Collections A-Z

Explore our unique collections, with particular strengths in theatre, stand-up comedy, political cartoons and the history of science. We hold material dating from the medieval and early modern era, through to modern times.

Use the table below to browse our collections.

Where a collection forms part of a larger thematic collection (such as the British Cartoon Archive), we have included the parent collection in the right-hand column.
To change the sorting of either column, just click on the column header.
Use the search box to filter the list.

Our collections

Our Collections	Parent collection
Alan Reeve-Jones Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Alexei Sayle Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Andrew Sherlock Radio Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Andy Capp Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Andy de la Tour Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Anne Marie Duffy Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Arnold Brown Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Arthur Horner Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Arthur Williams Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Attila the Stockbroker Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Ballad and Song Collection	Other collections
Barker Oral History Tapes	Other collections
Beaverbrook Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Bernard Weatherill Papers	Other collections
Bert Thomas Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Bibliography Collection	Other collections
Bigwood Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Books-across-the-Sea Collection	Other collections
British Cartoon Archive Library	British Cartoon Archive
British Stand-Up Comedy Archive Events Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Buddy Hell Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Calman Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Calthrop Boucicault Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Carl Giles Trust Archive	British Cartoon Archive
Catherine Crowe Collection	Other collections
Charles Dickens Theatre Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Chris Riddell Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Colin Wheeler Collection	British Cartoon Archive
CP Davies Collection of Mills and Milling	Wind and Watermilll Collections
David Austin Collection	British Cartoon Archive
David Drummond Pantomime Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
David Lloyd George Collection	Other collections
David Low Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Diaries of the Here and Now	Other collections
Drummond Comedy Scripts Collection	Other collections
Eccles Archive	British Cartoon Archive
Edward Woodward Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
EM Forster Collection	Other collections
EM Tenison Papers	Other collections
Emmwood [John Musgrave-Wood] Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Eric Barker Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Fawkes Boucicault Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Funny Women Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
George Ashton Autograph Letters	Other collections
George Beaumont Collection	Other collections
Grace Pettman Archive	Other collections
Gulbenkian Arts Centre Archive	University of Kent Archive
Haro Archive	British Cartoon Archive
Harry Hill Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Hattie Hayridge Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Hendrie Collection	Other collections
Hewlett Johnson Papers	Other collections
Ian Gardhouse Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Ivor Dembina Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Jack Johns Charles Darwin Collection	Other collections
Jacques Copeau Archive	Theatre and Performance Collections
James 'Gabriel' Friell Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Jeremy Hardy Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Jim Barclay Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
JJ Waller Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Joan Wake Collection of French Plays	Theatre and Performance Collections
John Crow Collections	Other collections
John Holman Collection of Mill Memorabilia	Wind and Watermilll Collections
John Jensen Collection	British Cartoon Archive
John Pidgeon Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Jon [William John Philpin Jones] Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Josie Long Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Joy Curnow Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
KEM [Kimon Evan Marengo] Archive	British Cartoon Archive
Ken Pyne Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Kingsley Wood Collection	Other collections
Leslie Gibbard Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Linda Smith Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Local History Collection	Other collections
Luke Hansard Papers	Other collections
Mac [Stan McMurty] Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Maddison Collection	Other collections
Marcus Elmore Collection of play texts	Theatre and Performance Collections
Mark Thomas Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Marlowe Theatre Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Martin Rowson Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Max Tyler Music Hall Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Melville Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Michael Cummings Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Millennium Collection	Wind and Watermilll Collections
Modern First Editions and Modern Poetry Collections	Other collections
Monika Bobinska Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Muggeridge Collection of Mill Photographs	Wind and Watermilll Collections
Muggeridge Photographs of Churches and Rural Subjects	Wind and Watermilll Collections
Nathalie Sarraute Papers	Other collections
Nicholas Garland Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Nick Toczek Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Oliver Double Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Papers of the Shirley Foundation	UK Philanthropy Archive
Penguin Collection	Other collections
Peter Aldor Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Peter Baldwin Collection of Toy Theatres and Juvenile Drama	Theatre and Performance Collections
Peter Graham Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Peter Mellini Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Pettingell Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Playbill Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Pollock's Toy Theatre Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Pre-1700s Collection	Other collections
Prescriptions: Artist's books	Other collections
Programme Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Proverb and Language Collection	Other collections
Punch Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Queen's Own Buffs, The Royal Kent Regiment Collection	Other collections
Ralph Steadman Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Reading Rayner Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Renaissance Collection	Other collections
Richard Herring Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Robin Ince Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Ronald A. Baldwin Collection	Other collections
Ronald James Programme Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Rood Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Seona McKinnon Collection	Theatre and Performance Collections
Sidney 'George' Strube Archive	British Cartoon Archive
Stanley Franklin Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Steve Bell Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Tiernan Douieb Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Tiffin Mill Scrapbook	Wind and Watermilll Collections
Tom Webster Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Tony Allen Collection	British Stand-Up Comedy Archive
Trog [Wally Fawkes] Collection	British Cartoon Archive
TS Eliot Collection	Other collections
Valerie Eliot Collection of Contemporary Poetry	Other collections
Winstanley Oral History Collection	Other collections
William Kerridge Haselden Collection	British Cartoon Archive
Young Collection	Other collections