Printed books

Our vast collection of printed heritage encompasses materials from Britain, Europe and the wider world produced predominantly from the mid-15th century through to the 21st century. The collections cover a range of formats, including books, pamphlets, periodicals, early newspapers, handbills and advertisements.

Collection guides

Early printed books
Highlights of incunabula and books printed before 1600
Major named collections of printed books
Named Collection of printed books
Digitised printed books (16th–19th centuries) with Google Books
British Library printed collection items digitised in partnership with Google Books
Bookbindings
A wide-ranging collection of fine and historic bindings
Private Case
A collection of erotic printed books
Ballads and broadsides
Popular, cheap printed ephemera that kept people entertained and informed

View all related guides

Help

View all how to guides

Subjects

Arts and humanities

Collections for the study of history, culture and society

Medieval and early modern Britain

British historical and literary manuscripts, 600–1600

Modern British history

British history from 1600 to the present

Contemporary Britain

Collections reflecting contemporary British society and culture

Black Britain and Asian Britain

Historical and contemporary resources on the experience of people of African, Asian and Caribbean heritage in Britain

Literature and drama

Collections relating to English literature and British theatre

Classics

Graeco-Roman antiquity, from the middle of the 2nd millennium BC to the end of the 6th century AD.

Music

The British Library has a world-famous collection of music

Social sciences

Research resources on politics, economics, law, sociology and other subjects.

Science

Our resources support the needs of specialists working in academia and business, and can support multidisciplinary research interests.

Americas

Extensive collections from the Americas and Oceania

Romance languages and Modern Greek

Our collections in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Modern Greek cover a broad range of subjects

Rare Books and Music

Find information on the shelves
Access online databases and electronic books and journals
Order collection items to the Reading Room via our catalogues

If you need help, please ask our Reference Specialists at the enquiry desk, or contact the Rare Books Reference Team or Music Reference Team.

We offer a range of free Reader sessions and 1-2-1 consultations to help you make the best use of the Library's collections.

You’ll need a Reader Pass

Mon 10.00 – 20.00
Tue – Thu 09.30 – 20.00
Fri – Sat 09.30 – 17.00
Sun & English Public Holidays closed

Opening hours for all Reading Rooms

Selected collection items from the British Library

Page from Aesop’s Fables printed by William Caxton, with printed text and a woodcut illustration of a fox looking up at a raven which is perched in a tree

Aesop’s Fables printed by William Caxton, 1484

Early printed extracts of Margery Kempe's Book

1521

Ovid’s Metamorphoses

late 15th century

Sutra of Filial Piety

16th century

The Mariner's Mirrour, 1588

Desiderius Erasmus' Institutio Principis Christiani, or The Education of A Christian Prince, 1516

Micrographia by Robert Hooke, 1665

Frontispiece of the Diamond Sutra showing a woodblock print of the Buddha

Printed copy of the Diamond Sutra

11 May 868

Eden's Decades of the New World, 1555

Jewish book of customs

This item includes content that may be considered discriminatory, offensive or distressing.

Abolitionist poetry book for children

Marlowe's Doctor Faustus, 1631

Playbill advertising Ira Aldridge's appearance as Othello in Northampton, 1831

Eden's Decades of the New World, 1555

First editon of John Donne's Poems, 1633

First edition of John Donne's Poems, 1633

Aesop’s Fables printed by William Caxton, 1484

First edition of Ben Jonson's Volpone, 1607

Gutenberg Bible

Broadside Ballad 'The True Lovers Knot Untied'

Page containing the Prologue, from Caxton's Canterbury Tales

William Caxton's illustrated second edition of The Canterbury Tales

John Dee's General and Rare Memorials bound with a signed manuscript

Leo Africanus's Geographical History of Africa

Machiavelli’s The Prince

Montaigne's Essays translated by Florio

Strachey's 'A true reportory of the wreck' in Bermuda

The Bellman of London by Thomas Dekker, 1608

The Discovery of Witchcraft by Reginald Scot, 1584

The Geneva Bible, 1570

The Great Bible, probably Henry VIII's own copy

The Prettiest Book for Children

Engravings of European slaves in Pierre Dan's History of Barbary and its Pirates, 1684

Engravings of enslaved Europeans in Pierre Dan's History of Barbary and its Pirates, 1684

Coat of arms and engraved portrait of John Milton, printed in a copy of Paradise Lost

John Milton's Paradise Lost

Projects

"wHan that Apprill with his shouris sote And the droughte of marche hath p[er]cid ye rote ..." printed page containing the first lines from what is generally accepted as the first substantial book to be printed in Britain, Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales, printed in London by William Caxton in 1476 / 1477. Shelfmark 167.c.26

English Short Title Catalogue

A comprehensive, international union catalogue listing early books, serials, newspapers and selected ephemera printed before 1801.

Hand coloured, engraved page in 'Hortus floridus in quo rariorum ... florum icones ... exhibentur' by Crispin de Passe the Elder, printed in 1614. The top margin is annotated with a notice "Bibliothecae Sloanianae Min 271." indicating that it was once part of Sir Hans Sloane's Library.

Sloane Printed Books Catalogue

A project to identify the dispersed printed books from Sir Hans Sloane's Library

King’s Topographical Collection Cataloguing and Digitisation

This project catalogued and digitised George III’s collection of around 40,000 maps and views.

All projects

Library experts

Adrian Edwards

Head, Printed Heritage Collections

Alison Bailey

Lead Curator, Printed Heritage Collections 1901-2000

Dr Karen Limper-Herz

Lead Curator, Incunabula and Sixteenth Century Printed Books

Tanya Kirk

Lead Curator, Printed Heritage Collections 1601-1900

More staff members

Case studies

More Case studies

…I am incredibly lucky to be working within an institution that encourages self-reflection.…

Researching Hans Sloane’s books, one of the foundation collections of the British Library.

Dr Bob Nicholson - Victorian Meme Machine

…I wanted to find Victorian jokes and bring them back to life…

Dr Bob Nicholson used digitised 19th-century books and newspapers to bring Victorian jokes back to life.

…The British Library is home to countless experts whose passion makes navigating its enormous collections a pleasure.…

Izzy's PhD research placement was an exploration of the life of Karl Marx.

Shop