Literary Research Guide

Front matter

The Literary Research Guide was an annotated guide to selected reference sources essential to the study of British literature, literatures of the United States, other literatures in English, and related topics. It was discontinued in December 2017.

It was written by the late James L. Harner from 1989 through the sixth edition in 2014 and then updated by Angela Courtney. This repository contains the sixth edition’s HTML, XML (DocBook v4.5), and CSS. The Modern Language Association invites you to use this code under the guidelines of this repository’s CC-BY 4.0 license.

How to Attribute

The Research Process

This section outlines step-by-step the process scholars use to identify and locate primary works (printed or manuscript) and secondary works. Click on the type of work you want to find to learn how to begin researching. Each step offers a list of recommendations.

What do you want to find?

Primary Works, Printed

General and specialized bibliographies of bibliographies and guides to research methods; catalogs of libraries; national bibliographies; specialized guides to primary works related to national literature, genre, or topic; text archives.

Primary Works, Manuscript

Guides to archives and collections; union catalogs; catalogs of major institutional collections; catalogs devoted to a national literature, geographical area, or subject; text archives.

Secondary Works

General and specialized bibliographies of bibliographies; serial bibliographies.

The Research Process: Primary Works, Manuscript, Step 1

Step 1

Step 1: Consult guides to archives and collections.

Step 1

The Research Process: Primary Works, Manuscript, Step 2

Step 2

Step 2: Search union catalogs.

Step 2

The Research Process: Primary Works, Manuscript, Step 3

Step 3

Step 3: Search catalogs of major institutional collections.

Step 3

The Research Process: Primary Works, Manuscript, Step 4

Step 4

Step 4: Search catalogs devoted to a national literature, geographical area, or subject.

Step 4

The Research Process: Primary Works, Manuscript, Step 5

Step 5

Step 5: Search text archives.

Step 5

The Research Process: Primary Works, Printed, Step 1

Step 1

Step 1: Consult bibliographies of bibliographies and guides to research methods to identify existing bibliographies of primary or secondary works associated with an author or topic.

General Bibliographies of Bibliographies and Guides to Research Methods

Specialized Bibliographies of Bibliographies and Guides to Research Methods

American Literature

Australian Literature

Canadian Literature

Caribbean-Area Literatures

Children’s Literature

English Literature

Festschriften

Fiction

Film

Irish Literature

Medieval Studies

New Zealand Literature

Periodicals

Poetry

Postcolonial Literature

Religion and Literature

Women’s Studies

Step 1

The Research Process: Primary Works, Printed, Step 2

Step 2

Step 2: Search catalogs of libraries.

a. Locate major library collections.

General Guides

Other Guides to Collections

b. Search union catalogs.

c. Search catalogs of major national libraries.

Step 2

The Research Process: Primary Works, Printed, Step 3

Step 3

Step 3: Search national bibliographies.

General Guides

American Literature

Australian Literature

Canadian Literature

English Literature

New Zealand Literature

Step 3

The Research Process: Primary Works, Printed, Step 4

Step 4

Step 4: Consult specialized guides devoted to primary works related to a national literature, genre, or topic.

American Literature

Australian Literature

Canadian Literature

Children’s Literature

Drama and Theater

English Literature

Fiction

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Literature

Gothic Fiction

Historical Fiction

Irish Literature

Little Magazines

Harter, Author Index to Little Magazines of the Mimeograph Revolution, 1958–1980 (K793)

Mystery Fiction

New Zealand Literature

Poetry

Prose

Science Fiction

Scottish Literature

Short Fiction

Welsh Literature

Step 4

The Research Process: Primary Works, Printed, Step 5

Step 5

Step 5: Search text archives.

American Literature

Broadsides

Canadian Literature

Diaries

Drama

English Literature

Fiction

Poetry

Step 5

The Research Process: Secondary Works, Step 1

Step 1

Step 1: Consult bibliographies of bibliographies to identify existing bibliographies of secondary works associated with an author or topic.

