Britain possesses one of the most remarkable sets of records of economic and social history in the world – a continuous series of cartularies, revenue-rolls, account books, personal diaries and correspondence, relating to all kinds of agricultural, urban, domestic, industrial, commercial and demographic subjects. This series exists to publish primary sources that aid the study of social and economic history – proving particularly valuable as a means of publishing material that does not fall within the scope of any one local record society.
The original series contained nine volumes (published 1914–1935). In 1970 the British Academy established a New Series, in the light of the increasing interest in this type of history.
Article by Richard Smith in British Academy Review.
Series chair: Professor Julian Hoppit FBA
Volumes are published by Oxford University Press.
Some older volumes are available from Oxbow Books.
Publications in the New Series
Vol. 66. The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: Vol. 1: 1825-1845, Part Two
Editor: David Brown
ISBN: 978-0-19-726741-7 hbk (2023)
556 pages
Vol. 65. The Diaries of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, the Seventh Earl of Shaftesbury: Vol. 1: 1825-1845, Part One
Editor: David Brown
ISBN: 978-0-19-726740-0 hbk (2023)
496 pages
Vol. 64. The Cantelowe Accounts: Multilingual merchant records from Tuscany, 1450-1451
Editor: Megan Tiddeman
ISBN: 978-0-19-726685-4 hbk (2022)
204 pages
Vol. 63. The Household Accounts of Lady Margaret Beaufort (1443-1509): From the Archives of St John's College, Cambridge
Editor: Susan Powell
ISBN: 978-0-19-726704-2 hbk (2022)
818 pages
Vol. 62. Navigating the Old English Poor Law: The Kirkby Lonsdale Letters, 1809-1836
Editors: Peter Jones and Steven King
ISBN: 978-0-19-726681-6 hbk (2020)
400 pages
Vol. 61. The Diaries and Letters of Lord Woolton 1940-1945
Editors: Michael Kandiah and Judith Rowbotham
ISBN: 978-0-19-726684-7 hbk (2020)
352 pages
Vol. 60. Business and Family in the North of England During the Early Industrial Revolution: Records of the Lives of Men and Women in Trade, 1788-1832
Editors: Hannah Barker and David Hughes
ISBN: 978-0-19-726670-0 hbk (2020)
385 pages
Vol. 59. Norfolk Pauper Inventories, c. 1690-1834
Editor: Joseph Harley
ISBN: 978-0-19-726665-6 hbk (2020)
320 pages
Vol. 58. The States of the Manors of Westminster Abbey c.1300 to 1422 Part 2
Editors: Barbara Harvey and Christopher Woolgar
ISBN: 978-0-19-726663-2 hbk (2020)
424 pages
Vol. 57. The States of the Manors of Westminster Abbey c.1300 to 1422 Part 1
Editors: Barbara Harvey and Christopher Woolgar
ISBN: 978-0-19-726662-5 hbk (2020)
336 pages
Vol. 56. The Worlds of the Jeake Family of Rye, 1640-1736
Editor: Anne L Murphy
ISBN: 978-0-19-726636-6 hbk (2018)
352 pages
Vol. 55. Documents of the First Chambers of Commerce in Britain and Ireland, 1767-1839
Editor: Robert J Bennett
ISBN: 978-0-19-726624-3 hbk (2018)
732 pages
Vol. 54. Treasury Control and Public Expenditure in Scotland, 1885-1979
Editor: Ian Levitt
ISBN: 978-0-19-726579-6 hbk (2014)
292 pages + 4 plates
