*Example of one of the State Papers volumes
The second of a four-part digital collection, State Papers Online Part II is among the most valuable and reliable resources for understanding Tudor and Stuart government and society. Included in this collection are the sixteenth-century Foreign, Scotland, Borders and Ireland Papers, as well as the Registers (‘minutes’)
Facsimile images of the correspondence written and received by the ruling monarchs, as well as those of their courtiers, administrators, judges and clergy, bring to life the politics, diplomacy, culture and society of Tudor times. Researchers and students can now read in Elizabeth I’s own hand, her efforts to appease the Ottoman Sultan Murad III (“We beg that you will not … lose your respect for our good faith”). Also revealed in this collection are Elizabeth’s views on her on/off engagement to the Duke of Anjou (“…if we only regarded our love to him we should readily assent to it”) and on Mary, Queen of Scots’ trial and execution “which cannot but be grievous to me”.
Dr. Natalie Mears at the University of Durham comments, “State Papers Online Part I has been an invaluable asset. I’ve been able to search, download and print a range of orders, letters, and drafts of prayers for the early period without having to travel to London. I’m looking forward to the release of Part II as I’ll be able to access all the material on the Spanish Armada in the Foreign Series. Its going to be wonderful to show undergraduate and graduate students authentic documents: there will be so much more for them to work on for dissertations, as well as seeing what the originals look like of the modern printed letters we analyse in class.”
Caroline Kimbell, Head of Licensing at The National Archives, says, "The State Papers are The National Archives' bedrock early modern collection, and represent the authentic, original workings of government at the birth of the modern state. Cengage Learning is to be congratulated for building such an innovative online environment in which to read, search, share and collaborate in research not just on the well-known domestic records, but on this further set of more challenging foreign material. We are proud to have facilitated the project".
By reuniting the State Papers together online and linking them to the calendars of the Papers themselves, Gale and The National Archives have created a completely new resource for understanding the two hundred years from the time of Cardinal Wolsey to the Age of Enlightenment. Gale’s specially developed platform links the original historical manuscripts to fully searchable calendar entries, simplifying the process of research and interpretation of these key historical materials. Users can carry out searches with limiters, view illustrations and maps, magnify or rotate documents and view two manuscripts or calendar entries side-by-side to draw comparisons.
The transcription of long, handwritten prose typical of the Tudor era can be both time-consuming and complex. To help historians transcribe more quickly and accurately, Cengage Learning has introduced a notepad-style tool which allows individuals to prepare their notes alongside the historical document without the need to toggle between different screens and applications.
Mark Holland, Publisher at Cengage Learning, comments: “With Part II, we are publishing the enormously important ‘Foreign’ section of the State Papers: the letters between the English government and European powers at a time when England was at the centre of international affairs, and events here had repercussions across Europe”.
Due to be released in four stages, Parts I and II of State Papers Online are now live and cover the complete collection of Tudor State Papers Domestic and State Papers Foreign, Ireland, Scotland, Borders and Registers of the Privy Council as well as State Papers in the British Library’s Cotton, Harley and Yelverton Collections. Parts III and IV containing the Seventeenth Century State Papers Domestic, Foreign, Ireland, Registers of the Privy Council will follow in 2010 and 2011.
For further information about State Papers Online, please contact Nicholas Berg at Gale, part of Cengage Learning, Tel: +44 (0) 1264 342 785, E-mail: nicholas.berg@
* Example of one of the State Papers volumes - Photos copyright: Jess Ahmon, The National Archives of the UK
