Research Guides: Canadian Studies: Primary Sources

Early printed works

Early printed works can be found in the following databases:

Canadiana Online This link opens in a new window
- Full text of Canadian historical documents.
- Includes three major collections: Early Canadian Monographs, Government Publications, and Serials.
- An excellent resource for Ontario and Niagara historical documents, including primary sources.
- Terms of Use from Publisher Site
Heritage This link opens in a new window
- Primary-source documents covering Canadian history from the 1600s to the mid-1900s.
- Terms of Use from Publisher Site
Early English Books Online (EEBO) This link opens in a new window
- Digitizations of every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, British North America and other English language works, from 1473-1700
- Subjects include English literature, history, philosophy, linguistics, theology, music, fine arts, education, mathematics, and science
- Permitted Uses
Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO), Part I and Part II This link opens in a new window
- Historical works on every English-language and foreign-language title published in the UK between 1701 to 1800 with thousands of works from the Americas
- Disciplines include, Law; Religion and Philosophy; Literature and Language; Medicine; Science and Technology; Social Science and Fine Arts; Reference; and History and Geography
- Permitted Uses
Eighteenth Century Journals I & II This link opens in a new window
- Rare journals printed between 1693 and 1799.
- All aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life.
- Permitted Uses

Google Books

Hathi Trust Digital Library This link opens in a new window
- Repository for archiving and sharing digitized collections, ranging from 19th century periodicals to historical bicycling to war to hard-to-find government documents and congressional materials.
- To access titles freely available online in full-text, select the Advanced Catalog Search and limit search to full view only.
- Terms of Use from Publisher Site

General databases

Empire Online This link opens in a new window
- Find exploration journals and logs,letter books and correspondence, periodicals, diaries, Government papers, missionary papers, rravel writing, slave papers, memoirs, fiction, children's adventure stories, traditional folk tales, exhibition catalogues and guides, maps, marketing posters, photographs, and illustrations.
- Divided into 5 sections: 1. Cultural Contact, 1492-1969, 2. Literature and Empire, 3. The Visible Empire, 4. Religion and Empire, 5. Race, Class, Imperialism and Colonialism, c1607-2007
- Permitted Uses
U.K. Parliamentary Papers This link opens in a new window
- House of Commons sessional papers from 1715 to present and supplementary material from 1688
- Permitted Uses for 18th Century collection
- Permitted Uses for 19th-21st Century collection
Early Encounters in North America This link opens in a new window
- Find letters, diaries, memoirs and accounts of early encounters in North America 1534 to 1860.
- Permitted Uses
North American Immigrant Letters, Diaries and Oral Histories This link opens in a new window
Full text documents from immigrants to American and Canada
North American Indian Thought and Culture This link opens in a new window
Biographies, speeches, diaries, letters, oral histories
North American Women's Letters and Diaries This link opens in a new window
Letters and diaries of American women. Some Canadian women included
North American Women's Drama This link opens in a new window
Includes plays, information on related productions, theaters, production companies and more. Also contains playbills and photos

Primary sources in books

Many primary sources have been gathered and published in books.

To find these, search for your topic and one or more of the following search terms:

personal narratives
sources
diaries
letters
correspondence
interviews

EXAMPLE:

Be sure to limit your search results to "books."

View the results of this search, or try for yourself.