The Age of Milton: An Encyclopedia of Major 17th-Century British and American Authors / edited by Alan Hager. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Ref PR431.A36 2004
The 17th century was a time of significant cultural and political change. The era saw the rise of exploration and travel, the growth of the scientific method, and the spread of challenges to conventional religion. Many of these developments occurred in England and North America, and literature of the period reflects the intellectual and emotional fervor of the age. This reference chronicles the lives and works of more than 75 British and American writers of the 17th century.
The Alexander Pope Encyclopedia / Pat Rogers.
Westport, Conn: Greenwood Press, 2004.
Ref PR3632.R64 2004
Alexander Pope (1688-1744) was the most important English poet of the 18th century, as well as an essayist, satirist, and critic. This reference conveniently summarizes his life and works. Included are several-hundred alphabetically arranged entries on his works, significant historical events, cultural terms and categories, key literary terms, major scholars and critics, and more. The entries reflect current scholarship and cite works for further reading. The encyclopedia also provides a chronology and concludes with a selected, general bibliography.
American Authors 1600-1900 / Stanley Kunitz. N.Y.: H.W. Wilson, 1938. Ref PS21.K8
Includes biographies of nearly 1300 major and minor authors along with
lists of works and citations to selected critical sources.
American Drama Criticism: Interpretations, 1890-1977 / Floyd Eugene Eddleman, editor. Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press, 1979. Ref PS332.P3 1979 A selective bibliography of criticism in books and periodicals. Includes several indexes.
American Women Writers: A Critical Reference
Guide from Colonial Times to the Present / Taryn Benbow-Pfalzgraf, editor. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. Ref
PS147.A42 2000 (4 volumes).
Four-volume set provides biographical and bibliographical information on women
writers of all genres.
American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism / Harriet Semmes Alexander, editor. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1984-1996. Ref PS303.A44 (2 volumes). Lists explications of poems of a thousand lines or less.
Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia / Bruce Murphy, editor. New York: Harper Collins Publishers, 1996. Ref PN41.B4 1996 One-volume literary encyclopedia. Succinct entries. Covers biographical, historical, and factual data on words, phrases, allusions, titles and terms. Prominent writers as well as social, political and general cultural figures included.
Best Literature by and about Blacks / Phillip M. Richards & Neil Schlager. Detroit: Gale Group, 2000.
Ref PS153.N5 R53 2000. Fact
Sheet.
The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the English Language / David Crystal.
Cambridge [England]; New York: Cambridge University Press, 1995. Ref PE1072.C68 1995
This book is a superbly written and illustrated exploration of the history, structure, and use of English throughout the world. World-renowned linguist and author, David Crystal, explores the many facets and varieties of the English language, bringing life to this large and complex subject. He begins with the origins of English in Anglo-Saxon times and follows the growth of the language to the present. Every major English-speaking country is included, and the book abounds with insights into how English evolved and how it works. The author pays particular attention to the use of language in literature and how it permeates humor. He allows language to "speak for itself" by using quotations, photographs, newspaper clippings, poems, advertisements, cartoons, and many other types of illustrative material that vividly complement his narrative.
Children's Literature Review: Excerpts from Reviews, Criticism, & Commentary on Books for Children & Young People. Detroit:
Gale Research, 1976-
Ref PN1009.A1 C5139 (107 volumes)*.
This illustrated series covers more than 600 writers and illustrators for children
and young adults, including such notable figures as Louisa May Alcott, Judy
Blume, A. A. Milne, Walter Dean Myers and Maurice Sendak. Typical entries consist
of a listing of major works and awards and criticism from significant reviews
and commentaries on the author's or artist's works. Each volume includes cumulative
author name and nationality indexes as well as a volume-specific title index.
A Companion to Literature from Milton to Blake / edited by David Womersley.
