English and American Literature

Encyclopedia of Caribbean literature.  Ed. D. H. Figueredo.  2 vols. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2006. Doe Reference  PN849.C3.E53  2006

Encyclopedia of frontier literature.  Mary Ellen Snodgrass. Oxford, [U.K.]; New York: Oxford University Press, 1999. Doe and Bancroft Reference   PS169.F7.S65 1997

Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean literature, 1900-2003.  Eds. Daniel Balderston and Mike Gonzalez.  London; New York: Routledge, 2004. Doe Reference Hall  PQ7081.A1.E558 2004

Encyclopedia of literature and criticism.  Ed. Martin Coyle et al. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991.   e-book and Main PN81.E53 1991    

Encyclopedia of literature in Canada.  Ed. William H. New.  Toronto; Buffalo, N.Y.: University of Toronto Press, 2002.  Doe Reference  PR9180.2.E53 2002

Encyclopedia of medieval literature.  Eds. Robert T. Lambdin and Laura C. Lambdin. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. Doe Reference Hall  PN669.E53 2000

HarperCollins reader's encyclopedia of American literature. Eds. George B. Perkins, Barbara Perkins, and Phillip Leininger.  2^nd ed.  New York: HarperCollins, 2002.  Doe Reference  PS21.B4 2002

The Oxford encyclopedia of American literature.  Chief ed. Jay Parini.  4 vols.  New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.    e-book   and  Doe Reference Hall  PS 21.E537 2004   

The Oxford encyclopedia of British literature. Ed. by David Scott Kastan.  5 vols. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2006.    e-book   and Doe Reference Hall  PR19.O95 2006   

South Asian literature in English: an encyclopedia. Jaina C. Sanga. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. Doe Reference Hall  PR9570.S643.S67 2004

Oxford English Dictionary   (OED)  Entries contain definitions, etymologies, and quotations showing use over time.  

Dictionary of Old English    A complete record of over 3000 Old English texts (except for some manuscript variants).  We will soon have online access to the dictionary as well as the corpus.

Middle English Compendium  Contains an electronic version of the Middle English Dictionary, a HyperBibliography of Middle English prose and verse based on the MED bibliographies, the Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse, and links to related electronic resources.

Ferber, Michael.  A Dictionary of Literary Symbols. 2nd ed.  Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007.    Main PN56.S9.F47 2007      e-version of 1st ed., 1999

Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. Ed. by Elizabeth Knowles.   2nd ed.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. Print available in Doe Reference Dictionaries  PN43.O94 2005

Literature Criticism Online    Quick way to trace reception and locate early reviews.

Literature Resource Center (LRC)    Biographical information and some selected criticism.

American National Biography   Reliable biographical information about thousands of famous people who have shaped the U.S.  The honor of being listed is counterbalanced by the necessity of being dead before inclusion.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (DNB)     Reliable biographical information about nearly 60,000 people who shaped Great Britain.  Updated 3 times a year.  No living person need apply for inclusion.

Book Review Digest Retrospective: 1905-1982  & Book Review Digest Plus 1983-    Indexes and excerpts reviews of English-language fiction and non-fiction.

ArchiveGrid       Important tool for locating personal papers and the location of various archives.

Guide to Reference     Master listing of thousands of reference works.  Crucial tool for finding print and online reference sources.

British Council's Writers Directory    Information about contemporary writers, all of whom have to be from the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland, Commonwealth or be from a region worked with by the British Council.  Gives brief biography, bibliography of works, awards, and links to further information.

Additional materials, print and e-, that may prove useful in doing your research.

Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature  and Doe and Moffitt Reference PS21. E537 2004

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism   Historical survey of movements and figures which is updated annually.

Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in  English Literary Studies.  New York: Modern Language Assn., 2008.   5th ed.   Doe Ref Z2011.H34 2008    The bible for any kind of literary research.  Thorough descriptions and evaluations of resources with crucial information about contents.  Web version  is updated periodically but harder to browse. 

Harmon, William.  A Handbook to Literature.  10th ed.  Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Pearson/Prentice Hall, 2006.  Doe Reference  PN 41.H355 2006

Abrams, M. H.  A Glossary of Literary Terms.  9th ed.  Boston: Wadsworth Cengage Learning, 2009. Doe Reference  PN 41.A183  2009

National Union Catalog, pre-1956 Imprints (NUC) Main Z733.U57.C22556     Catalog of holdings of many U. S. libraries, including the Library of Congress.  Useful for tracking editions.

Library of Congress Online Catalog   Does NOT include every title in the NUC but has the newer titles.

The British Library General Catalogue of Printed Books to 1975   Gardner Stack Z921 .B8542 1975

British Library     Advanced search (with search tips) for the British Library site.