew)
From personal collections and rare printed material to military files, artwork and audio-visual files, content highlights the experiences of soldiers, civilians and governments on both sides of a conflict that shook the world.
Foreign Office Files for China (Adam Matthew)
Explores files pertaining to China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan from 1919-1980. Topics include the Long March, the Japanese War, the Great Leap Forward, and the Cultural Revolution.
Foreign Office Files for India, Pakistan and Afghanistan (Adam Matthew)
Focuses on the political and social history of India, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Events covered include independence and partition, the Indian annexation of Hyderabad and Goa, and war between India and Pakistan. Topics covered c. 1947-1980.
Foreign Office Files for the Middle East, Module 1 (1971-1974): The Arab-Israeli War and the Oil Crisis (Adam Matthew)
Addresses the policies, economies, political relationships and significant events of every major Middle East power from 1971-1974. Conflicts such as the Arab-Israeli War, the Lebanese Civil War and the Iranian Revolution are examined in detail, as are the military interventions and peace negotiations carried out by regional and foreign powers.
Frontier Life (Adam Matthew)
Discover the various European and colonial frontier regions of North America, Africa and Australasia through documents that reveal the lives of settlers and indigenous peoples in these areas c. 1650-1920.
Global Commodities (Adam Matthew)
This resource explores the history and background of key commodities that have been a part of the world's trading operations for hundreds of years. Through manuscripts, printed and visual primary source materials, and data visualizations, you will find valuable knowledge on how these key commodities have influenced our lives, trading operations, and social practices.
The Grand Tour (Adam Matthew)
A rite-of-passage for many aristocratic and wealthy young men of the eighteenth century, The Grand Tour (an extended visit to the European continent) shaped the creative and intellectual sensibilities of some of the eighteenth century’s greatest artists, writers and thinkers. These accounts of the English abroad, c1550-1850, highlight the influence of continental travel on British art, architecture, urban planning, literature and philosophy.
India, Raj and Empire (Adam Matthew)
Explore the history of South Asia between the foundation of the East India Company in 1615 and the granting of independence to India and Pakistan in 1947.
Indigenous Histories and Cultures of North America (Adam Matthew)
Presents unique insight into interactions between American Indians and Europeans from their earliest contact, continuing through the turbulence of the American Civil War, the on-going repercussions of government legislation, right up to the civil rights movement of the mid- to late-twentieth century
Indigenous Newspapers in North America, 1828-2016 (Adam Matthew)
A collection of national periodicals as well as local community news and student publications from Indigenous peoples of the US and Canada
Jewish Life in America (Adam Matthew)
Explores the history of Jewish life and communities in America through family papers, interactive maps, and scholarly papers from c. 1654-1954.
Leisure, Travel and Mass Culture: The History of Tourism (Adam Matthew)
Explores the history and growth of tourism through guidebooks, brochures, photos, and personal travel journals for the average traveler from c. 1850- the 1980s.
Literary Manuscripts Berg (Adam Matthew)
Contains unpublished poems, working notebooks, and early annotated editions from the Victorian period's most famous authors. Also showcases the business of Victorian publishing through documenting the relationship between writers and their publishers through correspondence and financial and legal documents.
Literary Manuscripts Leeds (Adam Matthew)
Offers scans of 190 manuscripts from the 17th and 18th century. Collection includes poetry, household accounts, medicinal recipes, and draft letters through printed and handwritten works.
London Low Life (Adam Matthew)
Contains color digital images of rare books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to street culture and social reform in 18th,19th and early 20th century London.
Macmillan Cabinet Papers (Adam Matthew)
Provides complete coverage of the Cabinet minutes and memoranda of Prime Minister Harold Macmillan's government c. 1957-1963.
Market Research & American Business, 1935-1965 (Adam Matthew)
Provides insight into the American consumer boom of the mid 20th century through complete market research reports of Ernest Dichter c. 1935-1965.
Mass Observation Online (Adam Matthew)
Explore the social history of the modern era through original manuscript and typescript papers created and collected by the Mass Observation organization.
