Research Guides: Art History: Primary Sources & Archives

Art History Primary Sources

Primary sources are the raw materials of history — original documents and objects (including works of art) which were created at the time under study.
Primary sources are characterized by their content, not how they are accessed. They may be available in the original format, in microfilm, as digitized material, or in a published format.
They are different from secondary sources — accounts or interpretations of events created by someone without firsthand experience.

Archives of American Art
A digitized collection of papers of artists and other archival material from the Archives of American Art including letters, postcards, sketches, exhibition records, diaries, and other unique documents. The collection also includes transcripts of interviews with artists, collectors, gallery directors, and art historians.

Archive of Americana
Combined interface for searching Early American Imprints I & II (1639-1819), American State Papers (1789-1838), and the U.S. Congressional Serial Set (1817-1980).
British Periodicals I-III
Searchable facsimile images for journals dating from the 17th to the 20th century. This resource contains Collections I-III covering historical, artistic, and popular periodicals.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online
Page by page digital images of every historically significant text published in 18th-century Great Britain and Colonial America, from books by well-known and lesser-known authors, to directories, Bibles, sheet music, sermons, and advertisements.
Nineteenth Century Collections Online
Digital archive of primary source collections from the "long" 19th century. Includes monographs, newspapers, manuscripts, diaries, letters, maps, statistics and more. Offers annotation and tagging tools.

More Primary Resources Links from the History Research Guide
Collections that cover a range of historical periods and subjects.