Cotton: A Select Bibliography on Cotton in North West England

Like many of Britain's great industries, the cotton industry has generated a prodigious historical literature, covering the major economic and technical aspects of the industry as well as the social impact which cotton made upon the lives of those living and working in the shadow of the mill. The importance of the cotton industry in the North West of England ensured that as the industry grew, the number and diversity of accounts increased in proportion to the development of the trade. In 1997, historians Terry Wyke and Nigel Rudyard produced Cotton: A Select Bibliography (Bibliography of North West England, Volume 17) in order to provide a single source of information on materials (books, journals, journal articles, theses, archives etc.) available throughout the North West's libraries, archives and museums.

The HTML file attached below should open straight onto your PC's browser (i.e. Microsoft Internet Explorer, Netscape) etc. and forms a searchable web page of the original 3,000-entry volume (containing details of some 10,000 items available on the British cotton industry). Note that the locations cited are only in the North West of England but that in the case of general volumes many libraries outside of the North West will also hold such works. The web page is large and therefore may take a minute or so to upload.

The Bibliography has been provided to place the materials digitised for the project in their proper context. While the 20,000 items available on the Spinning the Web site represents a good sample of what is available, the collection is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the vast heritage of primary and secondary sources available throughout the North West's museums, archives and libraries.