Library

Library Catalogs

Bowdoin College Library Catalog
Books, videos, government documents, etc. in Bowdoin's library.

NExpress
A combined catalog containing the library holdings of Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Wellesley, Williams, Middlebury, and Northeastern. Requests take 2-3 days.

MaineCat
Includes the holdings of most Maine libraries. Requests take 2-5 days

WorldCat
A combined database of many library catalogs worldwide. Request items found in WorldCat through our Interlibrary Loan service.

Reference Sources

Background and Facts

The reference collection contains many works that will provide quick information on English and American literature. These can be very broad or very specific in nature: an encyclopedia on American literature or an encyclopedia on Mark Twain. Browsing the collection can often be very useful: Call number PN for general literature; PR for English literature; PS for American literature. The following list will give you an idea of the types of works you will find in the reference collection; it is a sampling only.

General Works

Oxford Companion to English Literature
Edited by Margaret Drabble
Oxford University Press, 2000
Main Ref PR19.O94 2000

Oxford Companion to American Literature
Jay Parini, editor in chief
Oxford University Press, 2004
Main Ref PS21.E537 2004

Benét's reader's encyclopedia
Edited by Bruce Murphy
HarperCollinsPublishers, c1996
Main Ref PN41.B4 1996

Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature
Merriam-Webster, c1995
Main Ref PN41.M42 1995

The New York Public Library Literature Companion
Edited by Anne Skillion
Free Press, 2001
Main Ref PN41.N49 2001

Literary History of the United States
Edited by Robert E. Spiller [and others]
Macmillan, 1974
Main Ref PS88.L522 1974

Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English
Edited by Eugene Benson and L.W. Conolly, Routledge, 1994
Main Ref PR9080.A52 E53 1994

Specialized Works

There are many specialized works on literature. The best method of finding material is to search under the author's name or literary period, genre, landmark, etc. in the library's catalog. Here is a sample of the types of works you can find:

James Joyce A to Z
By A. Nicholas Fargnoli and Michael Patrick Gillespie
Facts on File, c1995
Main Ref PR6019.O9Z533376 1995

American Women Writers: A Critical Reference Guide From Colonial Times to the Present
Edited by Lina Mainiero
Ungar, c1979-1982
Main Ref PS147.A4

Oxford Companion to African American Literature
Edited by William L. Andrews, Frances Smith Foster, Trudier Harris
Oxford University Press, 1997
Main Ref PS153.N5O96 1997

Encyclopedia of Southern Literature
By Mary Ellen Snodgrass
ABC-CLIO, c1997
Main Ref PS261.S515 1997

Oxford Companion to Mark Twain
Edited by Gregg Camfield
Oxford University Press, 2003
Main Ref PS1331.O97 2003

Literary Terms, Characters, etc.

Critical Survey of Literary Theory
Edited by Frank N. Magill
Salem Press, c1987
Main Ref PN45 .C74 1987

The Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
Edited by Michael Groden and Martin Kreiswirth
Johns Hopkins University Press, 2005
Main Ref PN81 .J554 2005

A Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory
By J.A. Cuddon
Blackwell, 1998
Main Ref PN41 .C83 1998

A Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory
By Jeremy Hawthorn
Arnold, 1998
Main Ref PN44.5 .H37 1998

Dictionary of British Literary Characters: 18th- and 19th-Century Novels
Edited by John R. Greenfield
Facts on File, c1993
Main Ref PR830.C47D5 1993

Dictionary of British Literary Characters: 20th-Century Novels
Edited by John R. Greenfield
Facts on File, c1994
Main Ref PR888.C47D53 1994

Dictionary of Fictional Characters
J. M. Dent, 1963
Main Ref PR19.F7

The Originals : An A-Z of Fiction's Real-Life Characters
By William Amos
Little, Brown, c1985
Main Ref PN56.4.A4 1985

Cyclopedia of Literary Characters II
Edited by Frank N. Magill
Salem Press, c1990
Main Ref PN44.M28 1990

Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs
Edited by Jean-Charles Seigneuret
Greenwood Press, 1988
Main Ref PN43.D48 1988

Cyclopedia of Literary Places
Edited by R. Kent Rasmussen
Salem Press, c2003
Main Ref PN56.S48C97 2003

An Atlas of English Literature
By Clement Tyson Goode
The Century Co., 1925
Main Ref PR109.G6

The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to Great Britain and Ireland
Edited by Dorothy Eagle and Meic Stephens
Oxford University Press, 1992
Main Ref PR109.E18 1992

The Oxford Illustrated Literary Guide to the United States
By Eugene Ehrlich and Gorton Carruth
Oxford University Press, 1982
Main Ref PS141.E74 1982

Biography

Literature Resource Center
Biographies, bibliographies, critical essays, work overviews, author-related websites, and timeline events. LRC is drawn in full, or in part, from these titles: Contemporary Authors; Contemporary Literary Criticism (selected), Dictionary of Literary Biography; Scribner Writer Series; Twayne's English Authors; Twayne's U.S. Authors; Twayne's World Authors; and several other sources.