Oxford, UK; Malden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers, 2000. Ref PR441.C66 2000
This definitive Companion provides a critical overview of literary culture in the period from John Milton to William Blake. Its broad chronological range responds to recent reshapings of the canon and identifies new directions of study. Composed of 60 contributions from leading scholars in the field, its essays offer students a comprehensive and accessible survey of the field from a wide range of perspectives. It also, however, gives researchers and faculty the opportunity to update their acquaintance with new critical and scholarly work.
Contemporary Authors: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current
Writers in Fiction, General Nonfiction, Poetry, Journalism, Drama, Motion Pictures,
Television. Detroit: Gale Research Co. Ref Z1010.C6 (227 volumes)*.
Contemporary Authors has been published since 1962 and is
the primary directory in the world for author information. Contemporary
Authors is the first place researchers look for biographical and bibliographical
data on modern fiction and nonfiction writers – including novelists, poets,
playwrights, scriptwriters, journalists, biographers, essayists, and media people.
Researchers will find biographical information on more than 120,000 modern novelists,
poets, playwrights, nonfiction writers, journalists and scriptwriters. Entires
typically include personal information, addresses, career history, writings,
work in progress, biographical/critical sources and authors' comments and/or
informative essays about their lives and work. Beginning with Vol. 187, Contemporary
Authors expanded its coverage to include more international authors, devoting
20% of each volume to authors from outside the U.S. For your convenience, a
softcover cumulative index is published twice per year.
Contemporary Authors New Revision Series. Detroit: Gale Research Co.
Ref Z1010.C67 (133 volumes)*.
What's the difference between Contemporary Authors and Contemporary
Authors New Revision Series? When Gale editors first create an entry, it
is published in Contemporary Authors. When the author has published
additional works, the entry will be updated and published in Contemporary
Authors New Revision. Thus, entries are only published once in Contemporary
Authors. All subsequent revisions (there is no limit on the number of times
your entry can be revised) will be published in Contemporary Authors New
Revision Series.
Contemporary Literary Criticism.
Detroit: Gale Research Co.
Ref PN771 .C59 (207 volumes)*.
Key excerpts from reviews and criticism in about 100 periodicals and numerous
books published in the last 40 years. Each successive volume focuses on about
200 world-famous authors, songwriters, etc. who are living or have died after
1960. Complete bibliographical information for sources of assessment.
The Continuum Encyclopedia of American
Literature / Steven R. Serafin, general editor. New York: Continuum, 2003.
Ref PS21 .E53 2003
Single volume work covering the colonial period to the present. Includes
entries on authors as well as topical articles on genres, periods, ethnicities,
and disciplines.
The Continuum Encyclopedia of British Literature / Steven R. Serafin and Valerie Grosvenor Myer, editors.
New York: Continuum, 2003.
Ref PR19.C66 2003
The history of British literature is one of extraordinary breadth and complexity, extending from Aneirin and the poet of Widsith to Caedmon and the poet of Beowulf; from Geoffrey of Monmouth to Geoffrey Chaucer; from Spenser to Shakespeare; Donne and Milton to Dryden; Dr. Johnson to Keats, Wordsworth, Coleridge, and Blake; from Thackeray, Dickens, Kipling, and Hardy to the modern and postmodern eras.This book is a comprehensive guide to all British literature, including literature in English from the colonial and postcolonial periods in Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India, and New Zealand. Important authors from these areas are covered in substantive topical articles on their respective literatures.
The Critical Perspective: Twentieth
Century Criticism of British and American Literature to 1904. Harold
Bloom, editor. New York: Chelsea House Publishers, 1985-
Ref PR85.C76
1985 (10 volumes).
Attempts brief sketch of every crucial British and American author. Entries
contain a brief biography of the author or a critical description of the particular
work. Additional readings suggested. Brief biographical information on all authors.
Critical Survey of Drama / Carl Rollyson,
editor. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2003.
Ref PN1625.C68 2003 (8 volumes).
