I’m really pleased to let you know that the Library now has access to the Archives of Sexuality & Gender. Spanning the 16th to the 20th century it is the largest digital collection of primary source materials relating to the history and study of sex, sexuality and gender. Documentation covering social, political, health and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world is included, as well as rare and unique books on sex and sexuality from the sciences to the humanities.

You can access Archives of Sexuality & Gender via the Databases A-Z list and the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. You can also access it via DiscoverEd.

The Archives of Sexuality & Gender is made up of 3 databases with a large range of collections within.

Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part I

This unique fully-searchable collection brings together approximately 1.5 million pages of primary sources on social, political, health, and legal issues impacting LGBTQ communities around the world. Rare and unique content from newsletters, papers, government documents, manuscripts, pamphlets, and other types of primary sources sheds light on the gay rights movement, activism, the HIV/AIDS crisis, and more.

Archives of Sexuality & Gender: LGBTQ History and Culture Since 1940, Part II

Providing coverage of underrepresented communities through access to key publications, Part II highlights often-excluded groups—even within the LGBTQ community—and enables users to draw new connections across the development of LGBTQ culture and activism.

Archives of Sexuality & Gender: Part III: Sex and Sexuality, Sixteenth to Twentieth Century

While Part I and II focus on LGBTQ history and culture, Part III concentrates on the study of sex and sexuality. With a date range of 1600-1940, Part III makes available approximately one million pages of content that’s been locked away for many years, available only via restricted access. This often rare and unique material includes the Private Case of the British Library, a collection of erotic printed books, transferred from the British Museum in 1973 and digitised for the first time.

You can access Archives of Sexuality & Gender via the Databases A-Z list and the Digital primary source and archive collections guide. You can also access it via DiscoverEd.

The Library has access to a wide range of digital primary source databases, you can find all of these on the Digital primary source and archive collections guide.

Access is only available to current students and staff at the University of Edinburgh.

Caroline Stirling – Academic Support Librarian for History, Classics and Archaeology