English Literature: A Guide to Resources: Specialized Encyclopedias & Dictionaries

Based on an extensive reading program that has identified the most commonly-used allusions. All entries have at least one illustrative citation from a range of source materials.

A collection of brief entries for colloquial and proverbial phrases, biographical and mythological references, fictitious characters, titles, etc., giving origin, derivation, or meaning, as appropriate. Much revised over the years by various editors. New editions revise and update the older ones, but older editions remain useful since material changes in the revisions. Print edition in Olin Reference.

This alphabetically-arranged compendium covers some of the same material as the Cambridge Guide described above, but expands its coverage to Africa, India, and other areas, and aims to include more material on contemporary literary figures. Illustrated. 3rd edition.

Contents: v. 1. Classical criticism / edited by George A. Kennedy -- v. 3. The Renaissance / edited by Glyn P. Norton -- v. 4. Eighteenth century / edited by H.B. Nisbet and Claude Rawson -- v. 5. Romanticism / edited by Marshall Brown -- v. 7. Modernism and the new criticism / edited by A. Walton Litz, Louis Menand, and Lawrence Rainey -- v. 8. From formalism to poststructuralism / edited by Raman Selden -- v. 9. Twentieth-century historical, philosophical and psychological perspectives / edited by Christa Knellwolf and Christopher Norris.

"...envisioned as a comprehensive survey of the growth and development of literature that is by definition British in scope or origin, including he literatures written in English from the colonial to the postcolonial experience in Africa, Australia, Canada, the Caribbean, India, and New Zealand." (Intro). Entries are both topical and biographical, with selected bibliographies added. Includes a historical-literary timeline as well as lists of British monarchs, poets laureate and literary award winners. Indexed.

Provides definitions and some illustrations of terms related to the study of post-1450 manuscripts in the English-speaking world, including terminology related to physical forms and features, condition, writing instruments, scripts, containers, editing, paleography, postal features and more.

...centered primarily on Western literature. Covering 175 symbols, entries are complemented by quotations and citations. Alphabetically arranged, words are defined and their uses in literature are explored. Extensively cross-referenced with a list of authors cited and a bibliography.1999 edition online in Ebrary.

"Compiled by one of the best-known authorities on the Bard's works, this dictionary offers up-to-date information on all aspects of Shakespeare in his own time and on his impact and influence on later ages. It includes entries on the plays and the major characters, on Shakespeare's life and his contemporaries, on actors from Edmund Kean to Peter O'Toole, on theatres and directors, plus comments on Shakespeare by later authors such as Jane Austen, Dr Johnson, and Bernard Levin." [publisher]

A reference source for all aspects of the poetry, drama, fiction, and literary and cultural criticism produced from the Restoration of the English monarchy to the onset of the French Revolution. Includes coverage of both canonical and lesser-known authors, as well as entries addressing gender, sexuality, and other topics that have previously been underrepresented in traditional scholarship. Alphabetically arranged entries with bibliographies.

"...covers the vast realm of Catholic literature from its origins to today. Included are alphabetically arranged entries on more than 70 major works from around the world. Special attention is given to women writers and to writers from diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds. Included are entries on such authors and works as St. Augustine's Confessions, Catherine of Siena's Dialogue, Dante's The Divine Comedy, Sandra Cisneros' The House on Mango Street, J.R.R. Tolkien's The Lord of the Rings, and Muriel Spark's Memento Mori. Each entry is written by an expert contributor and includes a biography of the writer, a plot summary of a major work, an extended critical discussion, an overview of the work's critical reception, and a selected bibliography. The entries give detailed attention to particular works and explore their relation to Catholic thought. A selected general bibliography concludes the encyclopedia." [publisher]

3 vols. Featuring entries composed by leading international scholars, this 3 volume set covers aspects of English literature produced from the early 16th to the mid 17th centuries, including women writers, broadside ballads, commonplace books, and other popular literary forms.

"...includes alphabetically arranged entries on roughly 70 women writers whose works are widely read in English, and on some 20 related topics. While some of the writers profiled are widely known, others have not yet received as much attention. And while most of the writers are from England and America, the volume also profiles Chilean, Brazilian, Indian, South African, Australian, French, and German authors. The writers selected are feminist, in that their works have challenged traditional gender roles, explored female oppression, or critiqued patriarchal social structures. In addition to providing biographical information, the entries include interpretative summaries of major works." [publisher]

"A comprehensive guide to medieval literature. While the volume is devoted primarily to the literature of medieval England, its multicultural scope also encompasses Islamic, Mongolian, Celtic, Hispanic, Italian, Russian, and Germanic works. Longer entries treat major authors, entire genres, and important texts, while shorter entries provide valuable contextual information through their coverage of significant kings, religious leaders, artists, historical events, and other topics. Each of the more than 420 entries includes a brief bibliography, and the volume closes with a list of general works for further reading." (publisher)

4 volumes. Contains more than 600 scholarly entries spanning key figures, contexts, and influences in the literatures of Great Britain from the fifth century to the sixteenth. Bibliographies accompany each entry.

