American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection (Series 1-5)
American Antiquarian Society (AAS) Historical Periodicals Collection (Series 1-5)
What is it? The AAS Historical Periodicals Collection consists of 5 series with over 7500 titles from the seventeenth through the late nineteenth century:
- Series 1 covers 1691-1820, representing over two centuries of print culture from early colonial imports to titles published on American soil during the Revolution and early republic. The subject matter covered in this series is broad in scope and covers all aspects of American society during this time period.
- Series 2 includes over 1000 titles dating from 1821 through 1837. The subject matter covered in Series 2 represents the Jacksonian Democracy era in history and is broad in scope, including agriculture, entertainment, history, literary criticism, and politics.
- Series 3 includes titles from 1838 through 1852. The themes presented in Series 3 reveal a rapidly growing young nation, where industrialization, the railroads, regional political differences, and life on the western frontier were daily realities. Subjects covered in the collection reach into every facet of American life, including science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women's fashion, family life, and religion.
- Series 4 presents over 1,100 titles dating from 1853 through 1865. While the Civil War is a focal point of the collection, we also find a diverse record of the continuance of daily life for many Americans—both leading up to and during the war. News from the battlefront can be found, in addition to the usual breadth of subject matter found in previous collections that include science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women's fashion, family life, and religion.
- Series 5 has over 2,500 titles dating from 1866 through 1877. The themes presented in Series 5 reflect a nation that persevered through a most difficult set of circumstances: a bloody civil war that claimed hundreds of thousands of lives; the incorporation of the recently-freed African Americans into American life; a population that rapidly expanded into the Western territories. Broad subject areas covered in the collection reach into every facet of American life, including science, literature, medicine, agriculture, women's fashion, family life, and religion.
