Local studies resources

Local studies resources are reference only, but copies of some items are held in the Lending Library.

Books

• Over 35,000 volumes.
• Resources range from transcriptions of the Devon and Cornwall sections of the Domesday Book to present day structure plans and tourist information.
• Topics covered include transport, education, geology, mining, genealogy, archaeology and biography.
• Special collections include books by Eden Phillpotts, the nineteenth and twentieth century West Country novelist and poet, and Sabine Baring-Gould, Exeter-born prolific writer of novels and non-fiction covering theology, folklore, social commentary, travel and history.
• Long and up-to-date runs of Council minutes for Plymouth City Council.

Periodicals

• Runs of the major county historical periodicals, including the Transactions of the Devonshire Association, Devon and Cornwall Notes and Queries and publications of the Devon and Cornwall Record Society.
• Devon Life from 1966 and Cornish Life 1974 to 1991.
• Currently issued local periodicals and parish magazines are taken, as well as general periodicals such as the Local Historian.
• Many periodicals are indexed on card; indexes from 2000 are available online.

Newspapers

• Newspapers, most of which are available to view on microfilm, include the Sherborne Mercury 1737 to 1867, the Plymouth and Devonport Weekly Journal 1820 to 1863, the Plymouth, Devonport and Stonehouse Herald 1831 to 1860, the Western Daily Mercury 1860 to 1921, the Western Morning News 1860 to date, and the Western Evening Herald 1895 to date.
• Some newspapers, including the Western Morning News and the Western Evening Herald, are indexed on card; indexes from 2000 are available online.

Maps

• Ordnance Survey county series in Second and Third Editions for most of south and west Devon and Cornwall, in 6" and 25" scales.
• Ordnance Survey county series first edition in 25" scale for most of south Devon, on microfiche.
• National Grid 1:2,500 plans for southwest Devon and 1:1,250 for Plymouth.
• County series 1:500 for Plymouth in the 1890s: 1st edition on microfiche.
• Historical maps for Plymouth, Devon and Cornwall.
• Specialist geological and land use maps, navigation charts and street plans.
• Reproductions of early Plymouth maps, from 1643 to 1939, which can be purchased.

Illustrations

• A large collection of mounted photographs and engravings of Plymouth and the surrounding area.
• Photographs of Plymouth before and after the Blitz, including aerial photographs.
• Engravings from the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.
• Early and recent postcards of Devon and Cornwall.
• Slides of views of Plymouth and south and west Devon.
• Images from the Francis Frith collection of photographs covering south and west Devon, on microfiche.

Cuttings

• Newspaper cuttings, periodical articles, leaflets, pamphlets, broadsheets, programmes of events and other ephemera.
• Subjects covered include biographies, schools, businesses and particular areas of Plymouth.
• Information that either cannot be found in books or is more up-to-date than that contained in books, or is more accessible than in original newspapers.

Sound and video

• A small but important collection of sound recordings, including one of a service in the Garden Church of St Andrews in the late 1940s.
• All films belonging to the library are on deposit with the South West Film and Television Archive, although videos are available.

Theatre programmes

• Albums of nineteenth and twentieth century theatre programmes.
• Applause South West gives a detailed, illustrated and interactive account of theatre past and present in Plymouth and the surrounding area.

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