General Bibliographies of Bibliographies

Specialized Bibliographies of Bibliographies

American Literature

Book Review Indexes

Canadian Literature

Caribbean-Area Literatures

Dictionaries

Dissertations and Theses

English Literature

Festschriften

Fiction

Film

History

Irish Literature

Library Catalogs

Medieval Studies

National Bibliographies

Periodical Indexes

Poetry

Serial Bibliographies

Women’s Studies

Step 1

The Research Process: Secondary Works, Step 2

Step 2

Step 2: Search serial bibliographies to begin building a preliminary bibliography or to supplement an existing bibliography.

a. Search the major general literature serial bibliographies.

b. Identify serial bibliographies devoted to a national literature, group, genre, literary period, subject, or individual author.

Specialized Bibliographies

African American Literature

African Literatures

American Literature

Art

Australian Literature

Bibliography and Textual Criticism

Biography

Canadian Literature

Caribbean-Area Literatures in English

Children’s Literature

Classical Literatures

Colonialism and Postcolonialism

Comparative Literature

Composition and Rhetoric

Computers and the Humanities

Dance and Literature

Drama and Theater

English Literature

Environmental Studies

Film

Folklore

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Studies

Gothicism

Hispanic American Literature

History

Interdisciplinary Studies

Irish Literature

Linguistics

Midwestern American Literature

Music

Onomastics

Other Literatures in English

Philosophy

Poetry

Political Science

Popular Culture

Psychology and Literature

Religion

Science and Literature

Science Fiction

Scottish Literature

Shakespeare, William

Short Fiction

Social Sciences

Sociology

Southern American Literature

Stylistics

Western American Literature

Women’s Studies

c. Search the major general serial bibliographies.

d. Search union catalogs.

e. Consult surveys of research.

General Surveys

Specialized Surveys of Research

African American Literature

African Literatures

American Literature

Book Collecting

Canadian Literature

Children’s Literature

Composition and Rhetoric

Critical Theory

Cultural Theory

Drama and Theater

English Literature

Fiction

Folklore

Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgendered Studies

Irish Literature

Poetry

Popular Culture

Prose

Scottish Literature

Textual Studies

Women’s Studies

f. Search dissertation bibliographies and abstracts.

Bibliographies of Bibliographies and Databases

Other Bibliographies of Theses and Dissertations

g. Search guides to scholarship and criticism associated with a particular national literature, genre, or subject.

African Literatures

American Literature

Art

Australian Literature

Bibliography

Canadian Literature

Caribbean-Area Literatures

Children’s Literature

Comparative Literature

Drama and Theater

English Literature

Fiction

Film and Literature

Folklore

Gothic Fiction

Hispanic American Literature

Historical Fiction

History and Literature

Irish Literature

Medicine and Literature

Music and Literature

Mystery Fiction

New Zealand Literature

Philosophy and Literature

Poetry

Political Science and Literature

Popular Culture

Postcolonialism

Prose

Psychology and Literature

Religion and Literature

Science and Literature

Science Fiction

Scottish Literature

Short Fiction

Social Sciences and Literature

Welsh Literature

Women and Literature

Step 2

Research Methods

Guides to research methods offer essential introductions to the methods and tools associated with the kinds of research done within a discipline.

General Guides

A5

Altick, Richard D., and John J. Fenstermaker. The Art of Literary Research. 4th ed. New York: Norton, 1993. 353 pp. PR56.A68 807′.2.

A guide to research techniques, emphasizing “the irreducible element of brain work that lies at the heart of productive research” and the ways in which traditional methods of research and “historically oriented literary scholarship” can work in tandem with recent theoretical and critical approaches. The discussions of the vocation and spirit of scholarship, scholarly occupations (biography, textual study, authorship attribution, source investigation, reception and influence study, and historical research), the tracking down of materials (some information is outdated and computer-accessible resources need fuller treatment), major libraries, note-taking (the discussion on mechanics is more applicable to the era of fountain pens than to that of laptops), and the composing process are full of sound practical advice and leavened with instructive examples. Concludes with a selective bibliography and exercises keyed to the text. Indexed by persons, titles, and subjects. The standard vade mecum of methods of literary research, The Art of Literary Research should be among the well-thumbed volumes in every literary critic or scholar’s personal library.