Medieval Family Life (Adam Matthew)
Contains full color images of the original letter collections from five 15th century English families. Collection gives insight into medieval business, daily, and domestic life. Original images and transcripts can be viewed side by side.
Medieval Travel Writing (Adam Matthew)
Explores travel writing from the later medieval period chiefly focusing on journeys through central Asia and the Far East. Maps, individual manuscript illuminations, and and some modern translations of key travel texts also included.
Meiji Japan (Adam Matthew)
Explores the papers, diaries, letters, and sketches of Edward Sylvester Morse, an American, who explored and studied the culture and society of Japan in the Meiji Era.
Migration to New Worlds - The Century of Immigration, 1800-1924 (Adam Matthew)
This collection focuses on the period 1800 to 1924 and covers all aspects of the migration experience, from motives and departures to arrival and permanent settlement. and includes personal accounts, shipping logs, organizational papers and printed literature.
The Nixon Years (Adam Matthew)
Explores the Anglo-American relations and politics during the Nixon administration, using discussions and briefing papers from Britain's Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO). Material also covers social conditions, domestic reforms, trade, culture and the environment of the time c. 1969-1974.
Perdita Manuscripts (Adam Matthew)
Explores women authors who were "lost" due to their writing only existing in an unpublished manuscript form. The manuscripts in this database were all written by women in the British Isles during the 16th and 17th centuries.
Popular Culture in Britain and America (Adam Matthew)
Explores the dynamic period of social, political and cultural change between 1950 and 1975. Resources include photographs, memorabilia, rare printed materials and manuscripts.
Popular Medicine (Adam Matthew)
Showcases the development of 'popular' medicine in America aimed at the general public rather than medical professionals through advertising, pamphlets, and trade cards c. 1800-1900.
Romanticism (Adam Matthew)
Uncovers some of the best known literature and fine art of the Romantic era. All documents are digitized in color and include verse and printed manuscripts, diaries, travel journals, guidebooks, fine art, and maps.
Shakespeare in Performance (Adam Matthew)
Showcases rare and unique prompt books that tell the story of Shakespeare's plays as they were performed throughout Great Britain, the United States, and internationally between the seventeenth and twentieth centuries.
Slavery, Abolition and Social Justice (Adam Matthew)
Incorporates primary and secondary sources to explore and compare unique material relating to the complex subjects of slavery, abolition and social justice c. 1490-2007. Sources include court records, maps, scholarly essays, and abolition society records.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History (Adam Matthew)
Explores travel accounts by women using diaries, correspondence, drawings, guidebooks, and postcards. Sources cover a variety of topics including customs, exploration, the British Empire, family life, diplomacy and more. Primary sources range from 1818- the 1970s.
Victorian Popular Culture (Adam Matthew)
Explores Victorian social history through the growth of entertainment and leisure activities ranging from freak shows and seances to music halls and the first moving pictures.
Virginia Company Archives (Adam Matthew)
Explores the Ferrar Papers, an essential source for studying the Atlantic World and Early Colonial Period as seen through the papers of the Virginia Company of London, 1606-1624. Also covers the economic history of colonial establishment and the religious and social history of early colonists.
Women in The National Archives, Kew (Adam Matthew)
Includes a finding aid to women's studies resources in The National Archives (UK) and original documents pertaining to women's suffrage in Britain, the British Empire, and other colonial territories c. 1903-1962.
Worlds Fairs (Adam Matthew)
Explores the phenomenon of world's fairs from the Crystal Palace in 1851 to 21st century expos. Uses official records, artwork and artifacts to cover the spectacle and invention of global expositions.

Incorporating AM collections into courses

This resource presents exciting new opportunities to engage students in primary source research. To brainstorm ways to incorporate Adam Matthew collections into your curriculum, assignments, or teaching, please reach out to your subject librarian. Librarians can also provide remote instruction to students on how to navigate this resource within a class session or individual research consultation.

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