⇨ a record of the development of 500 communities across Devon.
⇨ a celebration of the achievements of Devonians through the centuries.
⇨ charting Devon's history over two millennia.
⇨ reflecting our place in Devon's natural environment.
⇨ a multidisciplinary bibliographical record of all aspects of Devon year by year in:
| 53,000 Books | 500 Newspapers | 1,800 Periodicals | 8,500 Articles | 1,500 Digital records |
| 500 Theses | 3,500 Manuscripts | 17,000 Maps | 4,000 Illustrations |
This page last updated: 4 April 2025
Note: This bibliography is based largely on the records of the Westcountry Studies Library (WSL), supplemented by other sources such as the British National Bibliography, JISC Library Hub Discover, English Short Title Catalogue, Universal Short Title Catalogue, WorldCat, Devon Union List and Amazon. BNB, COPAC, ESTC and Amazon. For this reason many records are in skeleton form, lacking full imprint and pagination details. These will be progressively added. For completeness there is also a section including unpublished, normally non-archival, items. These are mainly held by the Devon Heritage Centre in the Westcountry Studies Library and the Devon Record Office. Three background papers:
Bibliography in Devon: past, present and future.
Devon's printed heritage.
... and one from the past:
Cataloguing and indexing local studies collections: looking forward from 1983.
BOOKS
Books on Devon or Devonians (also includes pamphlets and ephemera).
Chronological listing by year of publication:
Test listings as PDF ddocuments:
2023
1500-99, 1600-99, 1700-09, 1710-19, 1720-39, 1740-59, 1760-69, 1770-79, 1780-89, 1790-99,
1800-09, 1810-19, 1820-29, 1830-39, 1840-49, 1850-59, 1860-69, 1870-79, 1880-89, 1890-99,
1900-09, 1910-19.
Devon in the 1920s. Special listings to support the Devon History Society Project
Books and pamphlets, manuscripts and typescripts, periodical articles, photographs,
1930-39, 1940-49, 1950-59, 1960-1969,
1970, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1974, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979,
1980, 1981, 1982, 1983, 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989,
1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1997, 1998, 1999,
2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009,
2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019,
2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2024.
.
Publishers
Devon publishers today 2015.
Publishers of Devon items 2010-2019.
Devon communities
Bibliographies covering all formats are in course of compilation for some 500 communities and geographical regions in the Devon communities bibliography. The section for Exeter runs to several pages, and the city is also covered by a special initiative inspired by Exeter's designation in 2019 as Britain's UNESCO City of Literature:
A guide to literary Exeter. Introduction
Walk 1. The Cathedral Close and the West Quarter.
Walk 2. The High Street and around.
Walk 3. East through Heavitree to Sowton and Pinhoe.
Walk 4. North to the University and Saint David.
Walk 5. South through Saint Leonard to Topsham.
Walk 6. West of the river: Saint Thomas, Exwick, Alphington and Ide.
Publications on Exeter 2000-2024. 2,870 titles produced on the occasion of the Exeter History Book Festival, 1 February 2025.
Books printed or published in Devon.
Ashburton, Axminster, Barnstaple, Bideford, Budleigh Salterton, Chudleigh, Colyton, Crediton, Cullompton, Dartmouth, Dawlish, Devonport.
EXETER: A-Z miscellaneous, Anonymous imprints 1586-1819, Barker and Bill, B., J (John Bringhurst?), Balle, Besley, Bishop, Bliss, Bowring, Bradford, Brice, Brocas, Clifford, Commin, Cullum, Curson, Darby, Darker, Davies, Devon institutions, Devonshire, Dewdney, Dight, Drayton, Drew, Dyer, Eland, Exeter Institutions, Farley, Featherstone, Flindell, Floyde, Godfrey, Gresswell, Grigg, Hannaford, Hedgeland, Hide, Holden, Hooker, Howe, Hunt, M'Kenzie, March, May, Mugg, Norton, Pearce, Penny, Pollard, Risdon, Roberts, Rowe, Score, Spark, Spencer, Spreat, Stone, Strong, Thorn, Townsend, Tozer, Treadwin, Trewman, Upham, Wallis, Webb and Bower, Welsford, Western Times Office, Wheaton (1835-1939, 1940-1965, 1966-1975, 1976-2007), Williams, Woolmer, Yeo.
Exmouth, Honiton, Ilfracombe, Kingsbridge, Lustleigh, Modbury, Newton-abbot, Okehampton, Plymouth, Plymouth Dock, Sidmouth, South Molton, Stonehouse, Tavistock, Teignmouth, Tiverton, Topsham, Torquay, Torrington, Totnes.
NEWSPAPERS.
Devon newspaper bibliography 1704-2004. Listed by place and date with title index.
PERIODICALS.
Alphabetical listing by title.
ARTICLES.
Chronological listing of articles: 1800-1899, 1900-1919, 1920-1949, 1950-1969, 1970-1989, 1990-1999, 2000-2019.
Place listings of articles, covers period to 2001: Abbots Bickington to Dartington, Dartmoor, Dartmouth to Exe Valley, Exeter, Exminster to Knowstone, Plymouth, Lamerton to Plym Valley, Plympton to Zeal Monachorum, Devon-wide, Westcountry.
Title coverage for articles.
Periodicals:
The following local periodicals have been indexed in depth in 2019. Because of the sources used pagination details and subject headings have not always been given.
Dartmoor country magazine 1998-2000
Dartmoor magazine 1985-1999
Devon and Cornwall notes and queries 1900-1927, 1974-1996, 2007-2018 (chronological listing of articles)
Devon Archaeological Society 1929-2017
Devon historian 1970-1995, 2013-2018
Devon life 1965-1973
Devonian yearbook, (1800 articles to add).
