EEBO is based on the microfilm collections curated by the Ann Arbor publisher Eugene B. Power (1905-1993). The founder of what became University Microfilms International or UMI, Power’s first foreign project established the microfilming operation at the British Museum in 1942 and, since then, more than 200 libraries worldwide have contributed to the microfilm collection.

Following its digital launch in 1998, Early English Books Online now contains page images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America, as well as works in English printed elsewhere between 1473 and 1700.

Beginning with the very first book published in English, EEBO draws from four authoritative bibliographical resources – both Pollard & Redgrave’s Short-Title Catalogue (1475-1640)and Wing’s Short-Title Catalogue (1641-1700) in their revised versions, as well as the Thomason Tracts (1640-1661) and the Early English Books Tract Supplement – to present more than 146,000 titles and over 17 million scanned pages of content. Learn more