ABOUT THE LOCATION REGISTER
The Location Register has become established as a standard reference source for the study of English literature. It includes information about the manuscript holdings of around 500 British and Irish repositories of all sizes, from the British Library to small-town museums, and about literary authors of all genres, from major poets to minor science fiction writers and romantic novelists. Enid Blyton, Marie Corelli and Ruby M. Ayres are included in the same way as Doris Lessing, Dorothy M. Richardson and Virginia Woolf.
Find the full list of included authors, with brief biographical and archival details, here: Location Register NAL July 2024
SEARCHING THE LOCATION REGISTER
Use the link above to search The Location Register. Get advice on searching in our How to search guide.
UPDATING THE LOCATION REGISTER
Major modern literary collections continually arrive in British and Irish institutions. The University of Reading Research Projects team continue to research and update the information in the database.
THE ORIGINAL LOCATION REGISTER
The original Location Register of 20th-century English literary manuscripts and letters was published in two large volumes by the British Library in 1988. This was followed in 1995 by the publication, also by the British Library, of Location Register of English literary manuscripts and letters: 18th and 19th centuries. The printed volumes, edited by Dr David Sutton, won a number of awards, and led the Royal Society of Literature to present Dr Sutton in 2002 with its Benson Medal for outstanding services to literature. In 2006 he was named ‘Archivist of the Year’ by the Scone Foundation of New York, and in 2012 he was made a Fellow of the Royal Society of Literature. The printed volume is available in the University of Reading Library and Special Collections reading room.
Searching the Location Register enables researchers to access a database which includes all of the 20th-century literary material, combining updated versions of the records published in 1988 with all the new records in the database added since 1998.
FUNDING
The Location Register has been regularly supported in its research by the British Academy, and since 2003 has been recognised with the status of Academy Research Project (ARP). Funding for the project has been received from the British Academy, the Strachey Trust, the Arts Council of England, the Esmée Fairbairn Foundation and the Pilgrim Trust. The research on the Names Authority List was funded by the Arts Council.
FURTHER INFORMATION
All enquiries, including information about recent manuscript accessions, should be directed to the University of Reading Special Collections team.