Background Sources
These are just a few examples of reference sources available in the UCB Libraries. Click on the title to see the OskiCat record for each title and note the library location and call number of the item. Many reference sources must be used in the library.
*The Oxford companion to Mark Twain
*Critical Companion to Mark Twain
*Mark Twain's Letters (Paine) (selections only but try the index)
Dictionary of American history
Encyclopedia of American social history
* = on reserve at Moffitt; bring the call number and ask for it at the Moffitt Circulation desk
Items listed as being in the "Doe Reference Hall" are on the 2nd floor of Doe Library, in the same hall as the reference desk.
Items listed as being in "Doe Reference" are on the 2nd floor of Doe Library, in the North Reading Room.
The Mark Twain Project is of course a good source of basic information, and the Mark Twain Project Online site has more information including brief biographies of many of the people whose names appear in Twain's letters and writings.
How to get to and register to use the Mark Twain Papers
The Mark Twain Museum provides a chronology of Twain's life that may be useful.
Background Sources - Library databases
These are just a few examples of Library databases that can provide useful background information for your topic. To see a more complete list, start with the Library home page > Electronic Resources > Electronic Resources, Types A-Z
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American National Biography
Biographical portraits of more than 17,400 American men and women.
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Literature Criticism Online
Contains thousands of essays from the Gale literary criticism books including: Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism (CMLC), Contemporary Literary Criticism (CLC), Drama Criticism (DC), Literature Criticism from 1400-1800 (LC), Poetry Criticism (PC), Shakespearean Criticism (SC), Short Story Criticism (SSC), and Twentieth Century Literary Criticism (TCLC).
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Literature Online
Includes more than 350,000 works of English and American poetry, drama and prose, 131 full-text literature journals, and other key criticism and reference resources. Includes reference works on literary criticism and biographical information. Go directly to Literature Online - poetry texts, Literature Online - drama texts, Literature Online - prose texts, Literature Online - search authors or Literature Online - Criticism and Reference
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Literature Resource Center (LRC)
Indexes biographies, bibliographies, and critical analyses of more than 120,000 novelists, poets, essayists, journalists, and other writers by providing access to content of numerous print counterparts including Contemporary Authors, Contemporary Literary Criticism Select, and Dictionary of Literary Biography.