Search for specific items

The following searches will help you locate specific items - for example, by searching for a person's name, keyword, title of a work or shelf-mark reference.

If you are unsure of what you are looking for, explore our collections by subject and through our virtual exhibitions. If you are interested in a particular collection, go to the Collections A to Z.

Searching for printed material:

• Rare books search: 
  • find printed items held in Special Collections
  • find items published before 1851 but held elsewhere (e.g. Library Research Annexe)
  • find copy specific information relating to books in Special Collections
  • option to search for printers, place of publication and provenance of books.
  • NB: advisable to check the fiche catalogues (available in the Special Collections reading room) if you are searching for 19th century printed material.

• Chapbooks search:
  • find chapbooks published in Scotland with full details of their contents
  • see Scottish Chapbooks Information for background and assistance.

• Incunabula indexes: 
  • investigate our collection of around 1,000 books printed prior to 1501

• 19th Century Novels search:
  • investigate the fiction of the long 19th Century from our Novels Collection

• Scottish Theatre Archive search:
  • find printed items relating to Scottish theatre.
  • see the Scottish Theatre Archive Help page for background and assistance. 

Searching for manuscript items and unpublished material:

• Manuscripts search: 
  • find manuscript items and unpublished material (including notebooks, correspondence, photographs and drawings)
  • see the Manuscripts Help page for assistance.

• Scottish Theatre Archive search:
  • find manuscript and unpublished material relating to Scottish theatre (including correspondence, production files, and photographs)
  • see the Scottish Theatre Archive Help page for background and assistance.

• Hill and Adamson search:
  • find items in the Hill & Adamson Collection of 19th century photographs.

Search the Special Collections webpages:

• Search our site: searches the content of the Special Collections website using google.

See also printed indexes and reference material:

• A number of indexes and guides are available in the Special Collections reading room. These include a partial subject index, and indexes of illustrators, miniatures, maps and views, bindings, ephemera, and book sale catalogues.