Critical Survey of Drama, Second Revised Edition, combines, updates,
and expands two earlier sets, Critical Survey of Drama, Revised Edition,
English Language Series, published in 1994, and Critical Survey of
Drama, Foreign Language Series, published in 1986. The eight-volume revised
set contains a total of 607 essays, of which 570 discuss individual dramatists
and 60 cover overview topics. The set also contains a listing of major dramatic
awards, a time line of drama history, a glossary, and bibliography.
Critical Survey of Long Fiction / Carl Rollyson, editor, English edition, English and Foreign
Language Series, Frank N. Magill. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2000. Ref
PN3451.C75 2000 (8 volumes).
Provides individual critical assessments of 332 authors whose major works are
novels or novellas. Also included are 14 essays dealing with the history and
development of the two forms.
Critical Survey of Short Fiction / Charles E. May, editor. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 2001. Ref PN3321.C7
2001 (7 volumes).
Each multi-volume series provides critical studies of authors who have influenced
English language literature. Several volumes of each set include signed articles
covering major authors and provide biographies, criticism, and bibliographies.
At least one volume of each series includes scholarly essays on the topic in
general and an index to the series.
Cyclopedia of Literary Characters. Pasadena, CA: Salem Press, 1998. Ref PN44.M3 1998 (5 volumes).
Descriptions of over twenty thousand characters from 3,300 novels, plays, epics
and other classic literature. Arranged alphabetically by title of the work.
Includes author, title and character indexes.
Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984- Ref PS21.D52
This multi-volume series is dedicated to making literature and its creators
better understood and more accessible. Dictionary of Literary Biography provides reliable information in an easily comprehensible format, while placing
writers in the larger perspective of literary history. Dictionary of Literary
Biography systematically presents career biographies and criticism of writers
from all eras and all genres through volumes dedicated to specific types of
literature and time periods.
Drama Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research, 1991- Ref PN1625.D72 (25 volumes)*.
Each volume of this resource covers four to eight significant dramatists or
plays. For each play or playwright featured, a full range of critical opinion
is presented, along with a biographical sketch, a chronological list of the
writer's major works and more. Approximately 90-95% of critical essays are full
text. Volumes include cumulative author, nationality and title indexes.
Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada / edited by William H. New. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2002. Ref PR9180.2.E53 2002
This up-to-date reference book brings together 300 leading Canadianists to look at literature in Canada from a variety of perspectives. In over 2000 entries, acknowledging Canada's cultural plurality, the Encyclopedia discusses literature in English and French, and also in such other languages as Yiddish, Spanish, Haida and Cree; authors and their work; related literary and social issues; professional institutions that play a role in the lives of Canadian writers; and the major historical and cultural events that have shaped Canada.
Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature / edited by Robert Thomas Lambdin and Laura Cooner Lambdin. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2000. Ref PN669.E53 2000
Often misleadingly called the Dark Ages, the period between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance was a time of great creativity. The Middle Ages gave rise to some of the most enduring and influential literary works, including Dante's Commedia and Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. This reference book is a comprehensive guide to medieval literature. While the volume is devoted primarily to the literature of medieval England, its multicultural scope also encompasses Islamic, Mongolian, Celtic, Hispanic, Italian, Russian, and Germanic works. Longer entries treat major authors, entire genres, and important texts, while shorter entries provide valuable contextual information through their coverage of significant kings, religious leaders, artists, historical events, and other topics. Each of the more than 420 entries includes a brief bibliography, and the volume closes with a list of general works for further reading.
Encyclopedia of the Novel / Paul Schellinger, editor. Chicago: Fitzroy Dearborn, 1998. Ref PN41.E487 1998 (2 volumes).
International exploration of the novel from its origins to the present day.
Entries cover novelists and their works, types of novels, technical and formal
aspects, critical approaches, and the development of the novel in different
countries and regions. Bibliographic references are included.
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century / Steven R. Serafin, editor. Detroit: St. James Press, 1999.
Ref PN771.E5 1999 (4 volumes).
This multi-volume encyclopedia provides international coverage including articles
on national literatures, and biographical/critical articles. Includes bibliographies
for authors and an index to the entire set.
