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ENGL 3700: The 19th Century British Novel  Tags: literature english_literature victorian linguistics_language_literature  

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Last update: Feb 09th, 2009 URL: http://guides.library.cornell.edu/english3700df  Print Guide  RSS Updates

Biographical Sources             Print Page
  
 

Biographical Sources

Bell, Maureen, et al. A Biographical Dictionary of English Women Writers, 1580-1720. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1990. Olin Ref PR 113 B43
Alphabetically arranged by name, this volume provides short biographical entries, as well as lists of anonymous and pseudonymous texts, false ascriptions, and several critical appendices on such topics as Quaker women writers and women in the book trade.

 

Blain, Virginia et al. The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1990. Olin Ref PR 111 F32
A 1200-page compendium of biographical sketches for more than 2700 women writing in English, including those from African, Asian, Caribbean, Canadian and other literary traditions. Includes some topical entries as well. Some list sources for further reading.

 

Dictionary of Literary Biography. Detroit: Gale, 1978- . Uris Ref PS 129 D55+; online via Library Catalog and Find It! Databases
An ongoing set of volumes designed to provide biographic, bibliographic and critical material on major writers of America and Great Britain as well as some writers of Canada, France and Germany. Each volume is arranged alphabetically by the writers covered. There are numerous portraits and often there are appendices containing special information. A list of further reading concludes each volume. An index to all volumes appears at the end of each latest volume. Individual author essays are available online through the Literature Resource Center, minus illustrations, photographs, and other visual material that appears in the printed volumes.

 

Irish Women Writers : an A-to-Z Guide, edited by Alexander G. Gonzalez. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2006. Olin Ref PR8733 I75 2006+
"Through roughly 75 alphabetically arranged entries written by more than 35 expert contributors, this reference overviews the lives and works of Irish women writers active in a range of genres and periods. Each entry includes a brief biography, a discussion of major works and themes, a survey of the writer's critical reception, and a list of works by and about the author. The volume closes with a selected, general bibliography." [publisher]

 

Kunitz, Stanley and Howard Haycroft, eds. British Authors Before 1800. New York: Wilson, 1952. Uris Ref PR 105 K96; Olin Ref PR 105 K96+
One in a series of biographical dictionaries edited by Stanley Kunitz and Howard Haycroft. The arrangement is alphabetical by author and entries run from a paragraph to several pages in length. Many of the entries are illustrated and nearly all end with a bibliography of works by and about the author.

 

Kunitz, Stanley, ed. British Authors of the Nineteenth Century. New York: Wilson, 1936. Uris Ref PR 451 K96; Olin Ref PR 451 K96+
A single volume biographical dictionary providing brief accounts of the lives of the major and minor British authors of the nineteenth century. Arranged alphabetically by author, most entries include a bibliography of works by and about the author.

 

Literature Resource Center (LRC)
"The Literature Resource Center (LRC) is a complete literature reference database designed for the undergraduate student. LRC combines biographical, bibliographical, and contextual information to deliver a complete reference/resource package on authors and their works (fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, history, and journalism). Centering on respected Gale sources, including Contemporary Authors, Dictionary of Literary Biography, and Contemporary Literary Criticism, this data set is augmented with full-text, excerpted, and commissioned critical material illuminating an oeuvre or era. 

 

Modern British Women Writers: an A-to-Z Guide, edited by Vicki K. Janik and Del Ivan Janik. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002. Olin and Uris Ref PR116 M63 2002
Alphabetically arranged entries on 58 British women writers of the 20th century discuss each writer's life, works, and critical reception. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and contains an overview of the writer's background, an Analysis of her major works, and an assessment of the critical response to her writings. The entries close with primary and secondary bibliographies, and the volume concludes with a selected, general bibliography. (publisher's description)

 

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
50,000 biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond, from the earliest times to the year 2000. Confined to people who died before 31 December 2000.

 

Schlueter, Paul and June Schlueter, eds. An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers. New York: Garland, 1988. Uris Ref PR lll S3+
Contains nearly 400 biographical entries for British women writers from the eighteenth century to the present. Each entry includes a list of the author's primary works and a bibliography of critical sources. Entries are signed and a list of contributors is provided. The detailed index is cross referenced for pseudonyms or variant names used by an author.

 

Scott-Kilvert, Ian, gen. ed. British Writers. 8 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1979-1984. Uris Ref PR 85 B86+
An eight volume set of literary biographies, originally published as individual studies in a British Council series called Writers and their Work. Arrangement is chronological, starting in Vol. l with the 14th century (William Langland: Piers Plowman) and ending in Vol. VII with Louis MacNeice and an essay on the poets of World War II. Volume VIII serves as an index for the complete set. Each essay contains both critical and biographical material and ends with a bibliography of works by and about the author.

 

Vinson, James, ed. Great Writers of the English Language. 3 vols. New York: St. Martin's, 1979. (Vol. 1 Poets, Vol. 2 Novelists, Vol. 3 Dramatists) Uris Ref PR 106 G7
Extensive coverage of writers (poets, novelists and dramatists) from Great Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United States and other English speaking areas of the world. Entries include a short biography giving very basic information, a list of publications by and about the writers and a short critical essay discussing one or more of that writer's best known works.

 
 
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