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UCL Special Collections is one of the foremost university collections of manuscripts, archives and rare books in the UK. It includes fine collections of medieval manuscripts and early printed books, as well as significant holdings of 18th century works, and highly important 19th and 20th century collections of personal papers, archival material, and literature.
The Special Collections Subject Guides provide overviews of relevant printed and archive collections. They are intended as a starting point to help you find resources for your studies or research.
UCL Special Collections is reference only. In order to use the collections, you need to book an appointment at least two weeks prior to the date of your proposed visit. See the Visiting Us Special Collection page for more information.
You can find further information below about the collections most relevant for English Language and Literature.
The James Joyce Collection consists of over 1,500 items, it contains current and rare editions of Joyce's publications, translations, critical and background literature. It also includes archival material relating to both Harriet Shaw Weaver (Joyce's patron) and Lucia, Joyce's daughter.
Further information available on the Special Collections James Joyce page.
This is the most comprehensive body of research material relating to the author George Orwell (Eric Blair) (1903-1950) anywhere. The Archive includes 20 manuscript boxes containing notebooks, diaries, personal papers and correspondence. A collection of around 200 photographs, and also video tapes of film and television productions, in some cases accompanied by scripts
There are over 2000 printed volumes, including significant editions, translations, critical and background literature. Almost all Orwell's known published articles are held, classified by the title of the publication in which they appeared.
A selection of material is available online
Further information available on the Special Collections Orwell page
Little Magazines, Alternative Press & Poetry Store Collections
These three related collections were set up by the Library in the 1960s and now total over 10,500 volumes.
The Little Magazines and Alternative Press collections include extensive holdings of UK Little Magazines and underground publications, such as Oz and Frendz. There are smaller holdings from the US, Europe and the Commonwealth. These publications provide an outlet for new creative work in literature and the other arts, they sometimes have very small print runs and may last for relatively few issues.
The Poetry Store contains small press publications and currently contains over 7000 titles. These are mainly poetry pamphlets by the most important UK, US and European independent presses, but also include fiction and creative work in other media.
This reading list lists freely available digital versions of publications where original copies are held in the Small Press Collections.
Further information available from the Art Subject Guide and the Special Collections Small Press Collections page.
The Rare English Dictionaries and Linguistics Collection maps the development of the English language through the 18th and 19th centuries. Highlights include works by Charles Annandale, Nathan Bailey, Joseph Worcester, Noah Webster and James Murray’.
Further information is available from the Special Collections Rare English Dictionaries and Linguistics Collection page
Little Magazines contain creative, experimental, or ‘avant-garde’ work in literature and visual art, which would be unlikely to be published in mainstream or commercial literary journals; they have little or no regard for commercial gain. The collection is made up of approximately 4,500 magazine titles, ranging from established independent, non-commercial literary periodicals to ephemeral, self printed art and poetry magazines.
The collection includes many magazines self published by artists and those which feature the work of visual artists alongside that of experimental visual and performance poets. Magazines and distributed print material have played an important role in many Modern art movements and the collection includes numerous examples of this, such as late 19th century Symbolism and Aesthetics, Futurist and Dadaist titles from the early 20th Century, and mid century conceptual art publications.
Image: Aggie Weston's, no. 16, Winter 1979, edited by Stuart Mills, cover by Richard Long.
The Poetry Store is a collection of over 20,000 small edition pamphlets and ephemeral items featuring experimental writing and visual work. It is closely linked to the Little Magazines in that many artists, writers, and publishers produce publications in both formats.
The collection includes many publications relating to visual and concrete poetry, sound poetry and visual performance scores as well as works in many different formats.
Also included is a collection of sound poetry on CD and vinyl, which can be used by appointment in the Special Collections Reading Room.
Image: Paula Claire, Seveso. London: Writers Forum, 1977.
The Alternative Presses are underground newspapers with a political / counter-cultural emphasis. The collection was developed alongside the Little Magazines and Poetry Store because of the connections between the types of radical publishing activity, their exploration of alternative cultures or societies and contrast to mainstream publishing.
The collection consists of publications from the mid 1960s until the mid 1980s and includes newsletters and broadsheets produced by a variety of activist groups devoted to topics such as feminism, Black rights, LGBTQ equality, the peace movement and radical ecology, and as such provides a unique insight into mid-century counter culture and political activism..
Image: Open city: weekly review of the Los Angeles renaissance, no. 78, November 1968.
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