Eighteenth Century Collections Online (ECCO)

A nearly comprehensive collection of the works published in the English language (and non-English language works printed in the United Kingdom) during the eighteenth century, now comprising, with the addition in October 2009 of ECCO II, approximately 180,000 books, with 33,000,000 pages. Covers the full spectrum of intellectual activity in the century: literature, history, geography, law, science, medicine, technology, the fine arts, religion, philosophy, political science and government. Includes poems, plays, novels, histories, travel books, parliamentary papers, parish registers, conduct books, cook books, almanacs--all the categories and genres published during the period. Additional features include a chronology of the century, direct links to a series of key documents in several fields, and an image gallery including contemporary portraits of major figures and the famous diagram depicting the stowage plan of a British slave ship.

Translations into the English language and foreign language works printed in England (often because of censorship) are included, with more than 4000 French language titles and more than 3700 Latin language titles (and even one in the Mohawk language). Included are the complete works of 28 major figures from the period, among them Edmund Burke, Henry Fielding, Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Paine, Alexander Pope, and Jonathan Swift, plus numerous 18th Century editions of Shakespeare and 500 separate editions of Defoe's Robinson Crusoe. Also included are controversial literature on the French Revolution, the works of philosophers like Locke, Shaftesbury, and Hume, and key women writers like Mary Wollstonecraft, Charlotte Smith, and Fanny Burney.

Extensive metadata allows for sophisticated searching, including illustrations, language, publisher, and place of publication. Researchers can thus identify translations of Rousseau published in Dublin or Edinburgh, or French language editions of Voltaire published in London. Scholars can search for the occurrence of phrases like "noble savage" or look for works containing portraits, cartoons, coats of arms, music, or genealogical tables.

Context sensitive help is available via the Help? button on every search screen. The help contents page is accessible from the main page or from any individual help page.

1701 to 1800.

Printed material, in the English language, or published in the United Kingdom or its territories, during the 18^th Century.

Full text or Full image, with full text searching.

Based on the 18^th Century component of the English Short-title Catalog and The Eighteenth Century microfilm (ALEXANDER M-FILM 2251; Guide at ALEXANDER REF Z6621.B84B742)

History; History - British Isles; History - North America

English Language and Literature; General Arts and Humanities