Witches, Monsters, and Demons: Representing the Occult in Early Modern France

Introduction
Research Tips
Library Catalog
Reference Sources
Indexes and Databases
Art/Image resources
Websites

Professor: Katherine Dauge-Roth
Librarian: Karl Fattig
Fall 2008

Urbain Grandier, burned alive. Image from: Renaissance woodcut.

Introduction

The purpose of this guide is to identify library resources that will help you with your assignments in this class. If you have specific problems using these tools, the reference librarian on duty will be glad to assist you. Always feel free to call or e-mail me (x3027, kfattig@bowdoin.edu) for individual assistance. I am also available online via chat services such as AIM (screen name: cherlubin) and ICQ (151164662). Feel free to IM me.

Research Tips

Please consult "Library Research and Navigation" for an overview of the research process and for tips for efficient database searching. Below you will find some additional tips for historical research:

Use both subject and keyword searching in any electronic database or index, including the library catalog. Because different parts of the bibliographic record are searched, you will receive different results.
When you find a relevant bibliographic record, always check the descriptors or subject headings for additional search terms.
For information on primary sources, please read the CBB Guide to Primary and Secondary Sources.
Read footnotes and bibliographies of books and articles to find other secondary and primary sources.
Browse the library shelves in your subject area.

The Library Catalog

The online library catalog on the web is the primary access point for Bowdoin's collections - and a jumping off point for searching the NExpress and MaineCat catalogs. The Bowdoin catalog covers books, periodicals, videorecordings, CD-ROMs, and sound recordings. For the older government documents collection, specialized indexes may need to be consulted since the records for these materials are only partially entered into the library catalog. Much of Special Collections material is in the catalog, but not all. Consulting with the librarians on duty in Special Collections is advised.

You can begin research with a subject search or a keyword search. For subject searching the best search results are obtained by use of the standardized subject headings found in the Library of Congress Subject Headings books. If you don't know these exact terms, start with a keyword search, and then check the subject headings in the catalog records you find to identify specific subject terms for more precise searching.

Examples of useful subject headings for this class:

Occult
Magic
Parapsychology
Demonology
Monsters
Mysticism
Witchcraft

Note that each of these searches produces both citations for library materials as well as a list of "related subjects." Be sure to explore these related subjects as they may suggest further research possibilities. And once you've exhausted our collections, be sure to search NExpress and MaineCat.

Reference Sources

The Golden Bough / James Frazer
Main Ref BL310 .F7 1980

Dictionary of mysticism and the occult / Nevill Drury
Main Ref BF1407 .D78 1985

An encyclopedia of claims, frauds, and hoaxes of the occult and supernatural / James Randi
Main Ref BF1407 .R36 1995

The Encyclopedia of witchcraft and demonology / Rossell Robbins
Main Ref BF1503 .R6

Le dictionnaire universel / d'Antoine Furetière
Main Ref PC2620 .F86 1978

A dictionarie of the French and English tongues / Randle Cotgrave
Main Ref PC2640.A2 C7 1611a

Dictionnaire de la langue française du seizième siècle / Edmond Huguet
Main Ref PC2650 .H7

Dictionnaire du français classique (Larousse)
Main Ref PC2650 .D83 1988

Dictionnaires d'autrefois
http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/efts/ARTFL/projects/dicos/

