Research Resources:
Subject Research Guides:
Literatures in English:
Guides to Manuscript Collections
Use to locate manuscripts. In some cases (Princeton, New York Public, or the Folger Library, for example),
travel to see the manuscripts might well be feasible. Keep in mind that facsimile editions of many manuscripts
have been published (Chaucer, P.B. Shelley, and T. S. Eliot, to name a few), and that the library will own many
and help you track down and borrow the rest.
There are numerous other guides to manuscript collections, in the US and abroad. Check
IRIS or the Card
Catalog and consult the Reference Desk for further assistance.
**RLG UNION CATALOG.
See this guide's Catalogs page for a full description.
In addition to bibliographic records for books, journals, sound recordings, films, videos, and scores,
Eureka includes records for manuscript collections. If you are looking specifically
for manuscript materials, use the advanced search mode, and then limit by material type and select "archival
and mixed collection" and you will limit your search to the archives and manuscripts section of Eureka,
with nearly 500,000 records. You can search by author, title, subject, and keywords and find detailed descriptions
of manuscript collections and their locations. An increasingly important source, especially for scholars in
American Literature. See also
ArchiveGrid, a related
source which provides online access to detailed finding aids for 21,000 manuscript collections described in
RLIN-(Eureka). H
ere you can get much more complete descriptions–in some cases a
box by box inventory of the records.
Catalogue of Manuscripts Containing Anglo Saxon.
Lists more than 400 manuscripts, most with full entries
including "references to significant scholarship and editions, discussions of date, content, physical characteristics,
script & decorations, and provenance." Harner calls it "essential" and "magisterial."
ALEXANDER Z 6605.A56K4.
Catalog of Manuscripts of the Folger Shakespeare Library.
The Folger includes materials on other writers of the 16th through 18th centuries. You will probably need a letter
from the English department to do research at the Folger.
ALEXANDER REF Z 733.W3F6 1971 [with a 1988 supplement].
Dictionary Catalog of the Manuscript Division [New York Public Library].
NYPL is one of the two or three greatest libraries in the country, and it's only a bus or train ride away. Call
before visiting manuscript sites, however, to find out if there are any special conditions for use or special
arrangements.
ALEXANDER REF Z 6621.N56.
Guide to Modern Manuscripts in the Princeton University Library.
Another nearby source of great value.
ALEXANDER REF Z6621.P945 1989.
Index of English Literary Manuscripts.
An ongoing set providing very detailed coverage of major writers from 1450 to 1900.
A set providing very detailed coverage of major writers from 1450 to 1900. 4 volumes, each in 2 to 4 parts.
ALEXANDER REF Z 6611.L715.
Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and Letters: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
Two volumes
ALEXANDER REF PR 441.L63 1995.
Location Register of Twentieth Century English Literary Manuscripts and Letters. Two volumes.
These two sets offer brief entries, arranged by author, and provide helpful information on access to the manuscripts.
ALEXANDER REF Z6611.L7L63 1988.
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. (1959-93). ALEXANDER REF Z 6620.U5N3.
A nation-wide listing of manuscript collections, updated annually. Includes indexes by name
and subject. See also the cumulative Index to Personal Names in the National Union
Catalog of Manuscript Collections, 1959-1984 (ALEXANDER REF Z 6620.U5N31 1988)
and Index to Subjects and Corporate Names in the National Union Catalog of Manuscript
Collections, 1959-1984 (ALEXANDER REF Z 6620.U5N3 Suppl).
Still an important adjunct to online
databases like
Eureka and
WorldCat which, however, are slowly superseding it.
WorldCat . See
the Catalogs page of this guide for a full description.
Like Eureka,
WorldCat allows researchers
to specify archival materials as part of a search strategy.
There are numerous other guides to manuscript collections, in the US and abroad.
Check
IRIS or the Card Catalog and consult the Reference Desk for further assistance.