European Drama Criticism. Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press. Ref PN1620.A1.E97
A companion to American Drama Criticism. Lists English and foreign
language criticism.
Guide to British Prose Fiction
Explication: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century / LynnDianne Beene,
editor. New York: G.K. Hall, 1997. Ref PR861.B38 1997
Surveys selected British prose fiction works. The emphasis is on authors who
closely identify with the British Isles.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Multiethnic American Literature / edited by Emmanuel S. Nelson. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2005. Ref PS153.M56 G74 2005 (5 volumes).
While other works cover individual ethnic literary traditions, this encyclopedia is the first to offer a comprehensive introduction to the spectacularly diverse range of ethnic American writing. Included are more than 1100 alphabetically arranged entries by more than 300 scholars. While most of the entries are biographical, others cover genres, ethnic stereotypes, seminal works, significant places, major historical events, key pieces of legislation, and various other topics that are part of the context of multiethnic America literature. While some of the writers profiled have international reputations, others are emerging artists.
Holocaust Literature -- An Encyclopedia of Writers and Their Work / S. Lillian Kremer, editor.
New York, NY: Routledge, 2003.
Ref PN56.H55 H66 2003 (2 volumes).
The most comprehensive reference to the writers and works that have deepened our understanding of the horror and loss…Holocaust
Literature falls in an international genre because Nazism affected many countries, and after the war survivors were scattered over the globe. It will prove a valuable resource to students, scholars, general readers, or to anyone interested in world history. Featuring 300 alphabetically organized bio-critical essays on writers of memoirs, novels, poetry, and drama, ranging in length from 1,500 to 7,000 words, this comprehensive scholarly work presents a broad spectrum of voices remembering, interpreting, and reinterpreting one of the twentieth century's most politically and emotionally charged events. Including writers whose works first appeared in Czech, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, and Yiddish, this reference provides wide international coverage, though its focus will be on writers whose work is available in English.
International Encyclopedia of Linguistics / William J. Frawley, editor in chief.
Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 2003.
Ref P29.I58 2003 (4 volumes).
Indispensable not only to specialists who depend on the scholarly rigor of Oxford reference works, but also to a broad spectrum of students and general readers who may be exploring linguistics for the first time. The Encyclopedia includes more than 900 signed, alphabetically arranged articles: many are extensively revised and more than 100 are new. It also contains discussions of:
The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism / edited by Michael Groden, Martin Kreiswirth, and Imre Szeman.
Baltimore, Md.: Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005. Ref PN81.J554 2005
Revised extensively in 2004 to reflect a decade of rapidly changing scholarship, the Guide currently features 52 new entries and subentries and is updated annually. Compiled by 275 specialists from around the world, the Guide presents a comprehensive historical survey of the field's most important figures, schools, and movements. It includes more than 240 alphabetically arranged entries on critics and theorists, critical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods.
Latino and Latina Writers / Alan West-Durán, editor. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 2004
Ref PS153.H56 L39 2004 (2 volumes). Fact
Sheet.
Library of Literary Criticism of
English and American Authors / Charles Wells Moulton. New York: Henry Malkan, 1935.
Ref PR83.M73 1935 (8 volumes).
Classic mid-twentieth century work. Entries on writers include biographical
sketches and brief essays on their work. Organized roughly by birthdates. The
table of contents serves as index listing the authors in alphabetical order.
Literary Research Guide: An Annotated
Listing Of Reference Sources In English Literary Studies. James L.
Harner. New York: Modern Language Association of America, 1998. Ref
PR83.H34 1998
A selective, annotated guide evaluating British and American sources including
bibliographies, abstracts, indexes, general histories, dictionaries, encyclopedias
and handbooks. Brief sections on film, folklore, ethnic minorities, translations,
children's lit, women in literature, book collecting, and music in literature
among other interesting topics. Includes Canadian literature.
Literature Criticism from 1400-1800. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1984- Ref PN86.L56 (116
volumes)*.