In contrast, The Handbook to Literary Research, ed. Delia da Sousa Correa and W. R. Owens, 2nd ed. (London: Routledge, 2010; 257 pp.) should be avoided because of its scattershot and superficial treatment of important resources (e.g., Google and Wikipedia receive much more attention than MLAIB [G335] and ABELL [G340]).

Sporting an equally promising title, Research Methods for English Studies, ed. Gabriele Griffin (Edinburgh: Edinburgh UP, 2005; 248 pp.) is long on anecdote and fatally deficient on practical advice and discussion of basic methodology (e.g., the chapter on archives focuses on the “romance” of the archive, the chapter on textual analysis uses a painting as an example, and there is a discussion of “Creative Writing as a Research Method”).

Tory Young, Studying English Literature: A Practical Guide (Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2008; 172 pp.)—an elementary guide to writing critical essays with a completely inadequate discussion of MLA citation style—is best avoided.

For an entertaining and instructive account of the literary detective work behind some major scholarly discoveries, see Altick, The Scholar Adventurers, rpt. with a new pref. (Columbus: Ohio State UP, 1987; 338 pp.).

A10

Barzun, Jacques, and Henry F. Graff. The Modern Researcher. 6th ed. Belmont: Wadsworth, 2004. 322 pp. D13.B334 001.4′32.

A multidisciplinary guide that emphasizes techniques important in historical research. Of most use to literature scholars are the discussions of note-taking, the researcher’s virtues (accuracy, love of order, logic, honesty, self-awareness, imagination), verification, the establishment of dates, kinds of evidence, and bias. Indexed by persons and subjects. Some chapters suffer from discursiveness and an attempt to address both the experienced scholar and the neophyte (who will be hampered by numerous incomplete and sometimes inaccurate citations for basic sources and will be misled by the shameless hyping of resources published by the Gale Group and Scribner’s, which—like the publisher of this edition—were subsidiaries of Thomson in 2004), and overall the current edition gives short shrift to electronic resources. This guide offers an instructive overview of research techniques, but literary scholars will find Altick and Fenstermaker, Art of Literary Research (A5), more concise and immediately helpful.

The third edition of Thomas Mann’s The Oxford Guide to Library Research (New York: Oxford UP, 2005; 293 pp.)—a substantial improvement over the second edition (1998; 316 pp.) and its predecessor (A Guide to Library Research Methods [New York: Oxford UP, 1987; 199 pp.])—is organized “around nine different methods of subject searching,” including controlled vocabulary searching, browsing classified book stacks, keyword searching, and related record searching. His advice on locating literary criticism (pp. 248–50) should be ignored, however. David Beasley’s Beasley’s Guide to Library Research (Toronto: U of Toronto P, 2000; 206 pp.), an inadequately updated version of How to Use a Research Library (New York: Oxford UP, 1988; 164 pp.), is an elementary, frequently inaccurate, outdated, and untrustworthy guide addressed to novices.

A25

Nicholls, David G., ed. Introduction to Scholarship in Modern Languages and Literatures. 3rd ed. New York: MLA, 2007. 370 pp. PB29.I58 407.2.

A collection of fifteen essays, each by a major scholar, designed as an introduction to selected fields of linguistic and literary study: linguistics; language, culture, and society; language acquisition and language learning; rhetoric; composition; poetics; textual scholarship; literary interpretation; historical scholarship; comparative literature; cultural studies; feminist and gender studies; ethnic and minority studies; border studies; and translation studies. A concluding essay addresses the issue of the scholar in society. The authors typically “discuss the nature, value, philosophy, and underlying assumptions of their subjects; outline the history of relevant scholarship; survey major issues and approaches of the past, present, and foreseeable future; and conclude with suggestions for further reading.” Although directed to a student audience, the essays offer authoritative and balanced introductions for all nonspecialists.