Vol. 53. The Bordeaux-Dublin Letters, 1757: Correspondence of an Irish Community Abroad
Editors: L M Cullen, John Shovlin and Thomas M Truxes
ISBN: 978-0-19-726562-8 hbk (2013, now manufactured on demand)
356 pages
Vol. 52. The Latin Cartulary of Godstow Abbey
Editor: Emilie Amt
ISBN: 978-0-19-726558-1 hbk (2014)
542 pages
Vol. 51. The Elizabethan New Year's Gift Exchanges, 1559-1603
Editor: Jane A Lawson
ISBN: 978-0-19-726526-0 hbk (2013)
752 pages
Vol. 50. Bishop Wake's Summary of Visitation Returns from the Diocese of Lincoln, 1706-1715, Part 2: Outside Lincolnshire
Editor: John Broad
ISBN: 978-0-19-726519-2 hbk (2012)
612 pages
Vol. 49. Bishop Wake's Summary of Visitation Returns from the Diocese of Lincoln, 1706-1715, Part 1: Lincolnshire
Editor: John Broad
ISBN: 978-0-19-726518-5 hbk (2012)
514 pages
Vol. 48. Inside the Department of Economic Affairs: Samuel Brittan, the Diary of an 'Irregular', 1964-6
Editor: Roger Middleton
ISBN: 978-0-19-726500-0 hbk (2012)
252 pages
Vol. 47. Nehemiah Grew and England's Economic Development: The means of a most ample increase of the wealth and strength of England, 1706-7
Editor: Julian Hoppit
ISBN: 978-0-19726495-9 hbk (2012)
156 pages
[British Academy Review article by Richard M Smith on Volumes 43, 44 and 46]
Vol. 46. The Early English Censuses
Editor: E A Wrigley
ISBN: 978-0-19-726479-9 hbk (2011)
340 pages + 5 plates and a free CD
Vol. 44. The Chronicles of John Cannon, Excise Officer and Writing Master, Part 2: 1734-1743 (Somerset)
Editor: John Money
ISBN: 978-0-19-726455-3 hbk (2010)
464 pages + 11 plates
Vol. 43. The Chronicles of John Cannon, Excise Officer and Writing Master, Part 1: 1684-1733 (Somerset, Oxfordshire, Berkshire)
Editor: John Money
ISBN: 978-0-19-726454-6 hbk (2010)
392 pages + 11 plates
Vol. 42. The Book of Privileges of the Merchant Adventurers of England, 1296-1483
Editor: Anne F Sutton and Livia Visser-Fuchs
ISBN: 978-0-19-726440-9 hbk (2009, manufactured on demand from 2011)
454 pages + 4 plates
Vol. 41. The Business and Household Accounts of Joyce Jeffreys, Spinster of Hereford, 1638-1648
Editor: Judith M Spicksley
ISBN: 978-0-19-726432-4 hbk 2012)
446 pages + 9 plates
Vol. 40. The Bright-Meyler Papers: A Bristol-West India Connection, 1732-1837
Editor: Kenneth Morgan
ISBN: 978-0-19-726405-8 hbk (2007)
728 pages + 6 plates
Vol. 39. Charters and Custumals of Shaftesbury Abbey, 1089–1216
Editor: N E Stacy
ISBN: 978-0-19-726375-4 hbk (2006)
266 pages
Vol. 38. China Trade and Empire: Jardine, Matheson & Co. and the Origins of British Rule in Hong Kong, 1827–1843
Editor: Alain Le Pichon
ISBN: 978-0-19-726337-2 hbk (2006, reprinted in 2007, manufactured on demand from 2010)
648 pages + 6 plates
Vol. 37. The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381, Part 3: Wiltshire–Yorkshire
Editor: Carolyn C Fenwick
ISBN: 978-0-19-726336-5 hbk (2005)
808 pages
Vol. 36.Keynes and his Critics: Treasury Responses to the Keynesian Revolution, 1925–1946
Editor: G C Peden
ISBN: 978-0-19-726322-8 hbk (2004, manufactured on demand from 2012)
390 pages
Vol. 35. Matthew and George Culley: Travel Journals and Letters, 1765–1798