Dictionary of Literary Biography
"The essays of DLB outline the lives and careers of authors from all eras and genres and summarize the critical response to their work." Personal information, principals works, and further readings also are covered.

Contemporary Authors
Biographical sketches of 20th-century authors who have written in English or have had their works translated into English.

Contemporary Novelists
Edited by D.L. Kirkpatrick
St. Martin's Press, 1986
Main Ref PR883.C64 1986

Literary Criticism

Literature Resource Center
Gale Research Co.
Biographies, bibliographies, critical essays, work overviews, author-related websites, and timeline events. LRC is drawn in full, or in part, from these titles: Contemporary Authors; Contemporary Literary Criticism (selected), Dictionary of Literary Biography; Scribner Writer Series; Twayne's English Authors; Twayne's U.S. Authors; Twayne's World Authors; and several other sources.

Generally, you should use books and articles for literary criticism. However, the following Gale criticism series can be quite useful. Generally, these volumes contain excerpted passages from published criticism in scholarly journals and monographs but they can also provide significant in-depth articles on selected topics. Cumulative title indexes are published each year, or use the Gale Literary Index, an author and title index that ties together these next five sources. Use it to find the correct volume in the reference stacks.

Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism
Gale Research, v.1- 1978-
Main Ref PN771.G27
Twentieth-century literary criticism, a companion volume to Contemporary literary criticism, provides coverage for authors who died between 1900 and 1960.

Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism
Gale Research Co., 1981-
Main Ref PN761 .N5

Literature Criticism From 1400 to 1800: excerpts from criticism of the works of fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth-century novelists, poets, playwrights, philosophers, and other creative writers, from the first published critical appraisals to current evaluations
Gale Research Co., c1984-
Main Ref PN86 .L53 1984 Main Ref PN610 .C53

Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism
Gale Research Co., c1988-
Main Ref PN610 .C53

Shakespearean Criticism Yearbook
Gale Research Co., c1984-
Main Ref PR2965 .S43 1984

Poetry

Locating Poems

In addition to searching under an author's name in the library's catalog, consider these indexes:

Granger's Index to Poetry
H.W. Wilson, 1904-
Main Ref PN1021.G72

Index to Poetry in Periodicals
Granger Book Co., c1981-
Main Ref PS324 .I4
Covers poems published in American magazines and newspapers, 1915-1929

Poetic Terms and Concepts

New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Edited by Alex Preminger and T.V.F. Brogan
Princeton University Press, 1993
Main Ref PN1021 .N39 1993

Dictionary of Poetic Terms
By Jack Myers and Don Charles Wukasch
University of North Texas Press, c2003
Main Ref PN1042 .M93 2003

Biography

See also articles and books sections.

Dictionary of Literary Biography

Literature Resource Center

Contemporary Poets
Edited by Tracy Chevalier
St. James Press, c1991
Main Ref PR603.C6 1991

Critical Survey of Poetry
Edited by Philip K. Jason
Salem Press, c2003
Main Ref PN1021 .C7 2003
Included biographies and analysis

Criticism

See also articles and books sections.

Poetry Explication : A checklist of Interpretation Since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present
By Joseph M. Kuntz and Nancy Conrad Martinez
G. K. Hall, c1980
Main Ref PN1022.K8 1980

Guide to British Poetry Explication
By Nancy C. Martinez and Joseph G.R. Martinez
G.K. Hall, 1991-c1995
Main Ref. PN1022.M34 1991 (v.1 Old English - Medieval; v.3 Restoration - Romantic; v.4 Victorian - Contemporary)

American and British Poetry : A Guide to the Criticism, 1925-1978
By Harriet Semmes Alexander
Swallow Press, c1984
Main Ref PN1022.A44 1984

Guide to American Poetry Explication: Colonial and Nineteenth-Century
By James Ruppert
G.K. Hall, c1989
Main Ref Z1231.P7 R66 1989

Guide to American Poetry Explication: Modern and Contemporary
By John R. Leo
G.K. Hall, c1989
Main Ref Z1231.P7 L46 1989

The Explicator Cyclopedia
Edited by Charles Child Walcutt and J. Edwin Whitesell
Quadrangle books, 1966-68
Main Ref PR401 .E9

Short Stories

Locating Short Stories

Index to Best American Short Stories and O. Henry Prize Stories
By Ray Lewis White
G.K. Hall, c1988
Main Ref Z1231.F4 W52 1988

Short Story Index: An Index to 60,000 Stories in 4,320 Collections
Compiled by Dorothy E. Cook and Isabel S. Monro
H. W. Wilson, 1953
Main Ref Z5917.S5 C6
Supplement: 1950-1983
Main Ref Z5917.S5 C62 (7 vols.)

