Senate House Library

fantastic new resource now available through Senate House Library for students, researchers, and anyone with an interest in literary history.

British Literary Manuscripts Online provides access to more than 4,500 digitised manuscript facsimiles spanning nearly 800 years of literary history, from the medieval period through to the Victorian era.

The collection includes letters, diaries, notebooks, literary drafts, translations, journals, and more from some of the most influential writers in English literature, including:
📖 William Blake
📖 The Brontë sisters
📖 Charles Dickens
📖 Geoffrey Chaucer
📖 William Shakespeare
📖 Oscar Wilde

Among the highlights are the complete autograph manuscript of Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë and author-corrected typescripts of The Picture of Dorian Gray by Oscar Wilde.

The archive is divided into two major collections:
🔹 Part One (c.1660–1900) – covering the Restoration through the Victorian era
🔹 Part Two (Medieval and Renaissance) – featuring manuscripts from Middle and Early Modern English literature, including works such as Beowulf and The Book of Margery Kempe

The platform also offers a range of powerful research tools, including:
✅ Advanced search and filtering options
✅ Author A–Z browsing
✅ Collection-based searching
✅ Topic Finder visualisation tools
✅ Learning Centre resources covering primary source research, citation, copyright, and research methodologies
This resource provides an exceptional opportunity to engage directly with primary source materials and gain unique insights into the creative processes, historical contexts, and textual development of some of literature’s most significant works.

Available via the Senate House Library A–Z Databases list, with offsite access for Central University and School of Advanced Study members, and onsite access for University of London federation staff and students.

We need your help! 🕵🏻‍♂️

The signatures you’re looking at were collected on a menu by Fritz Paneth - an eminent German-Jewish chemist who had to flee N**i Germany with his family - at a dinner to celebrate he fiftieth anniversary of the discovery of Radium, organised by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique () in Paris, August 1950.

His menu from the event is part of the Heinz Post Papers (HPO) at Senate House Library, and is signed by over 20 eminent scientists, including Eve Curie, Eva Ramstedt, Marguerite Catherine Perey, Ellen Gleditsch, Robley D Evans, Gioacchino Failla, Irène Joliot-Curie, Georges Champetier, Francis Perrin, René Lucas, Dennis Shaw and Joseph Weiss.

However, there are a number of signatures that we cannot identify (numbered) and we’re reaching out to you to help us find out who they are. Let us know in the comments if you’re able to recognise any 🔬🔎

📚✨ Join us online for Communities of Publishing and Printing — a fascinating afternoon exploring the worlds of ephemera, artists’ books, pamphlets, and radical print culture.

Hosted by, this free online event celebrates the launch of the Spineless Wonders: The Power of Print Unbound exhibition.

🗓 22 May 2026
⏰ 2:00–3:00 PM
📍 Online
🎟 Free via Eventbrite

Talks include:
• the anarchic literary world of bookseller and publisher Charlie Lahr
• how storytelling and publishing helped transform a South East London community
• hand-making books and reimagining the reading experience

From radical pamphlets to community activism and experimental bookmaking, discover how print continues to shape culture and connection.

Tickets available from the link in our bio!