17th & 18th Century Burney Collection
This collection includes pamphlets, proclamations and newspapers from the period, covering more than 200 years of accounts from England, Ireland, Scotland and a handful of papers from British colonies. You can read contemporary accounts of:
- George Washington’s election as the first president of the United States;
- The English reaction to the French Revolution;
- Accounts of the voyages to New Zealand and the Boyd massacre;
- The Irish push for home rule.
Burney Collection
17th and 18th Century Burney Newspapers Collection
Before this collection was digitised the British Library’s collection of the newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817) were only available in microfilm. Now this information is available to students, historians, genealogists and all those with a streak of curiosity about our past. Special attention has been paid to include newspapers that lead particular political or social movements such as Reform, Chartism, and Home Rule. The penny papers aimed at the working and clerical classes are also present in the collection.
About Charles Burney
Charles Burney (1757-1817) was the son of the music historian Dr Charles Burney and the brother of the writer Frances (Fanny) Burney. He became a schoolmaster and was a noted classical scholar. His collection of rare books and manuscripts was bought by the nation for the British Museum in 1817. He also had a brother, James, who sailed with James Cook on two voyages including the final voyage where he witnessed the death of Captain Cook.
You can search this resource through Gale Primary Sources which allows you to simultaneously search many other historical newspapers at the same time including the 17th and 18th Century Nichols Newspapers Collection.
