Collection guides

African manuscripts and archives

Original documents from and about the continent

African newspapers

Very rich historical newspaper collections in European and African languages

African printed books and journals

Literary and research works, reports and historical publications

African-language collections

Important collections of books, manuscripts and audio-visual materials in African languages

Arabic collections

Printed books, periodicals and newspapers, manuscripts and a range of other materials

Asian Britain: archives and manuscripts

Significant resources relating to Asian Britain among our archival and manuscript collections

Asian Britain: music and audiovisual

Rich and wide-ranging collections, especially of music and recorded sound

Asian Britain: publications

Books, journals, magazines, pamphlets and zines, e-books, websites and more

Black Britain: archives and manuscripts

Resources relating to Black Britain in our archive and manuscript collections

Black Britain: music and audiovisual

Rich and wide-ranging collections, especially of music and recorded sound

Black Britain: publications

Books, journals, newspapers, magazines, pamphlets and zines, e-books, websites and more

Caribbean collections

The British Library holds the largest collection of Caribbean materials in the UK

Chinese collection

Includes over 100,000 printed books and 2,500 periodical titles in Chinese

India Office Records and Private Papers

Archives of the East India Company and the pre-1947 government of India

Modern British history printed sources

Monographs, periodicals and printed ephemera on modern British history