Specialized Topics

A30

Harner, James L. On Compiling an Annotated Bibliography. 2nd ed., 2nd printing. New York: MLA, 2001. 48 pp. Z1001.H33 010′.44.

A succinct guide to planning, organizing, researching, writing, editing, and indexing a comprehensive or selective bibliography on a literary subject or author. The second printing of the second edition adds an appendix, “Annotation Verbs,” by Ken Bugajski. Although directed to those preparing an annotated bibliography for publication either in print or online, the practical advice on planning research and identifying scholarly works is valuable for anyone compiling a preliminary bibliography for other scholarly or critical studies.

D. W. Krummel, Bibliographies: Their Aims and Methods (London: Mansell, 1984; 192 pp.), which ranges beyond literary bibliographies, also offers useful advice on compilation and organization.

A40

Love, Harold. Attributing Authorship: An Introduction. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2002. 271 pp. PN171.F6 L68 809.

Evaluates the potential and limits of traditional and modern methods of attributing authorship, including the use of external evidence, internal evidence (including stylistic elements, self-reference within the work, and evidence from “themes, ideas, beliefs and conceptions of genre manifested in the work”), statistical methods, stylometrics, and bibliographical evidence; also addresses methods of detecting gender and forgery. Concludes with a chapter on arguing attribution. Drawing on a wide range of authorship studies and thoroughly conversant with the methods discussed, Love is essential reading for anyone investigating the authorship of a document or evaluating the evidence behind an attribution.

A45

Latham, Sean, and Robert Scholes. “The Rise of Periodical Studies.” PMLA 121.2 (2006): 517–31. PB6.M6.

A description of the emerging field of periodical studies, its methodologies, and the problems attendant on its dependence on digital archives. Focuses on the “hole in the archive,” that is, the failure to preserve advertising pages in bound print runs and digital copies; the unreliability of optical character recognition (OCR) scanning and its implications for searching full text; and the need to “[g]enerate metadata for advertisements along with other features.” “The Rise of Periodical Studies” is required reading for anyone working with digital archives.

Guides to Reference Works

Guides to reference works identify and (in the better ones) evaluate the handbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographies of bibliographies, national bibliographies, surveys of research, bibliographic databases, review indexes, and other resources—print and electronic—important to research within a discipline. They are the essential first sources a scholar consults when planning how to approach a research problem.

General Guides

B60

Guide to Reference. Bob Kieft, gen. ed. 12th ed. American Library Association.Amer. Lib. Assn., 2008. 5 Oct. 2012. <http://www.guidetoreference.org/>. Updated regularly. Former title: Guide to Reference Books.

A selective guide to general and specialized reference works that focuses on the “best reference sources.” The principal criterion determining inclusion is “usefulness”; for an admirably detailed explanation of selection criteria, see http://www.guidetoreference.org/images/pdf/selection_criteria_detail.pdf. Entries are organized by six extensively classified sections: general works; humanities; social and behavioral sciences; history and area studies; science, technology, and medicine; and interdisciplinary fields (including communication and media studies, cultural studies, and gender studies). Each section includes an “Editor’s Guide.” Entries can be browsed by subfield. Advanced Search allows keyword searching of the entire text or by keyword(s) in the title, author, annotation, and publisher fields. Searches can be limited by subfield, date, and LC and Dewey classification range. In both Browse and Advanced Search, results can be sorted in ascending order by author, date, or title and can be marked for addition to a public or private list, printing, e-mailing, or exporting. Entries consist of a citation, annotation, and links to related works or subfields; a few cite reviews. In addition, users can add a public or private note to a record and find public lists that include it. Although descriptions are now more evaluative than those in previous editions (the level of evaluation is not uniform across sections), many annotations still rely too uncritically on quotations from prefatory matter to describe scope or purpose, and too few compare similar works; many annotations ignore important limitations or weaknesses or fail to link related records. More clearly focused on resources for academic libraries, the new edition omits many works of dubious value that cluttered the pages of the eleventh edition and improves coverage of foreign language titles, but it also overlooks important works (e.g., Dictionary of Old English [M1690]). Despite its shortcomings, Guide to Reference remains useful to literature scholars for its general coverage of reference works essential to research in areas related to literature. Although claiming to be “updated on an ongoing basis,” few subfields include works that appeared after 2008. Users can also consult “Selected Reference Books” in various issues of College and Research Libraries. Since the new Guide emphasizes recently published works, the earlier print editions remain useful. For the genesis and publishing history of Guide to Reference Books (along with a selective bibliography of studies and reviews), see Stuart W. Miller, “‘Monument’: Guide to Reference Books,” Distinguished Classics of Reference Publishing, ed. James Rettig (Phoenix: Oryx, 1992) 129–37.

