INTRODUCTION

This Subject Guide describes a few of the Auraria Library's resources for American and English literary study. Check our catalog Skyline , or browse the P to PZ areas to find additional materials. The Library of Congress Subject Headings lists the call number ranges for literature. For additional help or any questions, ask at the reference desk or contact a literature subject specialist.

back to top

PERIODICAL DATABASES AND INDEXES

Use databases and printed indexes to locate information in journals.

MLA Bibliography 1963-present. Indexes critical literary and language scholarship and provides access to over 4,000 journals and serials published worldwide, as well as books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. Provided by Modern Language Association. MLA is now simultaneously searchable with the LLBA database (Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts).   

Expanded Academic Index ASAP   1980-present. A general index with material on different topics, with many literary journals indexed.  Includes full-text articles. It covers 1980 through the present.

Arts & Humanities Search 1980-present.  An index to over 1,300 leading arts and humanities journals.  

JSTOR is an online archive of full text journals in anthropology, archaeology, ecology, history, language and literature, economics, ecology, mathematics, philosophy, political science, and population studies. It usually covers the beginning issues of a publication until 5 years before the present.

Project Muse is an online collection of full-text scholarly articles which cover the most recent five years or so.

Cambridge Collections Online Cambridge Collections Online covers literature, poetry, theater, philosophy, religion, historical topics, and culture.

Click here for additional recommended databases.

For older or additional material, the following print indexes are available:

MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles in the Modern Languages and Literatures .   New York:  Modern Language Association. Auraria owns 1922-1994. INDEX P1.M642 An index to the year's criticism in languages and literatures. Both books and journal articles are indexed, as well as collections and festschriften . Book I: English and American Literature; Book II:  European, Asian, African, and South American literatures; Book III: Linguistics; Book IV: General literature and related topics; Book V: Folklore. Each year's volume is arranged by literature and by time period. There are subject and author indexes.   

Humanities Index . New York: H.W. Wilson. Auraria owns 1974-1999 . INDEX A13.H853 Indexes magazines in humanities related fields. Formed when Social Sciences and Humanities Index split into two indexes .

Social Sciences and Humanities Index. New York: H.W. Wilson, 1907-74. INDEX H1.S62 A forerunner of Humanities Index . Covers the same material as Humanities Index as well as material in the social sciences.

back to top

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION

Biographies give information about the life and works of an author

Contemporary Authors A bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television, and other fields. Provides complete biographical and bibliographical references for more than 90,000 authors in the U.S. and around the world.  There is a large printed version of Contemporary Authors located at REF PN771.C622 (Detroit: Gale).

Dictionary of Literary Biography . Detroit: Gale, 1978-  . PS129.D47 A multivolume set which contains biographical and critical sketches of authors from all countries and eras. Each volume has a theme and includes authors with a genre or time period in common. Entries are arranged alphabetically by author. Every volume contains a cumulative index to the prior volumes. Examples of volumes in the set are listed below:

v.5 Greiner, Donald J. American Poets Since World War II .
v.8 Cowart, David, and Thomas L. Wymer, eds. Twentieth Century American Science Fiction Writers . v.13 Weintraub, Stanley, ed. British Dramatists Since World War II .
v. 18 Nadel, Ira B., and William F. Fredeman, eds. Victorian Novelists After 1885 .
v. 122 Lomelf, Francisco, and Carl R. Shirley, eds. Chicano Writers .
v. 296 Hansom, Paul . Twentieth Century European Cultural Theorists.

Dictionary of Literary Biography . Documentary Series, An Illustrated Chronicle . Detroit: Gale, 1982-. REF PS129.D48 1982 This is a supplement to Dictionary of Literary Biography . It provides biographical sketches of major literary figures, and in addition, documentary sources such as letters, notebooks, interviews, book reviews, and photographs. The documents presented help illuminate an author's creative processes.   

Scott-Kilvert, Ian, ed. British Writers . 7 volumes, index and supplements. New York: Scribner, 1979-. REF PR85.B683 The main seven volume set includes authors from the 14th century to the present. Entries are arranged chronologically, according to the date of the author's birth, and contain both biographical and critical information. The volumes begin with a chronological table, listing the major political, social and literary events of the time period covered by that volume.   

There are many biographical directories that compile authors with common gender or ethnicity. Below are just a few examples:

Hatch, Shari and Michael R. Strickland. African-American Writers: A Dictionary . REF PS 153 N5 A3444

Trudeau, Lawrence. Asian American Literature . REF PS153 A84 A82

West-Duran, Alan. Latino and Latina Writers . REF PS153 H56 L39

Multicultural Writers: An A to Z Guide.

