Subject guides: Chicago 17th (A) Notes and Bibliography: Primary sources

Primary sources

A primary source published as a book

Footnote

Format

Note number. Author Full Name, Title of Book: Subtitle, trans. Translator Full Name and ed. Editor Full Name (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), Pages.

Example

1. Parker, The Parker Chronicle 832-900, ed. Albert Hugh Smith (Exeter: University of Exeter, 1980), 55.

2. Giovanni Boccaccio, The Decameron, trans. and ed. G. H. McWilliam (London: Penguin Books, 1972), 132.

Subsequent note entry

1. Parker, The Parker Chronicle, 55.

2. Boccaccio, The Decameron, 132.

Bibliography

Format

Author Surname, First Name. Title of Book: Subtitle. Translated and edited by Full Name. Location: Publisher, Year of publication.

Example

Parker. The Parker Chronicle. Edited by Albert Hugh Smith. Exeter: University of Exeter, 1980.

Boccaccio, Giovanni. The Decameron. Translated and edited by G. H. McWilliam. London: Penguin Books, 1972.

Tips

See the Books page for variations e.g. multiple authors.

A primary source published in a book

Footnote

Format

Note number. Primary source Author Full Name, "Title" or short description of source in Title of Book: Subtitle, ed. Editor Full Name (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), Pages.

Example

1. Giunta, son of Bonnaccorso of Florence, contract drawn up for the sale of the slave, Maimona, to Raimondo Barbiere, 11 May 1248, Genoa, in Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents, trans. and ed. Robert Sabatino Lopez, Irving Woodworth Raymond, and Olivia Remie Constable (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001), 116.

Subsequent note entry

2. Giunta, son of Bonnaccorso of Florence, contract for the sale of the slave, Maimona, 116.

Bibliography

Format

Primary source Author Surname, First Name. "Title" or short description of source. In Title of Book: Subtitle. Edited by Editor Full Name, Chapter Page Range. Location: Publisher, Year of publication.

Example

Giunta, son of Bonnaccorso of Florence. Contract drawn up for the sale of the slave, Maimona, to Raimondo Barbiere, 11 May 1248, Genoa. In Medieval Trade in the Mediterranean World: Illustrative Documents. Translated and edited by Robert Sabatino Lopez, Irving Woodworth Raymond, and Olivia Remie Constable, 116. New York: Columbia University Press, 2001.

Tips

This is how you cite a source you've found in a collection of primary sources like a reader, or sourcebook. It's very similar to citing a chapter in an edited book.
See the Books page for variations e.g. multiple authors.
Descriptions of documents are not enclosed in quotation marks or italicised.

Diaries and letters

Footnote

Format

Published diary

Note number. Author Full Name, Title of Diary, Dates that entries span if not included in the title, ed. Editor Full Name (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), Pages.

Letter in an edited collection

Note number. Author Full Name to Recipient Full Name, Date of Letter, in Title of Collection, ed. Editor Full Name (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), Pages.

Example

Published diary

2. Thomas Larkham, The Diary of Thomas Larkham, 1647–1669, ed. Susan Hardman Moore (Woodbridge: Boydell, 2011), 13.

Subsequent note entry

3. Larkham, 23.

Letter in an edited collection

2. John O’Neill to Thomas Jefferson, October 30, 1805, in To His Excellency Thomas Jefferson: Letters to a President, ed. Jack McLaughlin (New York: Avon Books, 1991), 60.

Subsequent note entry

3. O’Neill to Jefferson, October 30, 1805, 61.

Bibliography

Format

Published diary

Author Surname, First Name. Title of Diary. Dates that entries span if not included in the title. Edited by Editor Full Name. Location: Publisher, Year of publication.

Single letter in an edited collection

Author Surname, First Name to Recipient Full Name. Date of Letter. In Title of Collection. Edited by Editor Full Name. Location: Publisher, Year of publication.

Multiple letters in an edited collection

Author Surname, First Name. Title of Collection. Edited by Editor Full Name. Location: Publisher, Year of publication.

Example

Published diary

Larkham, Thomas. The Diary of Thomas Larkham, 1647–1669. Edited by Susan Hardman Moore. Woodbridge: Boydell, 2011.

Single letter in an edited collection

O'Neill, John. John O’Neill to Thomas Jefferson, October 30, 1805. In To His Excellency Thomas Jefferson: Letters to a President. Edited by Jack McLaughlin. New York: Avon Books, 1991.

Multiple letters in an edited collection

Jefferson, Thomas. To His Excellency Thomas Jefferson: Letters to a President. Edited by Jack McLaughlin. New York: Avon Books, 1991.

