• A rich digital resource of 19th century politics, philosophy and life as seen through the eyes of contemporary journalists
  • Free, easily accessible and fully searchable digital version for users based anywhere in the world
  • Titles range from an early feminist paper to a radical social reformist broadsheet and satirical illustrated weekly
  • Launch event at the British Library on 13 May

Free engravings to give away to every reader, satirical stories about the Royal Family and advice on whether it is correct for a recently widowed husband to marry his sister-in-law: these aren’t press features from today’s newsstands but from papers 150 years ago. All of this material becomes freely accessible as the British Library, Birkbeck College, King’s College London and Olive Software launch a complete digital edition of six 19th Century newspapers and periodicals on 13 May. Selected for their rich variety and originality, the titles offer a fascinating glimpse into 19th century life, and will resonate with students, researchers and the general public interested in subjects ranging from history, theology and politics through to art and feminism.

The Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (ncse), funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, is a unique digital resource, which gives the user an informative, accessible and authentic experience of 19th century newspapers. The collection illustrates the phenomenal growth and transformation of the press in the 19th century and brings to life a society and century in flux.

The titles included in the ncse are:

  • Tomahawk: a satirical illustrated contemporary of Punch with elaborate, full-page cartoons
  • English Woman’s Journal: an early women’s magazine published and set by women
  • Northern Star: a social reformist newspaper, which gave away portraits of notable Chartists and at its height had nine editions on a single day
  • Publishers’ Circular: a trade magazine from the publishing industry with lavish illustrations
  • Leader: a mid-century political weekly, which began by printing Town and Country editions
  • Monthly Repository: a long-lived theological and philosophical monthly.

Patrick Fleming, Head of the British Library Reader & Reference Services, said: “This will be a fantastic resource for social science, history, arts and humanities Higher Education students and researchers, but also family historians and the general public. Newspapers are the first draft of history and much of this material isn’t only invaluable in research terms but provides also unique means of getting as close to contemporary life and culture as you possibly can.”

Distinguishing it from other similar digital resources, the ncse has unique features to closely reflect the print culture of the 19th century, which was characterised by serials and interconnected publications. Digital content is organised in issues and volumes, the structure of which can be easily seen. Multiple editions of the newspapers, supplements and giveaways such as free engravings have also been made available. What’s more, both individual issues and the edition as a whole are fully searchable, and to enhance the reading experience users can turn the pages and browse the edition.

The ncse project is collaborative, multi-disciplinary and international. In order to publish as complete issues as possible, the runs have been compiled from a range of institutions including the British Library, the National Portrait Gallery, The National Archives, the Bodleian Library, the Women’s Library and private collections.

The British Library aims to open up its collections to users across the world through digitisation projects such as the ncse project. Other recent important milestones in delivering the Library’s overall digitisation strategy have been the two JISC-funded projects which have made two million pages of 19th century UK newspapers and 4,000 hours of sound archive recordings freely available to UK HE and FE institutions and within the British Library reading rooms. The Library is also working together with Microsoft to mass-digitise 25 million pages of out-of-copyright 19th century novels, translating to approximately 100,000 books. Digitising the collections will provide an efficient and accessible service, and will effectively protect the originals from wear and tear.

The ncse launch will be held at the British Library on 13 May 2008 10am – 7pm. The event will feature a number of distinguished speakers, a lively roundtable discussion and a keynote address from the editor of the Guardian, Alan Rusbridger. For more details about the project and the launch event please go to http://www.ncse.kcl.ac.uk.

To register for the ncse launch event and for more information please email Jim Mussell j.mussell@bbk.ac.uk or Laurel Brake l.brake@bbk.ac.uk.

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