Research Resources:
Subject Research Guides:
Literatures in English:
Primary Bibliographies
These are guides to poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, not to the scholarship.
Use them to find the collections in which a poem or story appeared, or to get a more complete list
of an author's works. [Section still under construction]
General (All Genres)
American Bibliography: A Chronological Dictionary of All Books, Pamphlets, and Periodical
Publications Printed in the United States from the Genesis of Printing in 1637 to and Including the Year 1820. Ref. Z 1215.E92A.
One of the great works of bibliography, by Charles Evans, who sought to list every work published in the American colonies
and the United States. Evans's work is flawed, with numerous errors and notorious "ghost" citations of non-existent works, and it is
gradually being superseded and corrected by the English Short-Title Catalogue, 1475-1800
(See this guide's Catalogs page), but it is still a tremendously important work. Each of Evans's
original 13 volumes includes author and subject indexes, but the researcher will do better to use National Index of American Imprints
Through 1800–The Short-Title Evans (Ref. Z 1215.S495), which cites an additional 10,000 works, making numerous corrections. Evans's
work was continued by Shaw and Shoemaker, who took the bibliography up through 1839 (1801-1819–Ref. Z 1215.S43; 1820-1839–Ref. Z 1215.C44.
While Alexander Library has long owned microprint copies of all the titles,
they are now being made available on the web.
See Full-text Literature Collections page of this guide for information
on the Early American Imprints, or connect to it via
and the
Indexes & Databases link.
Bibliography of American Literature. 9 volumes.
Includes bibliographies of 281 writers (who died no later than 1930). Does not include
periodical publications. Lists first editions and reprints (though not comprehensive
in that regard) plus biographies and bibliographies. Still quite useful, especially for
writers lacking comprehensive bibliographic treatment by later sources.
ALEXANDER REF Z 1225.B55.
Comprehensive Index to English Language Little Magazines, 1890-1970. 8 volumes.
Author index (including works by and about) to 100 periodicals, mostly US and British. Not really comprehensive, but still helpful.
ALEXANDER REF Z 6944.L5S23.
Literary Writings in America: A Bibliography. 8 volumes.
Contains 250,000 records from a WPA project intended to create an exhaustive list of
creative works by American writers between 1850 and 1940. Incomplete, inconsistent,
and definitely not authoritative, it does have the benefit of allowing scholars to trace
at least some of the periodical publications–especially for minor writers.
ALEXANDER REF Z 1225.L58.
Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, and Ireland, and of English
Books Printed Abroad, 1475-1640. 2nd edition. ALEXANDER REF Z 2002.P77.
Often cited by the names of the editors, Pollard and Redgrave, this is an enormously important bibliography
of all the books published in the British Isles–or in the English language elsewhere–from
the beginning of printing to the advent of the English Civil War. The Bibliographic records are being incorporated
into the English Short-Title Catalogue, 1475-1800 (See this guide's Catalogs page).
The books cited in Pollard & Redgrave are available in the Early English Books, 1465-1640 microprint collection
(See this guide's Major Microform Collections page),
and are also now available in full-text through
Early English Books Online–EEBO and
EEBO - TCP.
Short-Title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and British America and of English Books Printed in Other Countries, 1641-1700. 2nd edition.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2002.W52.
Similar in format to the Pollard and Redgrave STC, this set, often called by the name of its editor, Donald Wing, lists all of the books published
during the Civil War, Commonwealth, Restoration, and Glorious Revolution. As with Pollard & Redgrave, the bibliographic records for the Wing STC,
are being incorporated into the electronic English Short-Title Catalogue, 1475-1800 (See this guide's Catalogs page).
The books cited in Wing are available in the Early English Books, 1640-1700 microprint collection (See this guide's Major
Microform Collections page),
and are also now available in full-text through
Early English Books Online–EEBO.
Fiction and Other Prose
American Fiction, 1774-1850.
ALEXANDER REF Z 1231.F4W9 1969
American Fiction, 1851-1875.
ALEXANDER REF Z 1231.F4W92 1965
American Fiction, 1876-1900.
These three volumes, by Lyle Wright, list American editions of separately published American
fiction–novels, romances, captivity narratives, dime-novels, tall tales, etc.
An ambitious digital project has made nearly 2900 of the novels from
1851 to 1875 available on the web.
See the following URL:
http://www.letrs.indiana.edu/web/w/wright2/.
ALEXANDER REF Z 1231.W93.
American Fiction, 1901-1925.
Editor Gregory Smith explicitly follows
the model of Wright's three volumes (previous item). "A compilation of first printings
of original fiction for adults by American authors published in the U.S. from 1901 to
1925." Arranged by author, with indices by title, illustrator, and publisher. Based on
the William Charvat Collection of American Fiction at the Ohio State University Libraries (though drawing also on the holdings of NY Public Library and the Library
of Congress, among others).
ALEXANDER REF Z 1231.F4S6 1997.
Bibliography of American Children's Books Printed Prior to 1821.
Arranged by author with indexes. Includes locations and a fair degree of bibliographic
description, plus cross reference to the Early American Imprints microform sets owned
at Alexander. See this guide's Major Microform Collections page).
ALEXANDER Z 1232.W44 1972.
British Fiction, 1750-1770 : A Chronological Check-list of Prose Fiction Printed in Britain and
Ireland.
Chronological arrangement of 1363 entries with author or translator and title indices.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014. F4R34 1987.
Check List of English Prose Fiction, 1700-1739.
Includes narratives by English authors or translators first published during this period.
A chronological arrangement with author, title, translator, publisher, and printer indices.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.F4M3.
Check List of Prose Fiction Published in England, 1740-1749.