Chicorel Index to Short Stories in Anthologies and Collections
Edited by Marietta Chicorel
Chicorel Library Pub. Corp., 1974
Main Ref Z5781 .C485

Index to Short Stories
Compiled by Ina Ten Eyck Firkins
H.W. Wilson company, 1915
Main Ref Z5917.S5 F5
Supplement
Main Ref Z5917.S5 F5 Suppl

The Standard Index of Short Stories, 1900-1914
Compiled by Francis J. Hannigan
Small, Maynard & Company, c1918
Main Ref Z5917.S5 H2

Biography

See also articles and books sections.

Reference Guide to Short Fiction
Edited by Noelle Watson
St. James Press, c1994
Main Ref PN3373 .R36 1994

Dictionary of Literary Biography

Criticism

Note: See also articles and books tabs.

Reference Guide to Short Fiction
Edited by Noelle Watson
St. James Press, c1994
Main Ref PN3373 .R36 1994

Twentieth-Century Short Story Explication ...
Shoe String Press, 1961-
Main Ref Z5917.S5 W3 and supplements
Main Ref Z5917.S5 W33 and supplements
Covers 1800-

American Short-Fiction Criticism and Scholarship, 1959-1977 : A Checklist
By Joe Weixlmann
Swallow Press, c1982
Main Ref Z1231.F4 W43

Web Sites

General Gateway Sites

Voice of the Shuttle: Web Page for Humanities Research
Excellent collection of links from Alan Liu, English Dept, UCSB.

• Literature (English)
• Literature (Other)
• Literary Theory

The Internet Public Library
Collection of links with lots of variety and with some emphasis on reference information.

Books and Literature from "My Virtual Encyclopedia"

Full-text Resources

Alex Catalogue of Electronic Texts
A full-text indexed collection of classic American and English literature

The American Verse Project
Volumes of American poetry prior to 1920.

Representative Poetry On-line
Early medieval period to the beginning of the twentieth century. From University of Toronto. Unlike many collections of verse on the Web, this one is edited by scholars. Poems tend to be British and American and number over 3,000.

Bartleby Library
Literature, reference, and verse.

English Language Resources: The Electronic Text Center
A variety of electronic texts and illustrations made available over the Internet from the Electronic Text Center at the University of Virginia. Some contents available only to UV students.

Victorian Women Writers Project
British women writers of the late 19th century. A collection of anthologies, novels, political pamphlets, and volumes of poetry.

Individual Internet Sources

Early English Books Online
Contains the complete text and illustrations for 96,000 books and tracts. Based on the contents of Pollard & Redgrave's A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640 ("STC I") and of Donald Wing's A Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America, and of English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641-1700 ("STC II"), EEBO also includes the contents of another microfilm collection, Thomason Tracts, which contains more than 22,000 broadsides ranging from political speeches to religious tracts to newspaper stories from the period 1640-60.

Award Winners
Check out these titles and you'll never be at a loss for a good book. Extensive list of literary awards, some going back decades. From the Amazon bookstore.

The Cambridge History of English and American Literature
An Encyclopedia in Eighteen Volumes According to Bartleby.com this source "is considered the most important work of literary history and criticism ever published on writings in the English language. Compiled over fourteen years, from 1907 to 1921."

The Children's Literature Web Guide
The Children's Literature Web Guide is an attempt to gather together and categorize the growing number of Internet resources related to books for Children and Young Adults.

Labyrinth: The World Wide Web Server for Medieval Studies
A comprehensive resource for Medieval Studies: bibliographies, European cultural studies, pedagogical resources, electronic texts, music.

Luminarium
Anthologies of Middle, Renaissance, and 17th Century English literature. A great introduction to the major authors of these periods. Beautiful graphics. Includes biographies, criticism, bibliographies and much more. Very useful as an overview.

Maine Writers Index
Over 350 Maine writers, past and present.

New York Times Books (free but registration required to use New York Times' sites.)
Includes the complete Sunday Book Review, daily book related news and reviews, a searchable archive of over 50,000 New York Times Book Reviews going back to 1980, and more.

PAL: perspectives in American Literature
Covers major movements, narrower themes, and links to individual web pages to nearly 400 authors

Twentieth-century Poetry in English
"My Poet Pages" provides original content to 11 poets from Auden to Yeats. "Poet Links" connects you to other Web sites with information on 150 additional poets.

The Writers' Workshop Online Resources for Writers (University of Illinois at Urbana-Champagne)
This page links to the many resources produced by this workshop, as well as links to outside resources for writers. Includes the Grammar Handbook, the Bibliography Styles Handbook, and the Writing Process Handbook. Check out their annotated list of "Best Web Sites for Writers."