John Johnson Collection: Archive of Printed Ephemera

John de Monins Johnson worked as printer to Oxford University during the first half of the 20th century, when he began work on his collection of what he described as “everything printed which is not actually a book”. He worked retrospectively, collecting items dating from the birth of print to the outbreak of the Second World War.

The collection - one of the world’s most important of its kind – encompasses five different subject areas (entertainment, crime, the book trade, popular prints and advertising). Digital versions of material ranging from posters, handbills, broadsides, prints and prospectuses are all held in the archive.

The crime area of the collection has been enhanced, with records directly linked to relevant sections of associated material in other online resources, which include: transcripts of Old Bailey trials 1674-1913; Harvard University’s collection of 18th and 19th Century broadsides; The Complete Newgate Calendar, biographical accounts of those imprisoned and often awaiting execution at Newgate; and the Bodleian Library’s collection of Broadside Ballads.

How can this collection be used in teaching, studying and research?

This collection offers access to rare and unique archive materials for students, teachers and scholars of history, sociology, popular culture, commerce, leisure and population behaviour patterns, as well as those allied with art, media and design-related subjects. The enhanced crime section will be of particular interest to those studying and researching legal history and attitudes to crime and justice.