British Book Trade Index Archive
On 29 November 2024, the Bodleian Libraries website that hosted the British Book Trade Index (BBTI) was withdrawn due to security concerns.
The BBTI Archive, hosted here by the Grub Street Project, is built from the export of the BBTI database generously made available with a Creative Commons licence via the Oxford University Research Archive. The pages here provide a search interface that should be familiar to users of the former site.
BBTI was founded in 1983 by Professor Peter Isaac at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne with financial assistance from the Sir James Knott Charitable Trust, the British Academy and the Leverhulme Trust. The project to make the index freely accessible online, directed by Maureen Bell with the assistance of John Hinks as Research Fellow, began at the University of Birmingham, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council. It ended in 2005. In 2015 BBTI was moved to the Bodleian Library, hosted by the Centre for the Study of the Book.
BBTI is an index of the names and brief biographical and trade details of people who worked in the English and Welsh book trades up to 1851. It includes printers, publishers, booksellers, and related trades such as authors, stationers, papermakers, engravers, auctioneers, ink-makers, leather sellers, woodcutters, pamphlet sellers, and medicine sellers. The Scottish Book Trade Index (SBTI) is maintained separately by the National Library of Scotland.
Use the quick search below to find a trader by name, or use the Advanced Search for more options.