Primary Source Materials

Definitions and Examples | Books | Web Resources | Local Resources

Definition and Examples

  1. Primary Sources:
    A primary source is a document or other evidence of an event and/or person/culture, written or created during the time under study. Simply put, the author or creator was actually present at the time of the event, thus he/she is able to offer a firsthand account. Primary sources include the following:

    1. Original Documents:
      Diaries, letters, speeches, minutes (notes) from meetings, interviews, news film footage, autobiographies, official records (birth/marriage/death certificates), scholarly journal articles reporting NEW research or findings, newspaper articles (giving firsthand account of an event)Government records and documents (laws, reports, statistics, etc).
      EXAMPLES:
      • Complete Letters of Vincent Van Gogh
      • UKV 5 : a preliminary report on the excavation of the tomb of the sons of Rameses II in the Valley of the Kings
    2. Creative Works:
      Poetry, drama, novels, music, art, photography.

    3. Relics or Artifacts:
      Actual jewelry, pottery, clothing, buildings, etc. that were used during a particular period in history.
      EXAMPLE:
      Native American blankets, baskets and pottery.
  2. Secondary Sources:
    A secondary source interprets and analyzes primary sources. In other words, a secondary source uses primary sources to contribute to its discussion/analysis of a particular topic.
    EXAMPLES:
    • textbooks
    • magazine and newspaper articles
    • critical commentaries
    • scholarly journal articles
    • encyclopedias

Books

Documents of Contemporary Art

Sources and Documents in the History of Art

Documents of Twentieth Century Art

The Texts & Documents series, Getty Art History Information Program

Individual Books

Urbs Roma: a Source Book of Classical Texts on the City and its Monuments.
(Dudley, Donald)
ART DG 68 .D83

Literary Sources of Art history, an anthology of texts from Theophilus to Goethe
(Holt, Elizabeth)
ART N 5303 .H76

A documentary history of art
(Holt, Elizabeth)
ART N 5303 .H762

Perspectives on Western Art, source documents and readings from the Renaissance to the 1970s.
(Wren, Linnea)
ART N 5303 .W74 1987

Literature of Classical Art.
(Junius, Franciscus)
ART N 5605 .J86 1991

Elder Pliny's Chapters on the History of Art.
(Plliny, the Elder)
ART N 5610 .P6 1968

The Expanding World of Art, 1874-1902. Universal Expositions and State-Sponsored Fine Arts Exhibitions.
(Holt, Elizabeth)
ART N 6450 .E97 1988 v.1

From the classicists to the impressionists; a documentary history of art and architecture in the 19th century
(Holt, Elizabeth)
ART N 6450 .H6 1966

The Triumph of Art for the Public. The Emerging Role of Exhibitions and Critics
(Holt, Elizabeth)
ART N 6450 .H62

Voices of German Expressionism
(Miesel, Victor)
ART N6868.5.E9 M52 2003

Ancient View of Greek Art Criticism, History and Terminology.
(Pollitt, J.J.)
ART N 7476 .P64

Vitruvius: the Ten Books on Architecture.
(Vitruvius Pollio)
ART NA 2515 .V6135 1999

Select Passages from Ancient Writers Illustrative of the History of Greek Sculpture.
(Jones, Henry Stuart, ed.)
ART NB 90 .J7 1966

Art Theorists of the Italian Renaissance.
Ask at the Art Library service desk for the CD for use in the conference room.

The database is a collection of treatises on art and architecture from the period 1470 to 1775. Texts are either in Latin, Italian or English

Web Resources

Archives of American Art Catalog of the Manuscript Collection

The Archives holds more than thirteen million items consisting of the papers of artists, dealers, critics, art historians, curators, administrators and the records of art dealers, museums, and other art-related businesses, institutions, and organizations. The site contains information on doing research in the Archives and on how to use the collections.

Perseus Project

Part of the Perseus web site has the English translations of several hundred Greek and Roman authors as well as about 30 secondary sources.

The Online Medieval & Classical Library

The Online Medieval and Classical Library (OMACL) "is a collection of some of the most important literary works of Classical and Medieval civilization." At this site you can find translations of major works as well as links to other sites for medieval and classical studies.

Local Resources

The Art Library has a manuscript collection that includes the papers of regional artists and architects, architectural drawings and blueprints, letters, records of local art organizations, etc.

 

 

Margaret M. Bridwell Art Library | Schneider Hall | University of Louisville | Louisville, KY 40292 | 502-852-6741
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