How to request items

Search this catalogue and make a note of the Reference (shelfmark) of the items you would like to consult. Then complete this form⧉ to request to consult the items in our Reading Rooms. To do so, you will need to have registered for or renewed your Reader Pass since 21 March 2024.

About this catalogue

This catalogue is an interim version of our Archives and Manuscripts Catalogue. It contains catalogue records created before October 2023, and we are not able to list any newly catalogued items in it for the time being.

If you are looking for any other collection items that aren't archives, manuscripts or visual arts collections, you can search for them on our main catalogue.

Links marked with this icon ⧉   open in a separate tab.

Material included

• Western manuscripts and archival documents from medieval times to the present day
• material from and about Asia and Africa including the India Office Library, Records, Private Papers and Visual Arts collections; for collection items relating to the ancient Silk Roads, please see the International Dunhuang Programme catalogue
• music manuscripts
• prints, drawings and photographs
• maps
• philatelic material
• items in the Endangered Archives Programme, which digitises material from around the world which is in danger of destruction, neglect or physical deterioration. These items are not held at the Library but digital copies are available to view.

Please note

• not all of our manuscripts and archives are listed in this catalogue yet. If you can't find what you need, please speak to our Reference team⧉
• some of the metadata in this interim catalogue has come from older printed catalogues and occasional errors may have been introduced when those catalogues were converted to digital format
• digitised content marked 'unavailable' is currently not accessible online. We're working to make this available again as soon as we can
• some items include links to digitised versions or to pages on the British Library website and some URLs are not currently working. Please bear with us as we improve this content.

Need any help?

For more information about our archive and manuscript collections or to enquire about consulting any of this material, please get in touch.

• Speak to us in our Manuscripts Reading Room, Asian & African Studies Reading Room or Rare Books & Music Reading Room
• Send us a message any time⧉
• Speak to us instantly on Chat⧉, open Monday to Friday 10.00 - 17.00