Early American Imprints, Series II

Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819, has been hailed as a definitive resource for teaching and researching the Early National period in American history. This incomparable digital collection contains virtually every book, pamphlet and broadside published in the United States during the first two decades of the 19th century. With complete digital editions of more than 37,000 printed works, Series II offers unparalleled insight into the culture, politics and literature of a foundational era in American history.

Wide-ranging teaching and research applications
Each of the printed works in Series II is expertly indexed, allowing researchers at all levels to search, browse, and refine results by genre, subject, author, history of printing, place of publication, or language. Subjects include economics and trade, government, health, historic events, labor, languages, law and crime, literature, military, peoples, philosophy, politics, religion, science and technology, society, manners and customs, and theology.

Every major subject area may be further refined by dozens of relevant topics. Under the major subject heading of “Historic Events,” for example, researchers are one click away from primary sources on the Bur-Hamilton Duel, the Louisiana Purchase, and the Embargo Act of 1807, which prohibited American ships from trading in foreign ports. Within “Politics,” researchers will find links to works on antislavery movements, elections, political patronage, political corruption, suffrage and many other frequently searched topics. Other in-depth topics include the sugar trade, ports of entry, citizenship, misconduct in office, narcotic addiction, constitutional law, firearms, Native Americans, free thought, anti-Catholicism, electricity, lotteries, marriage, foreign affairs, voyages and travels, and hundreds more.

Every genre of literature from the early 19th century
Early American Imprints, Series II includes a breadth of genres published by Americans in the early 19th century. Among them are advertisements, allegories, almanacs, autobiographies, ballads, campaign literature, diaries, elegies, eulogies, hymns, imaginary voyages, jestbooks, novels, plays, poems, prayer books, primers, sermons, songs, textbooks, travel literature and many others.

Based on renowned bibliographies
Early American Imprints, Series II, is based on the renowned bibliography by Ralph R. Shaw and Richard H. Shoemaker. Along with Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800—the essential complement to Series II—Readex offers a broad range of additional imprints in supplemental collections.