European History: Primary Sources

Definition

"Primary sources are materials produced by people or groups directly involved in the event or topic under consideration, either as participants or witnesses." Secondary sources, on the other hand, "comment on and interpret primary sources".*

Examples of Primary Sources

• Diaries, memoirs, autobiographies, letters, interviews, oral histories, personal narratives
• Contemporaneous newspapers, magazines, and journals
• Manuscripts, archival materials
• Vital records
• Government documents
• Government records
• Laws, cases, transcripts, minutes, hearings
• Maps
• Statistical data, including census data
• Photographs, films, film scripts
• Music, sound recordings, musical scores
• Research data
• Art and graphics
• Realia, e.g. tools, needlework, etc.

*Mary Lynn Rampolla, A Pocket Guide to Writing in History, 4th ed. (Boston: Bedford, 2004), pp. 5-6.

See Primary Sources in American History for details on primary sources and how to find them.

Newspapers

See foreign newspapers guide.

Books

Please see "Books" tab in this guide.

Other

Special Collections and Archives
Special Collections and Archives, located on the third floor of the Library, has an extensive collection of old and rare published materials, family papers, documents and manuscripts. Many Special Collections materials are recorded in Compass, but some are not yet cataloged, so consulting the Special Collections staff and their card file is important.

Trials of war criminals before the Nuernberg Military Tribunals under Control Council law no. 10, Nuremberg, October 1946-April, 1949, 15 v
GPO, 1949-1953.
Govt Doc D 102.8

EuroDocs
Primary historical documents from Western Europe. From Brigham Young University.

Modern History Sourcebook
Links aren’t updated but there’s still some good material here.

Medieval History Sourcebook
Again, links aren’t current.

World History Sources- Europe
Center for History and New Media, George Mason University

Maps