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 and Oceania

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

Blog posts

The Revolution Will Be Sexualized

Monday, May 23, 2022

John G. McCurdy is Professor of History at Eastern Michigan State University, and was a 2021 Eccles Centre Visiting Fellow at the British Library. What was it like for homosexual men in the era of the American Revolution? For the...

The Ragged School Shoe-Black Society

Thursday, May 5, 2022

The Ragged School Shoe-Black Society was established in 1851. On 31 March five boys were sent out for the first time to work in the streets of London for a fortnight’s trial. By July, 30 boys were on the books....

Those who Lust and those who Lack: Tyranny and Passivity in Early Modern English writing on the Ottomans

Monday, March 28, 2022

In A Voyage into the Levant (1636), Henry Blount creates a number of stereotyped images of Turkish people he encountered during his travels through the Ottoman Empire by stating that they were ‘addict[ed] to sodomy’ (Tiryakioglu, 2015, p. 134). Blount,...

Revealing prints at the British Library

Tuesday, March 22, 2022

I joined the British Library as a Curator of Prints and Drawings in January this year to work on a research project led by Felicity Myrone. This aims to improve records for prints at the British Library, focussing on works...