Complemented by The New Walford Guide to Reference Resources (B65). Although now dated, Louise-Noëlle Malclès, Les sources du travail bibliographique, 3 vols. in 4 (Genève: Droz, 1950–58), is an occasionally useful supplement to Guide to Reference because of its extensive coverage of Continental publications and older works. More current but less thorough is Marie-Hélène Prévoteau and Jean-Claude Utard, Manuel de bibliographie générale, new ed., Collection bibliothèques (Paris: Cercle de la Librairie, 2005; 524 pp.). Researchers should ignore Bowker’s Best Reference Books: Arranged by LC Classification Number, 3 vols. (New Providence: Best Books–Bowker, 2005) and Bowker’s Best Reference Books: Arranged by Subject Heading, 2 vols. (2005), which offer uncritical lists that include in the literature section or under literature subject headings a substantial number of works that are not reference books. For timely notices of new and revised reference books, see American Reference Books Annual (K745) and Choice (K750).

B65

The New Walford Guide to Reference Resources (TNW). Ed. Ray Lester. 3 vols. London: Facet, 2005– . Z1035.1.W33 001′.02.

Vol. 1: Science, Technology, and Medicine. 2005. 827 pp.

Vol. 2: Social Sciences. 2008. 699 pp.

Vol. 3: Walford’s Guide to Reference Material: Generalia, Language and Literature, the Arts. Ed. Anthony Chalcraft, Ray Prytherch, and Stephen Willis. 7th ed. London: Lib. Assn., 1998. 1,186 pp. (A new edition—The Arts: Visual Arts, Music, Language, and Literature, ed. Peter Chapman and Helen Edwards—is scheduled for 2014.)

The British counterpart to Guide to Reference (B60), but more international and comprehensive in coverage. Entries in vol. 3 are organized by the Universal Decimal Classification system; those in New Walford are organized by “subject parts, subject groupings and subject fields.” Annotations in vols. 1 and 3 are sometimes evaluative and helpfully identify related works, especially supplements or titles that have been superseded; annotations in vol. 2 seldom refer to other works or reviews. Three indexes in vol. 3: authors and titles, subjects, electronic resources; two in vols. 1–2: topics (i.e., subjects) and authors and titles. Vol. 3, the one of most interest to literary researchers, is judicious in its selection and evaluation of works, is current through early 1998, and has been carefully proofread (unlike the volume’s fourth edition). Unfortunately, however, many works that exhibit major shortcomings are accompanied by only a brief descriptive comment.

Although New Walford and Guide to Reference are ultimately complementary works, Guide to Reference is more current. The Literary Research Guide offers more current coverage of sources for the study of language and literature, but both Guide to Reference and New Walford are essential guides to reference sources necessary to research in related areas.

Specialized Guides

B70

The Reader’s Adviser. Ed. Marion Sader. 14th ed. 6 vols. New Providence: Bowker, 1994. Z1035.B7 016.028. CD-ROM.

Vol. 1: The Best in Reference Works, British Literature, and American Literature. Ed. David Scott Kastan and Emory Elliott. 1994. 1,472 pp.

Vol. 2: The Best in World Literature. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 1994. 1,122 pp.

Vol. 3: The Best in Social Sciences, History, and the Arts. Ed. John G. Sproat. 1994. 1,127 pp.

Vol. 4: The Best in Philosophy and Religion. Ed. Robert S. Ellwood. 1994. 1,054 pp.

