British Library Playbills
Explore the history of theatre through a curated collection of playbills and programmes
BL playbills collection
Explore 84,000+ British Library playbills (1600–1902) with fast AI search. View high-res images, read detailed summaries, copy text, copy URL for sharing and download your favourites.
The browser view allows the whole collection to be viewed by volume: select a volume to click through all playbills in that volume.
Download the original PDFs from the Library, explore more British Library digital collections, and learn how AI helped build this site in the British Library blog post.
The interface functions well on mobile phones and tablets so you can explore the collection on the move.
Feedback: blplaybills@gmail.com
How to use the site
Search options
Enter keywords in the search bar to explore the archive. Choose from three search types:
- Text: Standard keyword matching for general queries; matches all words in any order.
- Exact Phrase: Find specific titles or lines of text; matches all words in the order entered.
- Semantic: Use AI to find playbills based on meaning and context, even if the exact words don't match.
Browse & explore
Search results are displayed in a grid. Click any playbill to open the Detail View for high-resolution images and metadata.
From the Detail View click the 'Browse' button to show this playbill in the volume browser. From here click though all playbills in the same volume.
Use the Copy Text button to grab OCR content or View Image for the original scan or share the playbill by clicking Copy link button
Switch between this view and the grid using the Home and Results tabs. On mobile toggle between views by clicking .
Pro tip: On desktop, use your keyboard ← → arrow keys to navigate the grid quickly.
Refine & customize
Narrow down search results by specific dates, venues, or genres using the Filter button. Active filters can be cleared with a single click.
Prefer a different look? Toggle between Light and Dark mode using the theme button in the header.