A chronological arrangement, with indices, of 338 novels published during the decade–
including reprinted works and foreign fiction in translation.
ALEXANDER Z 2014.F4B37.
Crime Fiction II: A Comprehensive Bibliography, 1749-1990. Revised and updated edition.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.F4H83 1994. 2 volumes.
Includes more than 4000 films and 81,000 books–
novels, anthologies, and collections. Arranged by author with title, settings, series,
director, screenwriter, and film title indices, plus a series character chronology
The English Novel in the Magazines, 1740-1815. With a Catalogue of 1375 Magazine Novels and
Novelettes. ALEXANDER PR851.M37. Chronological arrangement with extensive indices
of narrative prose works of more than 5000 words printed in magazines and journals–
not newspapers. See Harner's Literary Research Guide See this guide's
Guides to Research page) for a list of articles correcting and supplementing this title.
The English Novel, 1770-1829: A Bibliographical Survey of Prose Fiction Published in the British Isles.
(2 volumes).
Alex Ref. Z 2014.F4E52 2000
The English Novel in the Magazines, 1740-1815. With a Catalogue of 1375 Magazine Novels and Novelettes.
Chronological arrangement with extensive indices of narrative prose works of more than 5000 words printed in
magazines and journals– not newspapers. See Harner's Literary Research Guide
on the Guides to Research page of this guide for a
list of articles correcting and supplementing this title.
ALEXANDER PR851.M37.
Fiction, 1876-1983: A Bibliography of United States Editions. 2 volumes.
Claims to list all fiction covered during that period–170,000 entries covering
collections of fiction, anthologies, and separate novels. Includes non-American writers
in American editions. Very brief information given, but does list separate editions.
ALEXANDER REF PN 345.E52 1983.
Novels in English by Women, 1891-1920: A Preliminary Checklist.
Lists 15,174 novels (including 306 that are anonymous) published in England or the United States by 5267 authors. Arranged in three sections, each by author: first verified titles; second, also verified, books by anonymous or pseudonymous authors or authors
whose sex is unknown or concealed; third, books cited in secondary sources (e.g. publisher catalogs), but not verified as actually having been published.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2013.W6G75.
Personal Writings by Women to 1900: A Bibliography of American and British Women
Spans the period 1475 to 1900, and includes nearly 5000 items. Scope is only published work–autobiographies, correspondence, and travel writing. Includes a subject index and a chronological list. (2nd copy in stacks).
ALEXANDER REF Z 1229.W8D38 1989.
Short Story Index. (Supplements are issued annually).
Indexes short story collection and periodicals that publish short fiction. Access by author, title, and subject. Currently includes about 3500-4000 stories per year (new and reprints)
from collections and periodicals. Not intended to be a comprehensive bibliography, but
a helpful guide to locating published short fiction.
ALEXANDER REF Z 5917.S5C6 1953+
Drama
Annals of English Drama, 975-1700: An Analytical Record of All Plays Extant or Lost . . . 2nd ed.
Chronological arrangement by known or probable date
of first performance. Includes information on first edition or manuscript and on most
recent modern edition. Note that there is a 3rd edition (in the circulating stacks, same
call number), but it is apparently filled with errors and inconsistencies and not preferred.
to the 2nd edition.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.D7H25 1964.
Bibliography of the English Printed Drama to the Restoration. 4 volumes.
Lists the plays written before 1642 and printed before 1700, plus those
written after 1642 but printed before 1660. Includes information on editions,
variants, and issues, as well as some locations. An old but authoritative source.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.D763Gr.
Drama by Women to 1900: A Bibliography of American and British Women.
Covers 1475 to 1900, with more than 2800 entries arranged by
author. Includes subject index, a chronological list, and an index of adaptations and
translations. Also includes some dramas not presently known or in print, but known only
through secondary sources.
ALEXANDER Z 1229.W8D37 1992.
English Drama of the Nineteenth Century.
Lists roughly 9000 plays
from the period–including children's plays, minstrel dialogues, opera libretti, and translations of continental drama.
Very brief information (author, title, publisher, date) but multiple access points–author,
title, translator, arranger, etc.)
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.D7E54 1985.
Three Centuries of English & American Plays: England 1500-1800; United States, 1714-1830.
See this guide's Major Microform Collections page for the accompanying microform set. Lists
9000 plays. Access by author, title, pseudonym, adapter, translator, with appendices
including lists of women dramatists and pseudonyms.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.D7B45 1963b.
Poetry
Bibliography and Index of English Verse Printed 1476-1558.
ALEXANDER Z 2014.P7R56 1988.
English Religious Poetry Printed 1477-1640: A Chronological Bibliography with Indexes.
Includes 2456 entries, with 11,600 individual poems.
Includes author, title, subject, first line indices, plus cross references to the Pollard &
Redgrave Short-Title Catalogue, and thus to the Early English Books microprint set.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2012.D82 1996.
Elizabethan Poetry: A Bibliography and First Line Index of English Verse, 1559-1603. 3 volumes.
Identifies all English poetry found in printed and transcribed sources between 1559 and 1603, with more than 35,000 records. Includes a variety of indexes.
ALEXANDER REF Z 2014.P7M348 2004.
English Verse, 1701-1750: A Catalogue of Separately Printed Poems with Notes on Contemporary Collected Editions. 2 volumes.
ALEXANDER REF PR 551.F69 1975.
Poetry by Women to 1900: A Bibliography of American and British Writers.
Covering the period 1475 to 1900, arranged by author, with
a chronological list. Includes more than 6000 books.
ALEXANDER Z 2013.5.W6D38 1991.