Devonshire Association, Report and transactions 1862-2018
Exeter Diocesan Architectural Society 1843-1945 incomplete
Exeter papers in economic history 1968-1987
Friends of Morwelham, (161 articles to add)
Geosciences in south-west England 2000-2006
Maritime south west, (201 articles to add)
Nature in Devon 1980-1990
Plymouth Institution 1830, 1861-1953 offprints only.
Southern history 1979-2003
Torquay Natural History Society 1909-1998 offprints only
Ussher Society 1962-1997
Books with collections of papers.
Devon documents 1996
Essays on the Exe estuary 1980
Historical atlas of south west England 1999
Tudor and Stuart Devon 1992
Non-Devon Westcountry periodicals
These have been indexed by the Westcountry Studies Library but are not intended for inclusion in the Devon bibliography:
Cornish Studies (166 articles)
Cornwall Archaeological Society
Dorset Natural History Society (225 articles)
Somerset Natural History Society (327 articles)
MAPS
Ordnance Survey National Grid sheets, 1:25,000, 1:10,560, 1:10,000, 1:2,500, 1:1,250 (1948-2000).
Key sheet for lists of national grid Ordnance Survey maps with images of historic maps 1575-1965.
National grid squares:
SS14, SS20, SS21, SS22, SS30, SS31, SS32, SS40, SS41, SS42, SS43, SS44.
SS50, SS51, SS52, SS53, SS54, SS60, SS61, SS62, SS63, SS64.
SS70, SS71, SS72, SS73, SS74, SS80, SS81, SS82, SS90, SS91, SS92.
ST00, ST01, ST02, ST10, ST11, ST20, ST21, ST30, SX29, SX37, SX38, SX39.
SX44, SX46, SX47, SX48, SX49, SX55, SX56, SX57, SX58, SX59.
SX64, SX65, SX66, SX67, SX68, SX69, SX73, SX74, SX75, SX76, SX77, SX78, SX79.
SX84, SX85, SX86, SX87, SX88, SX89, SX95, SX96, SX97, SX98, SX99.
SY08, SY09, SY18, SY19, SY29, SY39.
Ordnance Survey county sheets, 1:10,560, 1:2,500, 1:500 (1860-1940).
Key map.
Sheets 1-3, 4-5, 6-7, 8-9, 10-11, 12-13, 14-16, 17-19, 20-22, 23-25, 26-29, 30-32, 33-36, 37-40, 41-43, 44-46, 47-48, 49-51, 52-54, 55-57, 58-60, 61-63, 64-66, 67-68, 69-71, 72-74, 75-77, 78-79, 80, 81-84, 85-88, 89-91, 92-95, 96-99, 100-101, 102-103, 104-107, 108-110, 111-113, 114-116, 117-118, 119-120, 121-122, 123. , 124-125, 126-128, 129-130, 131-134, 135-139.
Ordnance Survey small scale maps.
Publishers other than Ordnance Survey.
Exeter town maps 1587-2015.
ILLUSTRATIONS.
Topographical prints, 1660-1870: Etched on Devon's Memory project.
Engraved and lithographed portraits and caricatures, 1550-1850.
Photographs: Francis Bedford, 1860s.
Devon photographs from the 1920s, chiefly Francis Frith, for the "Devon in the 1920s" project.
DIGITAL ARCHIVE.
Website listing, 2000 to date
Devon Libraries local studies website 1999-2005. Recovers more than 5,000 pages from web archives. Some have subsequently been replaced or updated but all are listed for the historical record.
Local authority coronavirus bulletins 2020-2021
MANUSCRIPTS and typescripts.
Manuscripts and typescripts 1590 to date. Alphabetically by compiler.
Most of these are also included in the date sections of the bibliography. As they are unpublished, details are being progressively removed to this section.
Devon medieval manuscripts
THESES
Devon related theses, a draft listing.
AUDIOVISUAL
This section to be added, many are included in the books section. The main responsibility for this is with the South West Film and television Archive.
Special categories of publications
Broadside ballads
Broadside ballads with Devon content, 1549-1890.
Broadside ballads by Devon printers, 1716-1860.
Westcountry dialect
Books on Devon dialect
Articles on Devon dialect
Publications counties adjoining Devon
Devon neighbourhood plans
Available February 2022
Parliamentary election ephemera. Constituencies available:
Devon county, Barnstaple, Dartmouth, East Devon, Exeter, Honiton, North Devon, Plymouth, South Devon, Tavistock, Tiverton, Totnes, Ide burlesque election, miscellaneous, including non-Devon.
Biographies
Westcountry biographies, a list of books with regional coverage compiled for a University of Exeter global lives project in 2019.
Index of Exonian biography, compiled for Exeter Civic Society
Elsie Knocker, Baroness de T'Serclaes, a biographical note with links to images in the Imperial War Museum.
Sabine Baring-Gould
Union listing of Devon collections. Also includes links to broadside ballads and popular literature in the British Library, John Rylands Library and the National Library of Wales.
Ian Maxted
List of publications (added for personal information and to test for potential problems in cross-genre listings and subject headings).
COLLECTIONS
Local studies collections
Exeter libraries research links.
Resource providers
Special collections in Westcountry Studies Library.
Handlists prepared before 2005 with some revision since.
Brooking Rowe bookplate collection.
Monumental brasses.
Playbills.
Literary manuscripts.
Non-Devon heritage collections in Exeter Central Library.
Early children's books.
Heber Mardon collection of Napoleana.
Early printed books 1480-1800.
Pocknell collection on shorthand.
