John Johnson Collection: An Archive of Printed Ephemera

The  John Johnson Collection of Printed Ephemera is the first-ever electronic research collection of its kind. ProQuest has painstakingly scanned in color a portion of the John Johnson collection that resides in the Bodleian Library of Oxford, England. The resulting database provides direct access to rare primary source materials and evidence of Britain’s cultural, social, industrial, and technological heritage. 

This online collection benefits not only those working across a broad range of academic disciplines but also the wider learning public who would not otherwise have access to this important record of our past. Ephemera have a multitude of applications to research and teaching and are now very much valued by the scholarly community as uninterpreted documents of the past.

Until now the materials in the John Johnson Collection in the Bodleian Library have remained largely hidden to scholars and researchers due to the lack of appropriate finding aids and other issues affecting access.  This project sets out to conserve, catalog, and digitize 65,000 items drawn from five subject areas: crimes--murders and executions, advertising, booktrade, nineteenth-century entertainment, and popular prints.

The John Johnson Collection is the product of a unique partnership between the JISC, ProQuest, and Oxford University Library Services. ProQuest is extremely proud to be involved in this innovative and unique partnership.