Indexes and Databases

MLA International Bibliography (online: 1963-present; print: 1921-1962): Produced by the Modern Language Association of America, this bibliography consists of records pertaining to literature, language, linguistics and folklore and includes access to scholarly research in over 3,000 journals, relevant monographs, working papers, proceedings, bibliographies and other formats in a variety of languages.
Anthropological Index Online: Online version of the index to current periodicals in the Museum of Mankind Library (incorporating the former Royal Anthropological Institute Library). Encompasses the fields of Archaeology, Ethnomusicology, Physical Anthropology, Cultural Anthropology, and Human Biology. Coverage is from 1980's to present, with a few citations from earlier years.
Anthropological Literature: an index to periodical articles and essays: Over 1,000 English and European language periodicals are indexed here, along with books of collected works in anthropology. It is accessible through the Library Gateway in either a Web or Telnet version. Uses Library of Congress subject headings, so try those recommended for the Library Catalog. This index is produced by the Tozzer Library at Harvard, and includes citations from the 19th Century through the present.
Historical Abstracts: This comprehensive set of history bibliographies indexes articles, books and reviews from 2100 scholarly international periodicals, published from 1967 to the present. Content scope encompasses history of the world from 1450 to the present, excluding the United States and Canada (covered in America History and Life).
IMB - International Medieval Bibliography Online: The IMB database comprises records deriving from articles published in periodicals (journals) and in miscellany volumes (conference proceedings, collected essays, Festschriften and exhibition catalogues) published world-wide. All subjects relating to the Middle Ages are included, within the date range 300-1500 AD. Geographical areas covered are Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.
ITER : Gateway to the Middle Ages and Renaissance: A bibliography of approximately 230,000 records indexed from the complete runs of more than 400 scholarly journal titles pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700). Also includes approximately 46,000 records encompassing monographs, material published in monographs, and collected essays pertaining to the Middle Ages and Renaissance (400-1700)
Arts and Humanities Search: Arts and Humanities indexes the contents of scholarly periodicals and books in the arts and humanities, published from 1980 to the present. The scope is international.
BHA/RILA - Bibliography of the History of Art: The database contains nearly 135,000 records representing the full 15 volumes of RILA published before its 1990 merger with its French counterpart, the Répertoire d'Art et d'Archéologie (RAA), as the Bibliography for the History of Art / Bibliographie d'Histoire de l'Art (BHA). For RILA and BHA the print index equivalents are in the Art Library
Feminae: Medieval Women and Gender Index: Feminae covers over 500 journals as well as many essay collections devoted in large part to topics dealing with women, sexuality, or gender. There are over 20,000 records in the database currently, and more than one hundred records are added every month. The time period covered is 450 C.E. to 1500 C.E. with Russia extending to 1613, the beginning of the Romanov dynasty, because the sixteenth century is still medieval in social and politicial terms. The geographic area is Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East as well as areas in which Europeans travelled. Subject coverage for gender and sexuality means that articles on masculinity and male homosexuality are included. Publications in English, French, German, and Spanish are currently being indexed.

Art/Image Resources

ARTstor: ARTstor is a growing repository of 300,000+ digital images and related data supporting interdisciplinary studies with special emphasis on collections of art, architecture, and archeology.
Art Abstracts: This index to periodical literature for art covers 1984-present. If you need to search for articles prior to 1984, please use the print version of the index which is located in the Indexes section of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library, on the first floor. It covers 1929-1994.
Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals Online: Could be useful for studies of buildings, cities, rooms, etc. Includes scholarly and popular periodical literature, publications of professional associations, American state and regional periodicals, and the major serial publications on architecture and design from Europe, Asia, Latin America, and Australia, over 2500 titles in all. Approximately 40% of the indexed articles are in English; 60% are in languages other than English, including Basque, Catalan., Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Finnish, French, German, Italian, Norwegian, Portuguese, Spanish, and Swedish.
BHA (Bibliography of the History of Art): This database is the best bet for scholarly journal articles, and with the best coverage of medieval and early modern period. 1973 - present. Covers art-related books, conference proceedings, dissertations, exhibitions, dealer catalogs, and articles.
Grove Art Online: Global coverage provides detailed analysis of the arts of Asia, Africa, the Americas, the Pacific and Europe
Index of Christian Art: The Index records works of art produced without geographical limitations from early apostolic times up to A.D. 1550. Seventeen different media are represented in the archive, and these include manuscripts, metalwork, sculpture, painting, glass, and so forth. The database has both text and images, although some works of art may not have an accompanying image.