Vol. 5: The Best in Science, Technology, and Medicine. Ed. Carl Mitcham and William F. Williams. 1994. 975 pp.

Vol. 6: Indexes. 1994. 823 pp.

Ostensibly a guide to the best editions, studies, biographies, and reference books in print at the time of compilation (along with a few out of print); however, the lack of discrimination in the selection of works, the variable quality of evaluations, and the emphasis on books in print render this work virtually useless as a critical guide, especially for the lay reader. In effect, Reader’s Adviser is a repackaging of noncurrent information from Books in Print (Q4225a). Indexed in vol. 6 by persons, titles, and subjects. Author sections are also indexed in Biography and Genealogy Master Index (J565).

Even more useless is The Best Books for Academic Libraries, vers. 3.0, CD-ROM (Best Books, 2005), an uncritical conglomeration of titles. Its print predecessor—The Best Books for University Libraries, 10 vols. in multiple pts. (2002)—is an egregious waste of paper that lists titles by Library of Congress classification. See Bateson and Meserole, Guide to English and American Literature (B85), Year’s Work in English Studies (G330), Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory (U6133), and American Literary Scholarship (Q3265) instead.

B75

Taylor, Archer. General Subject-Indexes since 1548. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1966. 336 pp. Pubs. of the A. S. W. Rosenbach Fellowship in Bibliog. Z695.T28 017.

A historical and critical account of important subject indexes in Latin and European vernacular languages published through the 1950s. Organized by century, the full descriptions, which illustrate uses in modern scholarship, offer helpful introductions to earlier reference works now little known but still essential to research in many periods.

See also

Carter and Ritchie, Women’s Studies (U6580).

Literature Guides

The following works cover two or more national literatures. Guides devoted to a single national literature or period appear in appropriate sections under the heading “Guides to Reference Works.”

For a discussion of 71 literary reference works that need to be written or revised, see James L. Harner, “Literary Reference Works: Some Desiderata,” Scholarly Publishing 21.3 (1990): 171–83.

B80

Baker, Nancy L., and Nancy Huling. A Research Guide for Undergraduate Students: English and American Literature. 6th ed. New York: MLA, 2006. 96 pp. PR56.B34 820.72.

An introduction for undergraduate students to the use of electronic and print versions of major bibliographies of bibliographies, bibliographies and indexes of criticism, book review indexes, text archives, biographical dictionaries, concordances and quotation indexes, dictionaries, and literary encyclopedias. Particularly noteworthy is the detailed explanation of how to search an OPAC. The thorough explanations are accompanied by screen shots and reproductions of entries from the reference works. An appendix provides a highly selective, descriptively annotated bibliography of reference sources, including several not discussed in the text. Sound selection and clear, helpful explanations make this an ideal guide for introducing undergraduate English majors to library research.

B85

Bateson, F. W., and Harrison T. Meserole. A Guide to English and American Literature. 3rd ed. London: Longman, 1976. 334 pp. Z2011.B32 [PR83] 016.82.

An evaluative survey of the best editions and criticism of important authors as well as the reference works, literary histories, anthologies, and special studies essential to the study of a period. In addition, there are chapters on general works, modern literary criticism, and research techniques, as well as “interchapters” offering historical perspectives on the medieval, Renaissance, Augustan, and Romantic periods. Readers will disagree with some of the frequently trenchant evaluations; many authors are treated more fully elsewhere; and all sections are outdated; but no single work encompasses so much, so successfully, and so conveniently. Literature scholars sorely need a new edition. Review: Rodney L. Smith, Seventeenth-Century News 36.1 (1978): 23–24.

For recent works see Year’s Work in English Studies (G330), Year’s Work in Critical and Cultural Theory (U6133), and American Literary Scholarship (Q3265). Reader’s Adviser (B70) offers broader, but far less discriminating, coverage.

B90

Marcuse, Michael J. A Reference Guide for English Studies. Berkeley: U of California P, 1990. 790 pp. PR56.M37 016.82′09.

