Note: This post relates to content in the eighth edition of the MLA Handbook. For up-to-date guidance, see the ninth edition of the MLA Handbook.
To cite materials from physical archives, follow the MLA format template. In general, list the author, if given, and then the title or a description of the work. If the work is contained in a collection, list the collection name as the title of the container. Include any other elements that apply. The library or institution where the collection can be found may be listed as part of the container or as part of the location, but box, file, and manuscript numbers should always be listed in the “Location” slot. Below are examples of works-cited-list entries for archival material found in print and online.
Complete Work
In the following entry, the library housing the manuscript is in the “Location” slot:
Chaucer, Geoffrey. The Canterbury Tales. Circa 1400-10, British Library, London, Harley MS 7334.
Document in an Archival Collection
In the entry below, the library may be considered part of the container (Decision Magazine Papers, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale U Library) or part of the location (Yale U Library, MS 176, box 1, folder 20):
Auden, W. H., and Klaus Mann. Prospectus. Decision Magazine Papers, Manuscripts and Archives, Yale U Library, MS 176, box 1, folder 20.
Letters
When you cite letters, include the date of the letter in the middle optional-element slot after the title or description of the letter. If you wish to indicate that the letter is handwritten, list “Manuscript” in the optional-element slot at the end of the entry:
Benton, Thomas Hart. Letter to Charles Fremont. 22 June 1847. John Charles Fremont Papers, Southwest Museum Library, Los Angeles. Manuscript.
Moore, Marianne. Letter to Bryher. 28 Sept. 1954. Bryher Papers, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Yale U, GEN MSS 97, box 38, folder 1373.
Uncertain Date
If the date of a document is uncertain, add a question mark after the date:
Borges, Jorge Luis. “Thorkelin y el Beowulf.” 1955–60? Jorge Luis Borges Papers, Harry Ransom Center, U of Texas, Austin, section 2, container 1.14, ff. 1r–11v.
Unprocessed Materials
If the material you are citing is in an unprocessed collection, provide in-text citations that include descriptions of the items and omit works-cited-list entries.
To learn how to cite archival material from websites and databases, see our post on citing artifacts in digital archives.
4 Comments
Prabo Mihindukulasuriya 24 May 2018 AT 07:05 AM
I am citing unpublished letters from an archival collection in the footnotes of in my history thesis. Do I write the sender's and receiver's names as surname first comma initials?
Tom Curran 04 December 2018 AT 02:12 PM
From the example in the article, it looks like you put the writer surname first and the receiver first name and surname.
Francesc Morales 09 October 2021 AT 01:10 PM
How we solve the problem of having several paper references from several archive collections using in-text citations? The Chicago Manual of Style is more realistic with this type of source because it keeps the footnote bibliographic references.
C. Barney Latimer 25 January 2022 AT 05:01 PM
To create an in-text citation for physical materials from an archive, use the same approach you would use to cite any other source: provide the shortest piece of information that directs your reader to the relevant entry in the works-cited list. Your citation will begin with whatever comes first in the entry—the author’s name or the title (or description) of the work. If you are citing a work that shares an author and title (or description) with another work in the works-cited list, you’ll need to provide a further piece of documentation to distinguish it from the other work. Add to the author and title the next piece of information from the works-cited-list entry. For a work in a physical archive, this might be the date or the name of the archive. You can provide the citation either in your prose (in the main text or in an endnote) or in parentheses. If you create a parenthetical citation and need to provide the reader with more than the author and title (or description), place this further piece of identifying information in square brackets after the author and title.
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