British Manuscripts Project

The British Manuscripts Project: a checklist of the microfilms prepared in England and Wales for the American Council of Learned Societies, 1941-1945 / compiled by Lester K. Born, coordinator of microreproduction projects. Washington, D.C. : Library of Congress, 1955. xvii, 179 p. ; 29 cm. Includes bibliographical references.

Lists the contents of 2,652 reels of microfilm containing reproductions of manuscripts and some rare printed materials found in the libraries in England and Wales. The period covered is from medieval times to the 18th Century. Complete sets of the films are held by the University of Michigan Library and by the Library of Congress.

University of Michigan reel numbers are included in this online version. These numbers are key to actually finding, retrieving, and viewing the films, all of which are currently located in the offsite Buhr storage facility. For patrons with library borrowing privileges at the University of Michigan, the first step is to use this guide, and ascertain the Michigan reel number(s).

The second step is to visit the entry for the BMP on the Library search page, here: https://search.lib.umich.edu/catalog/record/003047129.

Scroll down to 'Buhr Shelving Facility' and click 'Show all...holdings.' This will allow you to see whether your reel is one of those which have been given an item record and a barcode (only about 10% of the BMP films fall into this category -- reels are given a record only when they are requested). If your reel is listed, you can log in and use the usual "Get This" button to request the reel from Buhr. It will be delivered to the UM Library of your choice for in-building use. If your reel has not yet been listed, you will need to request the item directly from the Serials and Microfilms department in Hatcher: either visit the department in person (2nd floor, Hatcher North), or email them at serialsstaff@umich.edu, specifying the "British Manuscripts Project", film number "FILM BMP", and the appropriate reel number.

Note: an asterisk * in the entry indicates non-Roman text that has not been transcribed.

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