The Library has access to a wide range of historic newspapers, most of which have been digitised and made available online. Our strength is in British and Irish newspapers, but we do have some historic international collections as well (please choose the International News Sources button to view these).
Our collections date from the earliest date of news books and pamphlets of the 17th century right up to the present day. We have access to the individual archives of all the national broadsheet newspapers back to their first issue, as well as collections of regional newspapers, particularly from the 19th century. Access to these individual newspaper archives can be found below.
If you want to search across a range of newspapers, we suggest you start with Gale Primary Sources, as this gives access to nearly all our British newspaper archives, except for The Guardian and The Observer.
A large collection of seventeenth and eighteenth century English news media including pamphlets, proclamations, newsbooks and newspapers. The collection charts the development of the newspaper, and relates political, educational and economic situations from select cities in England, Ireland, Scotland and some British Colonies in the Americas and Asia.
For further guidance visit the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Century Burney Newspapers Collection Learning Centre.
An archive of fully-searchable periodicals, that provide coverage on many aspects of life in the nineteenth century, including literature, culture, feminism, politics, empire, sport and leisure, science and medicine. The archive is split into two broad themes, Part I: Women's, Children's, Humour, and Leisure, covers the advent of commercial lifestyle publishing in Britain, while part II: Empire, looks at the role Britain played as an imperial power throughout the century. The collection is comprised of material published primarily in England, but also includes titles from Australia, Canada, India, South Africa, and more.
A significant digital collection of British historic newspapers, covering regional and national titles, mainly from 18th and 19th centuries. (We have access to parts I-III and part V.)
A collection of searchable, full text copies of British periodicals from the late seventeenth to the early twentieth century. Topics covered include literature, philosophy, history, science, the social sciences, music, art, drama, archaeology and architecture. Useful for exploring a range of themes, such as popular culture, historic events, literary criticism and reviews, political satire, advertisements, and more.
This collection charts the rise and fall of fascism in Britain during the 1930s and 1940s, with a particular focus on Oswald Mosley’s blackshirt movement. The bulk of the documents are official BUF publications, including Fascist Week¸ The Blackshirt, The East London Pioneer, and Action. In addition, there are hundreds of Government documents relating to Mosley’s internment during the Second World War, including Cabinet Office, Home Office and Prime Ministerial papers.
Search across multiple historic national, regional and local newspaper and periodical archives. The collection includes historical archives from The Times, The Economist, The Financial Times, the Independent, The Daily Mail and The Telegraph as well as British Library Newspapers (1746-1950).
Digitised archive of Irish regional and national newspaper titles from the 17th century to date.
An archive of historical Irish newspapers covering a broad sweep of nationalist, republican, feminist and socialist publications dating from the 1890s to 1930s. Particularly useful for those researching the revolutionary period and the contested political landscape that emerged in its aftermath.
Fully digitised archives of 26 LGBT publications, mainly from the UK and USA. Coverage dates from 1954 to 2015 (depending on the specific publication).
The largest database of online music journalism, featuring articles on thousands of artists and audio interviews with artists of all genres. All articles are full-text, primary-source and fully searchable by artist, date, genre, publication and keyword.
A searchable archive of leading women's interest magazines, dating from the 19th century through to the 21st. Subject coverage includes consumer culture, economics/marketing, family life, fashion, gender studies, health and fitness, home/interior design, popular culture, and social history.
The Daily Mail archive features searchable, digitised copies of this major UK national newspaper, published between 1896 and 2016. The newspapers contain advertisements, news stories, and images that capture twentieth-century culture and society. Also included is the Daily Mail Atlantic edition, which was published on board cruise ships that sailed between New York and Southampton from 1923 to 1931.
One of the best-known and most-respected newspapers in the world. Every article, advertisement and market listing is included, making it a highly valuable to anyone studying the economic and business history and current affairs of the last 120 years.
Historical archive of The Guardian (1821-2003) and The Observer (1791-2003) newspapers, digitised from the original, and covering all content, including images.
Archive covering the full run of The Independent newspaper from its first issue in 1986 until the end of 2012, including all instalments of The Independent on Sunday. The paper is generally regarded as centrist, presenting alternative perspectives on the news of the day.
Full colour archive of the weekly magazine produced by the BBC, which featured radio, and later television, broadcast transcripts and commentaries. The Listener is one of the few records of the content of many early broadcasts, it also previewed major literary and musical programmes and regularly reviewed new books.
The complete run of the Picture Post from its first issue in 1938 to its last in 1957—all digitized from originals in full colour. The Picture Post's innovative use of photojournalism provides a fascinating snapshot of British life from the 1930s to the 1950s, producing some of the most powerful and iconic images of the era as well as thousands of photos of ordinary people doing ordinary things. An essential resource for studying international, social and political issues of the day, and how they were brought into popular consciousness.
A digitized archive of all volumes of Punch from 1841 to 1992, including Almanacks and other special numbers (issues), as well as prefaces, epilogues, indexes, and other specially produced material from the bound volumes. In its day Punch was the world's most celebrated magazine of wit and satire; it played a central role in the formation of British identity—and how the rest of the world saw the British nation. Excellent resource for studying 19th and 20th history and society.
Digitised archive of this famous newspaper, which is editorially independent from The Times, featuring decades of news, comment and arts coverage, plus in-depth reports from its famous Insight Team.
Digitised archive of this important broadsheet newspaper, including the Sunday Telegraph from its inception in 1961. Offers a fundamental insight into domestic and international affairs and culture over a timespan of almost 150 years.
Archive containing full-text facsimile images of The Times, covering the period of 1785-2019. The entire newspaper is captured, including articles, advertisements and illustrations/photographs.
Full online historic archive of this celebrated weekly publication, with article topics ranging from literature and criticism to history, science, politics, and art.
Read our blog post for more information about this archive.
A complete searchable archive of American Vogue, from the first issue in 1892 to the current month, reproduced in high-resolution colour images. Every page, advertisement, cover and fold-out has been included, enabling you to find images by garment type, designer and brand names.