Anonymous and Pseudonymous Authors

Abbatt, William.  The Colloquial Who's Who 1600-1924.  New York:  University Microfilms, 1966.   REF  Z1045 .A12 

Atkinson, Frank.  Dictionary of Literary Pseudonyms .  Chicago:  ALA, 1987.   REF  Z1065 .A83 

Room, Adrian.  Dictionary of Pseudonyms .  Jefferson, NC:  McFarland, 1998.   2nd Floor  Z1041 .R66 

Horden, John, editor.  A Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous Publications in the English Language 1475-1640 . London:  Longman, 1980.   REF. Z1065.H18 1980

Halkett, Samuel and John Laing.  Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous English Literature . 2nd edition.  Kennedy, James et al, eds.  New York:  Haskell House, 1971.   REF. Z1065.H18 Vols. 1-7

back to top

INFORMATION ON SPECIFIC GENRES

Some indexes, rather than indexing periodical articles, index such things as individual poems (Granger's Index to Poetry ), or material in a particular format ( Short Story Index ). Some indexes most useful to literature studies are listed below.

Grangers World of Poetry (Columbia) This is an online version of the Granger's Index to Poetry This database presents more than13,000 full-text poems and 250,000 poem citations, the latter enabling the researcher to locate poems in printed poetry anthologies. Also includes commentaries, biographies, bibliographies, and a glossary of terms. Printed Indexes are listed below. Smith, William James, and William F. Bernhardt, eds. Granger's Index to Poetry . 8th edition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1982. REF PN1022.G7 1986 This first appeared in 1904. The seventh edition indexes poems published in collections between 1970-81; the earlier editions index earlier collections. Arranged by title and first line of poem, with a subject and author index.   

Begirt, Gary C., ed. Short Story Index . New York: H.W. Wilson, 1923-. REF Z5917.S5S35 An index to short stories appearing in collections and, starting in 1974, in selected periodicals. Arranged by author, with cross references from title and subject.   

Fiddle, Estelle A., ed. Play Index . New York: H.W. Wilson, 1949- . Z5781.P53 Indexes plays published both individually and in collections. Arranged by author with cross references from second author, title, and subject. Special features include a symbol designating a play for children or young people, the number of males and females in the cast, and whether the sets are interior or exterior.  

Interplay   An internet index to plays in collections, anthologies and periodicals. This allows you to search for a play that has not been published separately, but is available in a collection. Students may find this particularly useful.

Book Review Digest . New York: H.W. Wilson, 1905- . INDEX Z1219.C95 Book Review Digest excerpts and references reviews of both fiction and nonfiction books. Includes books in the humanities, social sciences, and general sciences. Arranged by author, with a subject and title index. Also available online in the library at the stand alone FirstSearch terminal.

back to top

LITERARY HISTORIES

Literary histories usually cover a particular literature and a particular time period. They are helpful when you need background information on a period or a literary movement. Bibliographies for further research are usually appended.

Baugh, Albert C., et al., ed. A Literary History of England . New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1948. REF PR83.B31967E A standard in the field. Covers English literature up to World War II. Contains four books:  Book I covers the Middle Ages; Book II the Renaissance; Book III the Restoration and Eighteenth Century; Book IV the Nineteenth Century and After. Essays on periods and on individual authors.   

The Oxford History of English Literature . Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1945- . There are fifteen volumes in this set. Do a title search to bring up this series.   

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature . Online version (Bartleby) of the 18 volume set. Considered the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published, the Cambridge History contains over 303 chapters and 11,000 pages, with essay topics ranging from poetry, fiction, drama and essays to history, theology and political writing. The set encompasses a wide selection of writing on orators, humorists, poets, newspaper columnists, religious leaders, economists, Native Americans, song writers, and even non-English writing, such as Yiddish and Creole.

Trent, William Peterfield, et al,eds. Cambridge History of American Literature . New York: Macmillan, 1917. REF PS88.C3 1945 A one book history of American literature in three volumes, bound together. Volume I: Colonial and Revolutionary Literature, and Early National Literature, Part I. Volume II: Early National Literature, Part II, and Later National Literature, Part I. Volume III: Later National Literature, Parts II and II Each volume has its own index.

Spiller, Robert E., et al. Literary History of the United States . 4th edition. New York: Macmillan, 1974. REF PS88.L522 1974 Volume 1 is a history in narrative form, concentrating on authors and movements. Volume 2 is a bibliography.   

