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This area of documents is in reality of collection of collections
and is generally shelved in the Green Library stacks. There
are numerous special holdings that serve as a regional resource,
and in some cases, a national resource. The total collection
is one of the stronger centers of foreign government documentation
in the country.
Great Britain. The pre-eminent collection in this category
is the British documents collection. It consists of a complete
set of the House of Commons Sessional Papers and debates, and
one of the only two substantial sets of House of Lords Sessional
Papers in the United States, the other being at the Library
of Congress. Ancillary materials, such as further sets of debates,
votes, divisions, minutes, journals, and committee reports
enrich the basic sets which formerly belonged to the British
Foreign Office. These parliamentary titles consist of more
than 12,000 individual volumes housed in the Jonsson Library.
They cover events from the signing of the Magna Cart through
nineteenth century imperial relations to events of contemporary
concern. Augmenting these rich holdings is the complete publication
output of several government offices: the Public Record Office
(the national archive), the Historical Manuscripts Commission,
the General Register Office, and the Office of Population Censuses
and Surveys. Virtually every other office is exceptionally
well represented. Current output is secured both from the national
printer, HMSO, and from a private service for agency generated
titles as listed in the Catalogue of British Official Publications
Not Published by HMSO, 1980- . Beyond these resources is the
strongest American collection of Public Record Office microfilm
of original manuscript material residing in London. There are
more that 7,500 reels of film that document every period of
English history. Especially strong are holdings for the Tudor/Stuart
period, nineteenth and twentieth century foreign affairs, and
twentieth century Cabinet Office and Prime Minister's Office.
The foreign affairs papers relate mainly to Africa, Japan,
China, Tibet, Mongolia, United States, Western Europe and Russia.
The Bancroft Library at Berkeley complements these with more
than 2,000 reels relating to Central America. Collectively,
Stanford and Bancroft maintain America's premier collection
of British governmental papers.
Latin America. Along with the British collection, Latin American
documents are a focus at Stanford. The Brazilian, Argentinean,
Chilean, Uruguayan, and Mexican collections are among the best
in the country. Congressional publications are exceptionally
strong: virtually complete sets of the Brazilian Chamber of
Deputies, of Chilean debates from 1930 to 1972, of nineteenth
century Mexico, and of Uruguayan congressional proceedings
covering the 1820's to date are collected. Monographic works
are especially well represented, including state government
publications, particularly for Mexico, Argentina, and Brazil.
The "Berkeley-Stanford Cooperative Agreement on the Collecting
of Documents for the Latin American Region" insures that
titles from lesser ministries of a number of countries are
systematically acquired: Stanford emphases Chile, Colombia,
Venezuela, (as well as the Guianas) and Cuba. Those countries
not detailed here are nevertheless strong in overall holdings
and exceptional in certain titles, such as reports on foreign
affairs and messages of presidents.
France. The collection of documents for revolutionary France
(1789-1872) is strong, not only in the proceedings of the early
assemblies, such as the Proces-Verbal for 1789-1791 in 75 volumes
and the Journal des Debats, but also in the scores of pamphlets
of governmental committees and commissions. The period closes
with good documentation for the Paris Commune. The major parliamentary
sets are virtually complete for the nineteenth and twentieth
centuries (e.g., the Moniteur Universel), and executive agency
titles for the latter part of the twentieth century are rich
in the social, political, historical, linguistic and anthropological
areas.
Sub-Saharan Africa. The major strength lies in colonial documents
from the mother countries, such as British colonial reports
from the 1850's to 1960, and the Portuguese colonial bulletins
from Lisbon for 1925 to 1967. Thereafter, publications from
newly independent countries' agencies are well represented,
although regularity of issue is not a strong feature for many
of the countries.
Canada and Australia. Both countries have very solid representation
for nineteenth century parliamentary proceedings: the Australian
state collections are the strongest in America and the core
works of the Canadian government are available. To quote Professor
Carl Solberg of the University of Washington, "The [Canadian]
documentary holdings are superb...Parliamentary debates, censuses,
statistical series, ministerial and departmental reports, Royal
Commission reports--all are here and remarkably complete. These
holdings are a major scholarly resource."
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