The University of Sussex holds a number of internationally acclaimed archival, manuscript and rare book collections, mostly relating to twentieth-century literary, political and social history. Our special collections include the papers of Rudyard Kipling, the New Statesman Archive, a series of collections relating to the Bloomsbury Group, including the Monks House Papers (Virginia Woolf), and over 60 other manuscript collections. The Mass-Observation Archive contains the papers of the social research organisation of the 1930s and 40s and continues to collect new material in the present day. We also hold the University’s own archival and administrative records.

The online catalogue contains collection and item level descriptions relating to the holdings of the University of Sussex Special Collections.

New Special Collections website and catalogue

Welcome to our new site. You can now search across all our collections and view records for all our items. Have a look at the Help section on the left for some tips for searching.

We're still making some improvements to the site and welcome your feedback on the new interface. The previous Special Collections website is still accessible.