A selective guide to reference works (current through 1985 but with some publications as late as 1989) important to the study of the English language and literatures in English. Entries are organized in 24 variously classified divisions for general reference works; libraries; retrospective and current national bibliographies; guides to serial publications; miscellaneous topics (including dissertations, microforms, reviews, indexes to anonymous and pseudonymous works, and films); historical sources; biography and biographical references; archives and manuscripts; language, linguistics, and philology; literary materials and contexts (including folklore, mythology, the Bible, proverbs, quotations, and symbols); literature (a miscellany including sections for literary dictionaries, various foreign literatures, children’s literature, and women and literature); English literature (with sections for general works as well as various new literatures in English); medieval literature; Renaissance and early seventeenth century; Restoration and eighteenth century; nineteenth century; twentieth century; American literature; poetry and versification; theater, drama, and film; prose and prose fiction; literary theory and criticism, rhetoric, and composition; bibliography; and the profession of English (including sections on research guides, scholarly writing and publishing, computers, and careers). Within a typical section, guides and reviews of research appear first, then bibliographies, and then other reference works; many sections also include unannotated lists of journals and frequently recommended studies. Reference sources are fully annotated, usually with descriptions of a work’s history, purpose, scope, and organization; comments on uses; a judicious evaluation; and references to related works, many of which are not entered separately. Three indexes: persons; titles; subjects (with works appearing in the lists of recommended studies indexed in only the last). Given the principles determining placement of a work and the sometimes confusing organization, the subject index offers the best access to contents. Thorough in its annotations, usually judicious in selection and evaluation, and covering some non-English language works, Reference Guide for English Studies is a valuable complement to the present Literary Research Guide and a trustworthy companion for the novice as well as for the advanced scholar. Users must remember that Marcuse is current only through 1985 and thus cites many superseded editions or works and describes editorial policies or taxonomies that are now quite different.

For a comparison of the first edition of this Literary Research Guide and Marcuse see the review by Robert Schweik, Analytical and Enumerative Bibliography ns 4.4 (1990): 171–83.

See also

ALS (Q3265): Chapter on reference works since the volume for 1977.

Thompson, Key Sources in Comparative and World Literature (S4850).

YWES (G330): Chapter on Reference, Literary History, and Bibliography in vols. 66–72 (for 1985–91); in addition, some chapters survey reference works, and the Bibliography and Textual Criticism chapter (which begins with vol. 76 [for 1995]) evaluates some reference works.

Literary Handbooks, Dictionaries, and Encyclopedias

Literary handbooks, dictionaries, and encyclopedias are useful for finding brief biographies of authors; descriptions of literary characters; plot summaries; definitions of terms; and information about events, groups, places, and institutions of literary interest. Some also include potted critical commentary. The best ones offer accurate, concise entries written by established scholars and overseen by an editor who exercises judicious selectivity and a firm editorial hand.

This section is limited to works devoted to literary terminology or more than one national literature. For an evaluative overview of 20 handbooks, several of which are omitted from this Guide, see Thomas Clayton, “Literary Handbooks: A Critical Survey,” Literary Research Newsletter 5.2 (1980): 67–87.

The best one-volume general encyclopedia is The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed, ed. Paul Lagassé (New York: Columbia UP, 2000; 3,156 pp.), available online through Encyclopedia.com (http://www.encyclopedia.com/), Credo Reference (http://www.credoreference.com/home.do), and EBSCO [I512]); the best multivolume one is Encyclopædia Britannica Online (http://www.britannica.com).

This Guide excludes collections of plot summaries; those needing to locate a synopsis of a specific work can consult Carol Koehmstedt Kolar, comp., Plot Summary Index, 2nd ed., rev. and enl. (Metuchen: Scarecrow, 1981; 526 pp.), or Barbara K. Adams et al., eds., Plot Locator: An Index to Summaries of Fiction and Nonfiction (New York: Garland, 1991; 704 pp.; Garland Reference Lib. of the Humanities 1437).