Editor: Anne Orde
ISBN: 978-0-19-726275-7 hbk (2002)
284 pages
Vol. 34. ‘An Exact and Industrious Tradesman’: The Letter Book of Joseph Symson of Kendal, 1711–1720
Editor: S D Smith
ISBN: 978-0-19-726258-0 hbk (2002, manufactured on demand from 2014)
928 pages + 9 plates
Vol. 33. Surveys of the Estates of Glastonbury Abbey, c. 1135–1201
Editor: N E Stacy
ISBN: 978-0-19-726253-5 hbk (2001)
Vol. 32. Lower Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction in Late-Medieval England: The Courts of the Dean and Chapter of Lincoln, 1336–1349, and the Deanery of Wisbech, 1458–1484
Editor: L R Poos
ISBN: 978-0-19-726245-0 hbk (2001, out of print)
310 pages
Vol. 31. The Diocesan Population Returns for 1563 and 1603
Editors: Alan Dyer and D M Palliser
ISBN: 978-0-19-726244-3 hbk (2005, manufactured on demand from 2009)
684 pages
Vol. 30. Essex Pauper Letters, 1731–1837
Editor: Thomas Sokoll
ISBN: 978-0-19-726242-9 hbk (2001)
ISBN: 978-0-19-726348-8 pbk (2006)
772 pages + 20 plates
Vol. 29. The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381, Part 2: Lincolnshire-Westmorland
Editor: Carolyn C Fenwick
ISBN: 978-0-19-726228-3 hbk (2001)
716 pages + 1 plate
Vol. 28. Letterbook of Greg & Cunningham, 1756-57: Merchants of New York and Belfast
Editor: Thomas M Truxes
ISBN: 978-0-19-726219-1 hbk (2001, manufactured on demand from 2014)
464 pages + 9 plates
Vol. 27. The Poll Taxes of 1377, 1379 and 1381, Part 1: Bedfordshire-Leicestershire
Editor: Carolyn C Fenwick
ISBN: 978-0-19-726186-6 hbk (1998, manufactured on demand from 2013)
688 pages
Vol. 26. The Diary of Robert Sharp of South Cave: Life in a Yorkshire Village, 1812–1837
Editors: Janice E Crowther and Peter A Crowther
ISBN: 978-0-19-726173-6 hbk (1997, reprinted in 1998, manufactured on demand from 2014)
726 pages + 9 plates
Vol. 25. The Register of Thetford Priory, Part 2: 1518–1540
Editor: David Dymond
ISBN: 978-0-19-726161-3 hbk (1996, manufactured on demand from 2009)
556 pages + 5 plates
Vol. 24. The Register of Thetford Priory, Part 1: 1482–1517
Editor: David Dymond
ISBN: 978-0-19-726160-6 hbk (1995, manufactured on demand from 2014)
410 pages + 4 plates
Vol. 23. The Cartulary of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in England, Part 2: Prima Camera, Essex
Editor: Michael Gervers
ISBN: 978-0-19-726138-5 hbk (1996, out of print)
324 pages
Vol. 22. Charters and Custumals of the Abbey of Holy Trinity, Caen, Part 2: The French Estates
Editor: John Walmsley
ISBN: 978-0-19-726137-8 hbk (1994)
160 pages
Vol. 21. The Books of Assumption of the Thirds of Benefices: Scottish Ecclesiastical Rentals at the Reformation
Editor: James Kirk
ISBN: 978-0-19-726125-5 hbk (1995, out of print)
986 pages
Vol. 20. Lordship and Landscape in Norfolk, 1250–1350: The Early Records of Holkham
Editor: William Hassall and Jacques Beauroy
ISBN: 0-19-726093-4 hbk (1993, out of print)
660 pages
Vol. 19. The Warwickshire Hundred Rolls of 1279–80: Stoneleigh and Kineton Hundreds
Editor: Trevor John
ISBN: 0-19-726122-1 hbk (1992, out of print)
374 pages
Vol. 18. Household Accounts from Medieval England, Part 2
