Resources
Letters and Literature resources
The Sampson Low Collection
A collection of over 200 letters written by associates and clients of the Victorian bookseller and publisher Sampson Low (1797-1886), including letters from notable figures of the nineteenth century such as Charles Dickens, Elizabeth Gaskell and John Everett Millais, as well as social reformers and philanthropists including Florence Nightingale and Angela Burdett-Coutts. The letters give an insight, not only into the publishing world of the nineteenth century, but also their authors’ opinions of other clients, charitable organisations, and world events such as the American Civil War and abolitionist movement. Many of the letters by authors refer directly to works they were currently writing or had completed.
This online exhibition on the Open University Digital Archive showcases a number of the letters, and links to the full digitised collection.
The Postal Museum
The Postal Museum is home to The Royal Mail Archive. One of the oldest business archives in the world, it contains records from 1637 to the present day. It is designated by the Arts Council England as being of outstanding national and international importance and is on the UNESCO Memory of the World register. The archive includes both Post Office and Royal Mail records and covers a vast range of subjects. From board papers, business letters, financial and operational documents, to more unusual records such as a first edition of James Joyce’s Ulysses, a design for a poster by Vanessa Bell, and Anthony Trollope’s reports on trialling letterboxes in the Channel Islands. It is a wonderful source of social history, including information on women in the workplace, and you can also use its collections to explore how mail was transported across the UK and overseas, the development of the world’s first postage stamp, maps tracing postal routes, and artwork for stamps and posters. Before you visit, see what we have in our collections by searching the online catalogue.
For advice on identifying which records may be useful for you, or help with your booking, please contact the Archive team: https://www.postalmuseum.org/contact/ You can explore more about the archive here: https://www.postalmuseum.org/collections/the-archive/
Letters from loved ones: the Browns and WWI – The Postal Museum
How to write a Postcard – The Postal Museum
Black Cultural Archives (BCA)
Originating as a community archive, since 1981 Black Cultural Archives (BCA) has embarked on the journey to collect and preserve materials that redress the historical balance and representation of people of African and Caribbean descent in Britain. Our archive collection is now one of the most comprehensive collections that document the history and cultural heritage of Black Britain. This includes letters written by members of the British Black Power movement, Black Women’s Movement and Brixton Uprisings. Our ‘Publishing’ subject guide also focuses on the Black publishing and press that exploded in the 1960s and 1970s as a direct result of the political and press climate at the time. Relevant documents in our collections include: newspapers from The Voice, Black Voice, Flamingo and Grassroots, the papers of Hansib Publications, and our extensive library. We also have materials related to Black Ink, a writing and artist collective founded in 1978 that provided a platform for young Black Britons to write and have their works published.
You can browse BCA’s collections via our online catalogue, and view materials in our collection by booking a visit to the reading room via archives@bcaheritage.org.uk. Selected materials are also available to view online via our Black history timelines and collaboration with Google Arts and Culture.