Turn to this authoritative international resource for complete critical coverage
of the careers and works of the greatest writers and thinkers of the late Middle
Ages, the Renaissance and the Restoration eras. Detailed entries offer researchers
access to a variety of important interpretations of historical periods, literary
trends and topics, and the achievements of noteworthy individuals. Approximately
90-95% of the critical essays are full text. Volumes include author, nationality,
topic and title indexes. Table
of Contents for each volume.
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World
Drama: An International Reference Work in 5 Volumes / Stanley Hochman, editor in chief. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill, 1984. Ref
PN1625.M3 1984
Includes scholarly articles on dramatists (entries include biographies,
criticism and bibliographies) and on regional, national and ethnic-linguistic
drama.
Modern Black Writers / Manitou Wordworks, editor. Detroit: St. James Press, 2000. Ref PN841.M58 2000 Fact Sheet.
Multicultural Writers since 1945: an A-to-Z Guide / edited by Alba Amoia and Bettina L. Knapp.
Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2004. Ref PN452.M88 2004
The end of World War II led to increased interest in multicultural concerns and a flourishing of literary and artistic endeavors. It was also a time of decolonization and the emergence of new nations and cultures clamoring for recognition and respect. The political circumstances following World War II exposed many people to other cultures. This reference discusses the experiences of writers active since 1945 who were shaped by cultures other than their own.
Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Co., 1981- Ref PN761.N56 (155 volumes)*.
Limited to writers who lived between 1800 and 1900. Follows the same format
as Twentieth Century Literary Criticism and Contemporary Literary Criticism.
The Oxford Companion to American Literature / James D. Hart. New York: Oxford University Press, 1995. Ref PS21.H3 1995
Covers the cultural works of Americans, both historic and contemporary.
Over 1,100 entries of plot summaries of novels, stories, essays, poems,... plays,
biographies and autobiographies, tracts, narratives and histories. American
literary terms defined. Contains chronological synopsis of American literary
history juxtaposed to a social history outline.
The Oxford Companion to English Literature / edited by Margaret Drabble. New York: Oxford University Press,
2006.
Ref
PR19.O94 2006
Literary dictionary in alphabetical arrangement. Brief entries on authors, characters
and terms including personalities of literary or historical significance and
influence on English literature. Plot summaries. Biographical entries are brief,
very dependable. Good source of quick factual reference.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature / Jay Parini, editor-in-chief.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2004.
Ref PS21 .E537 2004 (4 volumes).
This award-winning Encyclopedia surveys the vibrant terrain of American literature in 350 essays from leading scholars, encompassing the range and depth of American literary history from the 1600s to the present day. The Encyclopedia includes essays on poets, playwrights, essayists, and novelists, as well as major works and essays on literary movements, periods, and themes. No mere catalog of dates, events, and synopses, the Encyclopedia's articles offer historical perspective and social context along with a range of possibilities with regard to critical approach.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of British literature / David Scott Kastan, editor in chief.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2006. Ref PR19.O95 2006 (5 volumes).
From folk ballads to film scripts, this new five-volume encyclopedia, which is now also available as an e-reference text from Oxford's Digital Reference Shelf, covers the entire history of British literature from the seventh century to the present, focusing on the writers and the major texts of what are now the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. In five hundred substantial essays written by major scholars, the Encyclopedia of British Literature includes biographies of nearly four hundred individual authors and a hundred topical essays with detailed analyses of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions whose impact upon the writing or the reading of literature was significant.
The Oxford English Dictionary. Oxford: Clarendon Press; New York: Oxford University Press, 1989- Ref PE1625.O87 1989 (20 volumes).
The ultimate authority on the usage and meaning of English words and phrases, unparalleled in its accuracy and comprehensiveness. Accompanying each definition is a chronologically arranged group of quotations that illustrate the evolution of meaning from the word's first recorded usage and show the contexts in which it can be used. The quotations are drawn from a huge variety of sources--literary, scholarly, technical, popular--and represent authors as disparate as Geoffrey Chaucer and Erica Jong, William Shakespeare and Raymond Chandler, Charles Darwin and John Le Carre. In all, nearly 2.5 million quotations--illustrating over a half-million words--can be found in the OED . Other features distinguishing the entries in the dictionary are the most authoritative definitions, detailed information on pronunciation, variant spellings throughout each word's history, extensive treatment of etymology, and details of area of usage and of any regional characteristics (including geographical origins).
