Using the Thomason Tracts and Their Significance for Milton Studies

The Thomason Tracts owned by the British Library include many pamphlets, broadsides, and newspapers from 1640 to 1663 and have been employed in seventeenth-century British studies. Yet difficulties exist in recalling many items through the Fortescue two-volume Index and the two-part Index to the Microfilm Edition. Information about George Thomason and the tracts, along with two manuscript catalogs, is given. Problems and solutions in discovering specific items are presented with demonstrations of usage by two Milton scholars. Additionally, significance for Milton studies is shown by discussion of Tenure of Kings and Magistrates and citations to Eikonoklastes.