Editor: C M Woolgar
ISBN: 978-0-19-726113-2 hbk (1993, manufactured on demand from 2006)
398 pages
Vol. 17. Household Accounts from Medieval England, Part 1
Editor: C M Woolgar
ISBN: 978-0-19-726112-5 hbk (1992, manufactured on demand from 2006)
446 pages
Vol. 16. An American Quaker in the British Isles: The Travel Journals of Jabez Maud Fisher, 1775–1779
Editor: Kenneth Morgan
ISBN: 978-0-19-726096-8 hbk (1992, manufactured on demand from 2006)
368 pages
Vol. 15. The Account Book of Richard Latham, 1724–1767
Edited: Lorna Weatherill
ISBN: 978-0-19-726092-0 hbk (1990, manufactured on demand from 2006)
324 pages
Vol. 14. Contemporaries of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1605–1675: Biographies, Illustrated by Letters and Other Documents
Author: Ruth Spalding
ISBN: 978-0-19-726081-4 hbk (1990, manufactured on demand from 2006)
552 pages + 16 plates and 1 chart
Vol. 13. The Diary of Bulstrode Whitelocke, 1605–1675
Editor: Ruth Spalding
ISBN: 978-0-19-726080-7 hbk (1990, reprinted in 1992, manufactured on demand from 2007)
918 pages
Vol. 12. Markets and Merchants of the Late Seventeenth Century: The Marescoe–David Letters, 1668–1680
Editor: Henry Roseveare
ISBN: 0-19-726052-7 hbk (1987, out of print)
ISBN: 978-0-19-726106-4 pbk (1991, out of print)
668 pages
Vol. 11. The Early Records of Medieval Coventry
Editor: Peter R Coss, with Trevor John
ISBN: 978-0-19-726038-8 hbk (1986)
450 pages
Vol. 10. The Compton Census of 1676: A Critical Edition
Editors: Anne Whiteman, with Mary Clapinson
ISBN: 978-0-19-726041-8 hbk (1986, manufactured on demand from 2014)
938 pages
Vol. 9. The Making of King’s Lynn: A Documentary Survey
Editor: Dorothy M Owen
ISBN: 978-0-19-726027-2 hbk (1984, manufactured on demand from 2006)
524 pages
Vol. 8. The Farming and Memorandum Books of Henry Best of Elmswell, 1642
Editor: Donald Woodward
ISBN: 978-0-19-726029-6 hbk (1984, manufactured on demand from 2006)
422 pages
Vol. 7. The Correspondence of Sir John Lowther of Whitehaven, 1693–1698: A Provincial Community in Wartime
Editor: D R Hainsworth
ISBN: 978-0-19-726016-6 hbk (1983, manufactured on demand from 2014)
790 pages
Vol. 6. The Cartulary of the Knights of St. John of Jerusalem in England: Secunda Camera, Essex
Editor: Michael Gervers
ISBN: 0-19-725996-0 hbk (1982, out of print)
822 pages
Vol. 5. Charters and Custumals of the Abbey of Holy Trinity Caen
Editor: Marjorie Chibnall
ISBN: 978-0-19-726009-8 hbk (1982, manufactured on demand from 2007)
218 pages + 1 plate
Vol. 4. Warwickshire Grazier and London Skinner 1532-1555
Editor: N W Alcock
ISBN: 0-19-726008-X hbk (1981, now manufactured on demand)
310 pages
Vol. 3. The Diary of Ralph Josselin, 1616-1683
Editor: Alan Macfarlane
ISBN: 0-19-725955-3 hbk (1976, out of print)
ISBN: 978-0-19-726103-3 pbk (1991)
754 pages
Vol. 2. The Lay Subsidy of 1334
Editor: Robin E Glasscock
ISBN: 978-0-19-725933-7 hbk (1975, manufactured on demand from 2006)
554 pages + 1 plate
Vol. 1. Charters of the Honour of Mowbray, 1107–1191
Editor: D E Greenway
ISBN: 978-0-19-725926-9 hbk (1972, manufactured on demand from 2006)
392 pages + 1 plate