Explore the British Library Collections

Where will your mood take you?

Back to all collections

Discover

British identity in 50 documents

(video, 1 hour, 20 minutes)

Humans have inhabited the British Idles for almost a million years. Join historian Dominic Selwood as he delves into the British Library's unique collection. From the epic saga of Beowulf to the BBC's Shipping forecast, these documents bring out the variety and complexity of Britain's identity through the ages.

Watch now
Map of Sea Areas and Coastal Weather Stations referred to in the Shipping Forecast, created by Emoscopes

Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Arundel

(online resource)

Open up Leonardo da Vinci's very own handwritten notebook to see inside his brilliant mind. Read his thoughts and ideas on all sorts of topics from astronomy and cosmology to hydraulics and mechanics. Use the option to reverse Leonardo's famous mirror writing to read his ideas and see his diagrams the right way round.

Explore here

Timelines: Sources from History

(online resource)

Explore this interactive timeline, transporting you from medieval times to the present day. Take a glimpse into everyday life through letters and diaries and the writings of some of our best-known historical and literary figures.

Explore here
Medieval surgical procedures c. 1300. From illustrated manuscript, British Library (Shelfmark: Sloane 1977 f.2)

Endangered Archives Programme

(video, 14 minutes)

Learn how the British Library's Endangered Archives Programme is working to digitise and document materials that are at risk of loss or decay across the world, and explore the ever-growing collection online in more than a hundred languages and scripts from over 90 countries.

Explore here

Explore the collections online by keyword or location here.

Living with Machines

(online resource)

Get involved with Living with Machines, a major research project exploring the human impact of the industrial revolution. You can help us by identifying words in digital sources, which will allow us to discover how technology altered the nature of work and society over time.

Explore here

Untold Lives blog

(online resource)

Discover the stories of ordinary people's lives throughout history and around the world on the British Library's Untold Lives blog. You'll find fascinating stories from the past, including lives that have been overlooked or forgotten, shared by the Library's expert curators.

Explore here

Untold Lives is just one of a number of blogs from the British Library's curators, subject specialists and guest bloggers. Explore more here