Poetry Criticism: Excerpts from Criticism
of the Works of the Most Significant and Widely Studied Poets of World Literature. Detroit: Gale Research Inc. Ref PN1010.P499 (63 volumes)*. Fact
Sheet.
Reference Guide to World Literature / editors, Sara Pendergast, Tom Pendergast.
Detroit: St. James Press, 2003.
Ref PN524.R44 2003 (2 volumes).
Historical in scope, the Reference Guide to World Literature includes biographical-bibliographical entries on nearly 500 writers and approximately 550 entries focusing on significant works of world literature. Covering writers from the ancient Greeks to 20th-century authors, each author entry provides a detailed overview of the writer's life and works. Work entries cover a particular piece of world literature in detail.
Reference Sources for Canadian Literary Studies / Joseph Jones.
Toronto; Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 2005.
Ref PR9184.3.J66 2005
The first full-scale bibliography of writing on and in the field of Canadian literary studies. Approximately one thousand annotated entries are arranged by reference genre (for example, encyclopedias, bibliographies, indexes), with sub-groupings related to literary genre (e.g. poetry, fiction, drama). The text is comprehensive, covering related material found in special collections and archives, periodicals, dissertations and theses, anthologies, literary histories, biography, directories, children's literature, translation, and web sites.
Shakespeare's World and Work / John F. Andrews, editor
in chief. New York: Scribner's, 2001. Ref PR2892.S56 2001 (3 volumes).
Fact Sheet.
The Short Oxford History of English Literature / Andrew Sanders.
New York: Oxford University Press, 2000.
Ref PR83.S26 2000
Provides in a single volume a comprehensive beginner's guide to the literature of the British Isles from the Anglo-Saxon period to the present day. Separate chapters trace the development of English literature from Beowulf to the "post-modern" fictions of Seamus Heaney and Angela Carter. The History provides detailed discussion of Old and Middle English Literature, the Renaissance, Shakespeare, the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the Romantics, Victorian and Edwardian literature, Modernism, and post-war writing. Discussions of key writers and works from Anselm and Chaucer to Spencer and Bunyan, and from Swift and Johnson to Dickens and D.H. Lawrence, are combined with analysis of the impact on literature of contemporary political, social, and intellectual developments. The History looks again at the canon of English literature and provides a fresh assessment of the distinctive contribution of Scottish, Irish, and Welsh writers, and it asks about the future of the canon in the light of the fragmented condition of British writing in the post-imperial period.
Something about the Author. Detroit: Gale Research, 1971- Ref PN451.S6 (159
volumes)*.
An easy-to-use source for researchers, each volume of this series provides illustrated
biographical articles on approximately 70 children's authors and artists. The
series covers more than 10,000 individuals, ranging from established award winners
to authors and illustrators who are just beginning their careers. Entries cover:
personal life, career, writings and works in progress, adaptations, additional
sources and photographs. Also available is a cumulative author index, published
in odd-numbered volumes.
Twentieth Century Literary Criticism. Detroit: Gale Research Co. Ref PN771 .T85 (165 volumes)*.
Like Contemporary Literary Criticism, TCLC specializes in
providing long excerpts from the best available criticism. Interest here is
solely in the great international novelists, poets and playwrights who died
between 1900 and 1960.
The Year's Work in English Studies. London: Published for the English Association by Blackwell Publishers. Ref
PE58.E6
Provides reviews of the year's scholarly English writings, and is a
selective, comprehensive, and evaluative narrative bibliography of scholarly
writing in the field of literature in English of Britain, America, Africa, Australia,
Canada, the Caribbean, and India. It is arranged by subject.
* Additional volumes are received as they are published.
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