Elliott, Emory, general ed. Columbia Literary History of the United States.   New York : Columbia University Press, 1988. REF PS92.C64 1998 As the Preface makes clear, this book doesn't try to present just one voice or vision of American literature.  Instead, it attempts to give a voice to the many currents and viewpoints that make up that literature.  Date divisions are Beginnings to 1810; 1810-1865; 1865-1910; 1910-1945; 1945 to the present.  Chapters can be on genres, on specific authors, or on various ethnic literatures.  The narrative form and date organization gives an idea of the sweep and progression of the literature, even as different stories are developed at the same time.

Early English Manuscripts

To locate manuscripts from the 15th, 16th, and 17th centuries, locate your desired subject, author or title in the following catalogues:

A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640 (known as Pollard and Redgrave's ). First compiled by W.W. Pollard and G.R. Redgrave.  London:  Bibliographical Society, 1976. Ref. Z2002.P77 1976, Vol. 1-3

Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, and of English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641-1700 (known as Wing's) . 2nd edition. Compiled by Donald Wing.  NY: MLA, 1972, 1982  Ref. Z2002.W52 Vol. 1-3 .

Texts of Early English manuscripts in are in digital and microfilm collections available at the University of Denver's Penrose Library and the University of Colorado at Boulder's Norlin Library .  The collections are entitled English Books 1475-1640 (Penrose microfilm EEB1, Norlin Microfilm 603a) and English Books 1641-1700 (Penrose microfilm EEB2, Norlin microfilm 604). 

Many Shakespearean and other manuscripts from the Horace  Howard Furness collection are available in an online facsimile format at  the Schoenberg Center for Electronic Text and Image (University  of Pennsylvania).  This collection has many outstanding features.  For  example, one feature lets the viewer simultaneously compare two texts.

Literary Archives

Author and other literary archives may be identified in the following:      

Directory of Archives and Manuscript Repositories in the United States .  National Historical Publications and Records Commission.  Phoenix:  Oryx Press, 1988.   Ref.  CD 3020 D49 1988

Slavens, Thomas P.  Sources of Information for Historical Research.   New York:  Neil-Schumann, 1994.  Ref. D 20 .Z9 S64    Search by author or topic in the database Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts.             

For very recent material, try a LexisNexis newspaper search.

back to top

DICTIONARIES, ENCYCLOPEDIAS, AND HANDBOOKS

These all purpose books define literary terms, identify fictional characters and places, and give biographical information on authors. They are valuable as sources of quick information. All are in the Reference area.

The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is the famous dictionary which gives word histories for most words in the English Language. We have an online and a print version.
Ref. PE1625 .O87 1989  

Dr. Samuel Johnson's Dictionary of the English Language The first English language dictionary, published in 1755.

Harmon, William, ed. A Handbook to Literature .Upper Saddle River, N.J. : Prentice Hall, 2003. 9th ed. REF PN41 .H355 2003 Brief entries defining genres, allusions, movements, literary terms. Based on the 1936 classic by William Thrall and Addison Hibbard.   

Reference Guide to World Literature (Online through Gale Virtual Library)

Drabble, Margaret. Oxford Companion to English Literature . 6th ed. New York:  Oxford University Press, 1998. REF PR19 .D73 1998b Generally a basic reader's source book. Dictionary arrangement of literary allusions, characters. Very little on current literature. Good sections on censorship, history of press law.   

Hart, James D., ed. Oxford Companion to American Literature . 6th edition. New York: Oxford University Press, 2000. PS21 .H3 1995 First published in 1941. Covers social, economic, scientific, military, political, and religious effects on literature. Good biographical information.  

Cuddon, J. A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory . 4th ed. Oxford ; Malden, Mass. : Blackwell, 1998. REF PN41 .C83 1998 Technical terms, literary forms, genres, groups and movements, phrases, ~isms, motifs, themes, objects such as manuscripts, and concepts such as sublime are all defined in this dictionary.  Entries range from a line or two to several pages.   

Ian Ousby, ed. Cambridge Guide to Literature in English . New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 1988. REF 85.C28 1988 Very brief entries on people, places, specific works, genres, rhetorical terms, and critical concepts.

Twentieth Century Literary Movements Dictionary. REF PN 597.T94

SOURCES FOR LITERARY CRITICISM

Gunton, Sharon R., and Jean C. Stine, eds. Contemporary Literary Criticism . Detroit: Gale, 1973-  REF PN771.C59 Excerpts from and references to criticism of novelists, poets, short story writers. Arranged alphabetically by author. The index volume indexes not only this entire set but two companion sets: Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism , ( REF PN 7771 G27 ); and Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism , ( REF PN 761 N5 ). Use the index volume at the end of the last set to find entries in all three sets.