An open reading room for print history.

The Northern Print Archive holds digitised facsimiles of magazines, broadsheets, manuals, and ephemera printed in northern Europe between 1890 and 1965. Browse, search, and request scans free of charge for non-commercial research.

Collections

Periodicals

2,418 issues · 47 titles

Illustrated weeklies, literary monthlies, and trade journals across the early-20th century. Strong holdings in design, photography, and architecture press.

Manuals & catalogues

812 items · 1898–1962

Mail-order catalogues, factory manuals, and technical handbooks documenting industrial culture and consumer life.

Ephemera

3,640 items

Posters, leaflets, programmes, ticket stubs, and packaging — the everyday print that mass-produced visual culture.

Recently added

Werkbund Quarterly, vol. 12 (1933)

Folio · 96pp · added May 2026

Complete run of the modernist design quarterly. Includes plates by Renger-Patzsch and editorial by Otl Aicher.

Helsingin Kuvalehti — illustrated weekly (1928–1934)

312 issues · added Apr 2026

Photo-led Finnish weekly, including notable architecture and ski-tour photo essays.

British India Railway Manual (1911)

Hardcover · 488pp · added Apr 2026

Operating manual with engineering plates and signalling diagrams. Donor: B. Mathur estate.

Wiener Werkbund — exhibition catalogues (1922–1929)

11 items · added Mar 2026

Exhibition catalogues from the Vienna Werkbund's annual shows, several with original tipped-in plates.