Tips

Specific documents are not usually mentioned in a bibliography unless only one item from the collection is cited (see Single Letter example).

A primary source quoted in a secondary source

Footnote

Format

Note number. Primary Source Author Full Name, Title of Book (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), Pages, quoted in Secondary Source Author Full Name, Title of Book (Location: Publisher, Year of publication), Pages.

Example

1. Hastings Ismay, The Memoirs of General Lord Ismay (New York: Viking, 1960), 199, quoted in James Holland, The Battle of Britain (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010), 335.

Subsequent note entry

2. Ismay, Memoirs, quoted in Holland, The Battle of Britain, 335.

Bibliography

Format

Secondary Source Author Surname, First Name. Title of Book. Location: Publisher, Year.

Example

Holland, James. The Battle of Britain. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2010.

Tips

Consult the primary source yourself if possible, then reference that.
Include only the secondary source in the bibliography

A primary source in a database

Footnote

Format

Note number. Author Full Name, "Title" or description of the specific document. Date of document, Title of website or database, URL.

Example

1. Thomas Haddon, "Carrier Pigeons in War". January 9, 1946, War Cabinet, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office: Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, Later Committee: Secretariat: Minutes (JIC(SEC)). Secretariat Minutes (1946) 2-312, Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War, CAB176/9, http://www.secretintelligencefiles.com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/Content/swwf.cab176/0009/010?t0=0&q0=pigeon.

Subsequent note entry

2. Haddon, "Carrier Pigeons in War", 25.

Bibliography

Format

Paper Series (if available). Location (if available). Name of database. Document catalogue number. URL.

Example

War Cabinet, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office: Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, Later Committee: Secretariat: Minutes (JIC(SEC)). Secretariat Minutes (1946) 2–312, Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War, CAB176/9. http://www.secretintelligencefiles.com.

or if only one item from the collection is cited:

Haddon, Thomas. "Carrier Pigeons in War". 9 January 1946. War Cabinet, Ministry of Defence and Cabinet Office: Joint Intelligence Sub-Committee, later Committee: Secretariat: Minutes (JIC(SEC)). Secretariat Minutes (1946) 2–312, Secret Files from World Wars to Cold War, CAB176/9, http://www.secretintelligencefiles.com.ezproxy.lib.monash.edu.au/Content/swwf.cab176/0009/010?t0=0&q0=pigeon.

Tips

Each database provides different information but in general the citation should include: the author (if available), document title or type, document date, title of the database, and the document's URL.
Specific documents are not usually mentioned in a bibliography unless only one item from the collection is cited.

A primary source on a website

Footnote

Format

Note number. Author Full Name, "Title of Source: Subtitle," Relevant Date, Name of Hosting Organisation. URL.

Example

1. Aborigines Advancement League, "Aborigines Advancement League Newsletter," 1969, Reason In Revolt. https://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/objects/htm/a000236.htm.

Subsequent note entry

2. Aborigines Advancement League "Aborigines Advancement League Newsletter," 1969.

Bibliography

Format

Author Surname, First Name. "Title of Source: Subtitle." Relevant Date. Name of Hosting Organisation. URL.

Example

Aborigines Advancement League. "Aborigines Advancement League Newsletter." 1969. Reason In Revolt. https://www.reasoninrevolt.net.au/objects/htm/a000236.htm.

Tips

See the Web page for variations e.g. organisation as author.

Unpublished primary source in an archive

Footnote

Format

Note number. "Title" (if available) or description of the specific document, Name of the entity that drafted the document, Year drafted, Collection, Repository, Location.

Example

1. Minutes of the Committee for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks, Pennsylvania Abolition Society, 1790–1803, Papers of the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

8. Memorandum, “Concerning a Court of Arbitration,” n.d., Philander C. Knox Papers, Manuscripts Division, Library of Congress.

Subsequent note entry

2. Minutes, 15 April 1795, Pennsylvania Society.

Bibliography

Format

The main element of the bibliography entry is usually the title of the collection in which the specific document may be found, or the repository that houses the collection.

Example

Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. Papers. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

or if only one item from the collection is cited:

Minutes of the Committee for Improving the Condition of the Free Blacks, Pennsylvania Abolition Society, 1790–1803. Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. Papers. Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

Tips

Typical elements of a citation include: document title or a description of the document, document date, location information, collection title, collection number, and repository name.
You can usually find these details in the finding aid or catalogue record, but not all citations will have all of these elements.
Descriptions of documents are not enclosed in quotation marks or italicised.
See the Chicago Manual of Style, from 14.221, for more detailed instructions and examples.
Specific documents are not usually mentioned in a bibliography unless only one item from the collection is cited.