The English Short Title Catalogue (ESTC) is the most comprehensive resource available for the output of the printing press in the English-speaking world before 1801.
ESTC is a bibliography that aims to record every distinct letterpress item produced during the hand-press era in these regions. It is also a union catalogue that lists copies of those items held by libraries and other owners around the world as well as links to digital reproductions where available.
Begun in the late 1970s and with its roots in Pollard and Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad 1475-1640 (STC), ESTC currently contains about 500,000 records and more than 3 million holdings. It is co-managed by the British Library and ESTC North America (ESTC/NA).
You will continue to see changes to the database and search interface over the next few months. For feedback, comments or corrections, please contact us at estc@bl.uk. If you are an institution and would like to contribute your holdings to ESTC or edit your existing holdings, please see this information about Contributing to ESTC. If you require help searching ESTC or downloading records you can find a guide here.
The archive link for the information that was available on the BL website until the hack of October 2023 is here. The website of ESTC/North America is here.