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9th grade Term Paper: Primary Sources

Primary Source Resources

Here are some good resources to try when you are looking for your primary source.  This is one of the areas where websites will be a great resource, so we include a list of some of the better document collections available online, as well as databases that include primary sources.

Websites
  1. Ancient History Sourcebook - Collection of primary source documents, organized by time period and geographical region
  2. Asia for Educators: Primary source documents from 4000 BCE to present day, curated by Weatherhead East Asian Institute at Columbia University
  3. Avalon Project - Major Document Collections: Large online document collection. Browse by collection or use search window
  4. Christian Classics Ethereal Library: Search or browse by title, author, or topic to find digital versions of standard Christian texts and scholarship.
  5. Documents Related to the History of International Relations, prior to 1914: Collection of documents about battles and treaties from ancient times through the 20th century
  6. Encyclopædia Iranica: Includes all aspects of Iranian history and culture (including all Iranian languages and literatures) with a geographical focus on Iran and Afghanistan, parts of the Middle East, the Caucasus, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, spanning the dawn of prehistory to the present.
  7. Epistolae: Medieval Women's Letters: Epistolae is a collection of medieval Latin letters to and from women.  The letters collected here date from the 4th to the 13th centuries, and they are presented in their original Latin as well as in English translation.  The letters are organized by the name and biography of the women writers or recipients.
  8. EuroDocs: Online Sources for European History: Browse by country or time period.
  9. Hanover Historical Texts Project
  10. Greek and Roman Materials: Collection of Greek and Roman texts from the Perseus Project
  11. Internet African History Sourcebook: Collection of African history primary and secondary sources from ancient times to the present day
  12. Internet East Asian History Sourcebook: Primary sources about China, Japan, Korea and Vietnam
  13. Internet History of Science Sourcebook: Collection of primary and secondary sources about science from ancient times to the present day
  14. Internet Indian History Sourcebook: Collection of Indian primary sources
  15. Internet Islamic History Sourcebook: Collection of primary and secondary sources about Islamic history
  16. Internet Jewish History Sourcebook: Collection of primary and secondary sources about Jewish history and religion
  17. Internet Sacred Text Archive Home
  18. Internet Women"s History Sourcebook: Collection of primary and secondary sources about women"s history from ancient times to the present day
  19. Medieval Sourcebook: Introduction: Collection of primary and secondary sources about Medieval histor
  20. Ming Qing Women's Writings: Close to 5000 collections of poetry and other writings by individual women are recorded for the Ming and Qing periods.
  21. NetSERF: The Internet Connection for Medieval Resources: Collections of primary and secondary sources in Medieval history
  22. Perseus Digital Library
  23. Texts and Documents - China: Collection of Chinese documents from ancient through modern times
  24. Veritable Records of the Ming Dynasty: These collected texts, which run to close to 40,000 pages of unpunctuated, manuscript Classical Chinese constitute one of the most important primary texts of the Ming dynasty.
Databases
 
Please remember to use the remote access passwords link to search either of these databases from off campus.
  1. Salem History Online - Great Lives and Great Events- When you do a search, look for the tab "primary source"
  2. Encyclopaedia Britannica Online

These print resources contain innumerable primary source documents. All of the books listed here are on reserve in the library and do not circulate. Ask a librarian if you need help locating the cart in the library.

270                 Bettenson. Documents of the Christian Church                          #015592-5

291.09            Eliade. From Primitives to Zen                                                       #022942-8

303.482          Lewis. A Middle East Mosaic                                                         #051602-8

REF 320.54.       Nationalism and Populism Vol 1 and 2.                                   #201283, #201282

325.32            Smith. Imperialism                                                                           #060390

327.51            Gelber. The Dragon and the Foreign Devils                                  #065299

330.938          Austin. Economic & Social History of Ancient Greece                #200410

355                 Keegan. The Book of War: 25 Centuries of War Writing              #051305-2

359                 Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Naval Battles                               #111307 or #200521

808.08            Heritage of Western Civilization, v. 1                                             #052354-9

REF 909         Milestone Documents in World History

909                  Sources of World Societies v. 1 to 1715                                        #201471

909                 100 Documents that changed the world                                        #201492

909                 Eyewitness to History                                                                     #046544-6

909                 The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness History                                  #99420

909                 Webster. Historical Selections                                                       #010047-X

909.04927007  Ibn Khaldun. The Muqaddimah                                                    #090042

909.07            Gabrieli. Arab Historians of the Crusades                                    #99237

REF 909.07    Middle Ages (476-1500)                                                                  #200768

909.09            The Church in the Roman Empire                                                  #049106-8

909.09            Rome: Late Republic and Principate                                             #049105-6

909.097          The Islamic World                                                                            #044181-8

909.09821      Makers of the Western Tradition v. 1                                             #99356

909.09821      Sources of the Western Tradition                                                  #110949

909.09821      Western Civilization, v. 1 & v. 2                                                     #060749, #060750

909.09821      The Western Tradition, v. 1 & v. 2                                                  #99437, #99432

915.693          Jewish Heritage Reader                                                                  #018321-0

930                 Davis. Readings in Ancient History v. 1 & v. 2                              #000631-2, #92446

930                 Readings in Ancient History                                                           #051253-9

930                 Readings in the History of the Ancient World                              #111185

931.04            Qian. Records of the Grand Historian                                           #060809

932.021          Jones. Cleopatra: A Sourcebook                                                   #064313

937                 Lewis. Roman Civilization, v. 1 & v. 2                                             #051488-3, #050566-3

937                 Shelton. As the Romans Did                                                            #115046

937.05            The Landmark Julius Caesar: The Complete Works                     #071623                                          

937.08            Roman Eastern Frontier and the Persian Wars                              #92906

938                 Readings in the Classical Historians                                             #045261-0

940                 The Greek Polis                                                                                #049104-4

940                 Viorst. The Great Documents of Western Civilization                  #019518

940.1              Medieval Europe                                                                              #049107-X

940.1              Tierney. The Middle Ages, v. 1                                                        #93980

940.21.           Renaissance & Early Modern Era.                                                 #201272

948.022          The Viking Age: A Reader                                                                #201271

950                  Asia                                                                                                  #201273

951                 Early Medieval China                                                                       #070024

951                 Sources of Chinese Tradition, v. 1                                                 #063274

951.9              Sources of Korean Tradition, v. 1 & v. 2                                        #67773, #112461

952                 Sources of Japanese Tradition                                                      #93396

954                 Sources of Indian Tradition                                                            #061308

TR                      Sources of World Societies                                                           #116537

Using databases from off campus

You can use any of our databases from off campus if you have the correct user name and password for access. We may not post these publicly, so they reside on a Google Doc page that requires your JBS email login for access.

Click HERE to see a clickable list of databases along with their user names and passwords.

Finding a Primary Source

Chicago Style Manual