LibGuides: English: Primary Texts

Finding Primary Texts

Anyone researching a writer or a literary topic generally consults primary literary texts (original piece of writting). There are various options for obtaining such texts.

Finding Books in the Library:
- One strategy is to search the Library Catalog. There's a good chance that the Sojourner Truth Library has a physical copy of the text you require.
Full Text Books Online:
- Numerous full text literary works are freely available on the web. Particularly valuable is Google Book Search which points to hundreds of thousands of public domain books that may be downloaded as PDF copies. HathiTrust is another good place to look for books online. The Internet Archive also has books, as well as just about every thing else.

Sojourner Truth Library Catalog
Search for books and media resources available at the Sojourner Truth Library.
Google Books
Search a vast collection of books online. If the book is out of copyright, or the publisher has given permission, you'll be able to see a preview of the book, and in some cases the entire text. If it's in the public domain, you're free to download a PDF copy.
Hathi Trust
HathiTrust Digital Library is a digital preservation repository and highly functional access platform. It provides long-term preservation and access services for public domain and in copyright content from a variety of sources, including Google, the Internet Archive, Microsoft, and in-house partner institution initiatives.
Internet Archive
The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit library. Founded in 1996, our mission is to provide Universal Access to All Knowledge. We collect published works and make them available in digital formats. We are building a public library that can serve anyone in the world with access to the Internet.

Primary Texts Online

A number of electronic literary texts may be accessed online using sources such as:

LitFinder This link opens in a new window
Under "content type," select "primary sources & literary works."
Project Gutenberg This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Producer of freely available electronic versions of books and other texts
Black Drama: Third Edition This link opens in a new window
Full text of 1,379 plays by 222 playwrights, together with information on productions, theaters, production companies, and more. The database also includes selected playbills, production photographs and other ephemera related to the plays
Theatre in Video This link opens in a new window
Productions of plays and documentaries about playwrights available as streaming video (Limit of four simultaneous users).

Anthology of Middle English Literature
Links to full text of songs, poems, lyrics of authors of the period, including Geoffrey Chaucer, Margery Kempe, Sir Gawain, and others.
Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians
From the British Library, links to primary and secondary literature, including brief articles, author biographies, high quality images of objects, and short videos about authors and their works.

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