Literary Terminology

C105

Harmon, William. A Handbook to Literature. 12th ed. Boston: Pearson-Longman, 2012. 655 pp. PN41.H355 803.

A dictionary of places, groups, movements, isms, critical terms, forms, genres, periods, character types, concepts, and other literary terms associated with English and American literature. Each entry provides a succinct, admirably clear definition, frequently accompanied by examples, liberal cross-references, and (in some) citations to important scholarship. Concludes with a chronology of British, American, and world literary history (through early 2010) and five appendixes: English monetary terms and values; Nobel prizes in literature (through 2010); Pulitzer prizes for fiction, poetry, and drama (through 2010). Indexed by persons. The Companion Website for A Handbook to Literature (http://www.pearsonhighered.com/educator/product/Companion-Website-for-for-A-Handbook-to-Literature-10th-and-11th-Editions-10E/9780131953178.page) is designed for teachers and students. The most authoritative and clear of the numerous general handbooks to English and American literature, Handbook to Literature is the classic in its field and an essential desktop companion.

Chris Baldick, The Oxford Dictionary of Literary Terms, 3rd ed. (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2008; 361 pp.), is a more concise, but quite serviceable, compilation, with succinct, clearly written definitions that frequently—but inconsistently—include pronunciation (e.g., for lyric but not for préciosité). Web links are updated at http://www.oup.com/uk/booksites/content/9780199208272/links.

C107

Cuddon, J. A. A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Rev. M. A. R. Habib. 5th ed. Oxford: Wiley-Blackwell, 2013. 784 pp. PN41.C83 803.

A dictionary of technical terminology, forms, genres, kinds, groups, schools, movements, phrases, isms, motifs, themes, character types, modes, styles, objects, and concepts associated with classical and modern literatures and currently in regular use. Along with a brief definition or description, many entries provide an etymology, examples, or an illustrative passage; some cite major studies. The fifth edition shortens lengthy entries to no more than three pages, drops “a number of very obscure terms,” adds several new entries, and expands or updates many existing entries. Although some entries are uneven and definitions are frequently vague or too diffuse, Cuddon is the most international and inclusive of single-volume dictionaries of literary terms. Review (3rd ed.): Peter Barry, English 40.168 (1991): 275–84.

More restricted in its coverage is David Mikics, A New Handbook of Literary Terms (New Haven: Yale UP, 2007; 348 pp.), which emphasizes the European tradition. The discussions frequently present telling examples from literary works and cite related scholarship (though the practice of giving the date of first appearance of a book can prevent readers from tracking down a revised edition: see the entries for folio and science fiction); a few entries explain pronunciation. Indexed by persons and subjects.

See also

Dupriez, Dictionary of Literary Devices (U5560a).

International Dictionary of Theatre Language (L1135).

Lanham, Handlist of Rhetorical Terms (U5560a).

General Literary Guides

C115

The Oxford Classical Dictionary (OCD). Ed. Simon Hornblower and Antony Spawforth. 4th ed. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. 1,592 pp. DE5.O9 938.003. Available online at http://www.library.nlx.com and through Oxford Reference (I530); CD-ROM.

A dictionary of classical civilization through the early Christian era (c. 337), with entries for authors and other important persons, places, peoples, mythological figures, themes, deities, languages, forms, genres, historical events, and literary terms; literary works of known authorship are discussed in author entries. Beginning with the third edition, OCD emphasizes interdisciplinary studies over literature, increases its attention to women, and embraces a wider, more international vision of classical studies. The more than 6,300 signed entries by established scholars range from a few lines to several pages, but even the brief ones are replete with information. Almost all conclude with references to important scholarship. The InteLex electronic versions (static texts with hyperlinks) can be browsed by entry or searched by keyword. Because the Folio search interface on the CD-ROM is cumbersome to use, researchers should opt, if possible, for the online version, which has a better search screen. See entry I530 for an evaluation of the Oxford Reference interface. Authoritative and informative, the work is the best single-volume classical dictionary in English and an essential desktop reference for deciphering classical allusions in literary works; it truly has, as its editors claim, “no competitor in any language.”