This three-volume set covers the history and development of the literatures of the colonies of the former British Commonwealth, and includes original research relating to the literatures of some fifty countries and mandated territories. In addition to entries by genre, subject, and biography, there are also important "overviews" for selected major subjects and genres in the form of comparative essays which explore the issues over a variety of countries. Includes a comprehensive index to authors, subjects, and works.

Covers the period from 1492 to the present, including the dynamics of European conquest from Columbus to China, and critiques of colonialism. Entries are written by leading scholars in the field.

"A three-volume reference work that covers British artistic, literary, and intellectual movements between 1780 and 1830, within the context of European, transatlantic and colonial historical and cultural interaction. Comprises over 275 entries ranging from 1,000 to 6,500 words arranged in A-Z format across three fully cross-referenced volumes. Entries explore genre development in prose, poetry, and drama of the Romantic period, key authors and their works, and key themes." (publisher)

Features a series of newly-commissioned essays from experts in Gothic studies that cover all aspects of the Gothic as it is currently taught and researched, along with the development of the genre and its impact on contemporary culture. Provides comprehensive coverage of relevant authors, national traditions, critical developments, and notable texts that define, shape, and inform the genre. Extends beyond a purely literary analysis to explore Gothic elements of film, music, drama, art, and architecture.

"Arranged in A-Z format, entries explore the history and tradition of the novel in different areas of the world; formal elements of the novel (such as narrative structure, plot, character, and narrative perspective); technical aspects of the genre (such as realism, dialogue, and style); subgenres, including the bildungsroman and the graphic novel; theoretical problems; book history; and the relationship of the novel to other arts and disciplines." [publisher]

"Covers British and Irish fiction, American fiction, and World fiction, including major writers and their works; the genres and sub-genres of fiction (including crime fiction, sci fi, chick lit, the noir novel, and the avant garde novel); and the major movements, debates, and rubrics within the field." [publisher]

Comprises over 330 fully cross-referenced entries, combining in-depth omnibus essays exploring major topics, including the novel, plays, poetry, and global Victorian studies, alongside succinct articles on themes such as cosmopolitanism, journalism, race, sexuality, and reading.

A comprehensive and scholarly history of the literature of England. Arranged by period and genre, with numerous footnotes indicating standard editions and an extensive bibliographical supplement listing, by chapter and page, the most important books and articles in which the reader may pursue further the writings of authors discussed.

Earlier edition published as Oxford companion to the literature of Wales. A general introduction to the literature of Wales from the sixth century to the present day. Includes a chronology of the history of Wales and other historical information. Includes alphabetically arranged entries with an emphasis on biographical and bibliographical details of the selected works of poets, editors, almanackers and other "men of letters whose writing forms the corpus of the country's literature."

Available online and in print. Provides brief articles on authors and literary works from all periods of English literature are arranged alphabetically in this comprehensive single volume handbook.Contains extensive cross-references. Appendices include a chronology of English literature, and lists of poets laureate and major literary award winners.

Contains over a thousand alphabetically arranged entries, including some 800 biographies of major and minor authors. Also includes entries on some 250 works of fiction, complete with plot outlines.

Includes all the words in the First Folio, transcribed using IPA, and provides sound files as an additional aid to pronunciation. It also details the main pronunciation evidence in the texts, notably all spelling variants and rhymes.

"Covers the entire history of British literature from the seventh century to the present, focusing on the writers and the major texts of what are now the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. In five hundred substantial essays written by major scholars, the Encyclopedia includes biographies of nearly four hundred individual authors and a hundred topical essays with detailed analyses of particular themes, movements, genres, and institutions whose impact upon the writing or the reading of literature was significant." Table of contents.

The OED presents in alphabetical series the words that have formed the English vocabulary from the time of the earliest records down to the present day, with all the relevant facts concerning their form, sense-history, pronunciation, and etymology.

"The main part of the book consists of entries for places in Great Britain and Ireland with literary associations, each headword being followed by a grid reference to the maps at the end...the place names are arranged in alphabetical order and refer to towns, villages, mansions, cottages, mountains, lakes, and rivers: places where writers have been born, educated, and buried, where they lived and worked; and where they met and talked and struck sparks off each other." (Preface) Includes an author index and many illustrations and photographs. Fictitious names of real places are entered as cross-references.

Alphabetically arranged guide to terms ("counter discourse"), people ("Buchi Emecheta"), concepts ("nationalism") and other topics found in postcolonial studies across the disciplines. Includes bibliography.

A revised and updated version of the major reference work for poetry. Compiled by an entirely new team of editors, this first new edition in almost twenty years reflects recent changes in literary and cultural studies, providing up-to-date coverage and giving greater attention to the international aspects of poetry, all while preserving the best of the previous volumes. [publisher] 1993 edition available online in LION.