The David Nicholls Memorial Collection is based on the private collection of Britain’s foremost Haiti expert, of which about a quarter deals specifically with Haiti, the Dominican Republic and other Caribbean territories.

It covers a variety of subjects in the areas of politics, theology, Caribbean studies and material on specific Caribbean countries, including Haiti, Jamaica, Trinidad and the Dominican Republic. Particularly strong is the section on Haitian politics, society and culture – areas that David Nicholls explored in several important books. New books are added regularly, especially in the Caribbean section. Please review the DNMC Collection Policy 2019 for more information.

The collection holds over 4,000 books and pamphlets, along with dissertations, working papers and a number of rare journal titles relating to Nicholls’s area of expertise. It also holds archival material relating to David Nicholls which includes many of his manuscripts, articles, and personal papers. Please see the listings below for further detail.

Series A
Series B
Series C
Series D
Additional papers
‘Brown boxes’

The book collection is catalogued and can be searched online using Oxford University’s SOLO catalogue. Many of the books and pamphlets are unavailable elsewhere.

Researchers may also be interested in a collection of papers relating to Trinidad and Jamaica in the Weston Library, Oxford. These have been deposited by Professor Colin Clarke, trustee of the David Nicholls Memorial Trust. Details can be found by searching here.

Access to the collection is by appointment only. Borrowing is not generally permitted, but researchers based outside Oxford are able to request items on inter-library loan. Please read Borrowing from the DNMC for more information.

See also: The David Nicholls Memorial Trust