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Early modern history (British & W European c. 1500-c. 1800): French sources

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Historical bibliography (France)

Major sources

Collection de documents inédits sur l'histoire de France. (1832-) [URR K.8.11]. Over 300 volumes containing chronicles, cartularies, correspondance, reports, instructions, and revolutionary, philological, philosophical, juridical, and archaeological documents. Includes e.g. Lettres de Catherine de Médicis / publiées par m. le Cte Hector de La Ferrière. 11 vols. (Paris, 1880-1943). Selectively digitised on Google Books.

Les sources de l'histoire de France: XVIe siècle (1494-1610); par Henri Hauser. 4 vols. (Paris: A. Picard, 1906-1915). [URR K.7.185]

Bibliothèque des écoles françaises d'Athènes et de Rome [Check SOLO]. Catalogued separately. Includes e.g. Malte, frontière de chrétienté, 1530-1670 / par Anne Brogini. (Rome, 2006).

Société de l'histoire de France (Series) [URR K.8.14]. Catalogued separately. Includes e.g. Mémoires, 1760-1820, de Jean-Balthazar de Bonardi du Ménil, gentilhomme normand / édités par Claude Hohl. (Paris: Champion, 2001)

Recueil des instructions données aux ambassadeurs et ministres de France depuis les traités de Westphalie jusqu'à la révolution française; publiés sous les auspices de la Commission des archives diplomatiques au Ministère des affaires étrangères. 30 vols. (Paris: F. Alcan, 1884-19--). [URRK.8.17]

Frantext. A corpus of French texts from the 16th to the 20th century. It includes over 3,500 works, eighty per cent of which are literary.

Huguenots Online. This collection offers a comprehensive survey of the original writings of the French Huguenot authors, from the first stirrings of radical dissent in the 1530s through to the end of the century. The selection privileges first and foremost original writings of authors writing within France and for an exclusively French audience. Thus whereas Calvin's Genevan writings are not included, the tracts penned by Theodore de Bèze as part of the polemic exchange during the Colloquy of Poissy (1561) do appear here.

All told the writings collected here reveal an intellectually vibrant movement, meeting unprecedented challenges and later hardship with that mixture of confidence, aggression, and resolution in the face of adversity that characterises Calvinist churches of this era throughout Europe.

Anti-Calvin Online This database comprises the writings of French Catholics against the doctrines of John Calvin (1509-1564) and other protestant leaders. France was a major centre in the clash between Catholics and Protestants during the sixteenth century. Much of the Protestant literature was in French in the hopes of converting the French people. In response, the Catholic Church preserved its position in France with these documents. This archive includes both sixteenth-century attacks on Calvinism and Protestantism as well as defences of the Catholic doctrine.

Mémoires du cardinal de Richelieu: pub. d'après les manuscrits originaux pour la Société de l'histoire de France; sous les auspices de l'Académie française. 10 vols. (Paris : Librairie Renouard, H. Laurens, successeur, 1909-1931) [URR K.8.14/262-269a,b] Earlier editions available in archive.org.

Lettres de Catherine de Médicis, publiées par m. le Cte Hector de La Ferrière. 11 vols. (Paris : Imprimerie nationale, 1880-1943)

French Revolution 1789-1799

Find find primary sources suggested SOLO subject searches include.

  • France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 [note: by finding relevant critical material you can see what primary sources were cited and follow those up.]
  • France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Bibliography [note: these will usually list a section of primary sources.]
  • France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Personal narratives
  • France -- History -- Revolution, 1789-1799 -- Sources

Major online source collections for this period, include the following:

The French Revolution Research Collection on microfilm. Content:

  • Common Core Sections
    1. Newspapers
    2. Memoirs and histories
    3. Basic printed collections
    4. Bibliographical and research tools
  • Thematic Sections
    5. Pre-Revolutionary debate
    6. Political themes
    6.1 Local government
    6.2 Extra-Parliamentary politics
    6.3 Political authors
    7. Resistance to the Revolution
    8. Religion
    9. The reorganization of society
    9.1. Abolition of the corporate society and feudalism
    9.2. The countryside
    9.3. Towns and townspeople
    9.4. Women and the family
    9.5. Public assistance
    10. The economy
    10.1. Policy, trade, and finance
    10.2. Agriculture
    10.3. Industry and technology
    11. War and the colonies
    11.1. The army and the navy
    11.2. The colonies