Collections and Catalogues

The Vere Harmsworth Library houses the University's principal research collection relating to the history of the United States. The library has an excellent collection of printed materials, including monographs, journals and editions of documents. Its award-winning building also houses several important research collections, particularly relating to the American colonial period, but also including the Congressional Record, the 19th century volumes of the United States Serial Set, and a substantial collection of other government documents. The collections of printed material are impressive by both European and American standards.

Thanks to various major grants and donations, the Library has been able to purchase a wide range of microfilm and online primary source collections. Microfilm acquisitions during the last few years include: the papers of Salmon Chase, Robert Owen, William Seward, and Thaddeus Stevens, the American Home Missionary Society Papers, the American Colonization Society Papers, the Freedman’s Aid Society Papers, the Congress of Racial Equality Papers, Civil Rights during the Nixon Administration, Vietnam and the media collection from the Lyndon Johnson library, and the Senate Historical Office oral history. Online collections recently acquired include the archives of five major historical newspapers, the United States Congressional Serial Set, Colonial State Papers and the papers of several major figures of the Early Republic.

Library material is arranged according to the Library of Congress classification scheme and most books and journals are available on open shelf. Pre-1920 material and theses are located in the stack and need to be requested using the hold (stack request) facility on SOLO (please see the services page for more information on stack requests at the Vere Harmsworth Library). The location of books and journals can be found by searching SOLO.

To recommend books for purchase, please email the library or use the Bodleian Libraries' book recommendations form. A list of new books received in the library is published each month on the recent acquisitions page and also uploaded to LibraryThing (with RSS feed available).

Online collection guides