Readex
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Readex, a division of NewsBank since 1984, publishes collections of primary source research materials. In the early 1940s, publisher Albert Boni, co-founder of the Modern Library, formed the Readex Microprint Corporation in New York City and Chester, Vermont. In 1955, the American Antiquarian Society invited Readex to publish in microprint Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800. This partnership led to the publication of Early American Imprints, Series II: Shaw-Shoemaker, 1801-1819 and Early American Newspapers, Series 1, 1690-1876. In the 2000s, these collections became available in searchable digital editions as part of the Web-based Archive of Americana, which also includes Afro-Americana Imprints, American Broadsides and Ephemera, and other collections.
Partnerships formed in the 2000s with the Library of Congress, Dartmouth College Library, University of Vermont Libraries, and the United States Senate Library led to publication of digital editions of the American State Papers and the United States Congressional Serial Set.
In 2006, Readex launched America's Historical Newspapers, which includes Early American Newspapers, Series 1 to 9, 1690-1922; 20th-Century American Newspapers, Series 1 to 3, 1923-forward; and American Ethnic Newspapers. The latter includes Ethnic American Newspapers from the Balch Collection, 1799-1971, published in partnership with the Historical Society of Pennsylvania; Hispanic American Newspapers, 1808-1980, published in partnership with the University of Houston, and African American Newspapers, 1827-1998, created from such repositories of African American newspapers as the Wisconsin Historical Society and the Kansas Historical Society. American Newspaper Archives, also a part of America’s Historical Newspapers, offers digital editions of major U.S. newspapers. Titles grouped by place of publication are provided through America's Historical Newspapers Select.
In 2007, Readex began releasing a Web-based edition of the Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports, 1941-1996—the fundamental record of political and historical open source intelligence for the United States government. Also now underway is an digital edition of a closely related collection: Joint Publications Research Service (JPRS) Reports, 1957-1994. With emphasis on communist and developing countries, JPRS Reports supports international research into socioeconomic, political, environmental, military, religious, and scientific issues and trends.
In 2008, Readex announced a partnership with the Center for Research Libraries to launch an online World Newspaper Archive. That collection now includes historical newspapers published in Africa, Eastern Europe, Latin America and South Asia between 1800 and 1922.
In 2010, Readex created digital supplements to its Early American Imprints collections, featuring nearly 2,000 newly discovered materials from the Library Company of Philadelphia.
Recently, Readex announced two major collections with a focus on African American history, literature, and culture. First, African American Periodicals, 1825-1995—drawn from holdings of the Wisconsin Historical Society—is based on James Danky's African-American Newspapers and Periodicals: A National Bibliography (Harvard, 1998). Second, Afro-Americana Imprints, 1535-1922, created from the Library Company of Philadelphia’s collection—an accumulation that began with Benjamin Franklin and has steadily increased throughout its entire history—will offer more than 12,000 searchable books, pamphlets and broadsides.