Eighteenth Century Literature
| Reference Sources |
Finding Books |
Finding Journal Articles |
| Finding Primary Sources |
Reference
Sources:
Suzzallo Library has many
reference resources--specialized encyclopedias, dictionaries
& bibliographies--that are devoted to British literature,
history, and culture. These resources are valuable for providing background information that can help you narrow your research topic.
The bibliographies provide lists of additional resources, ranging from key scholarship on a particular author or literary period, to finding poems or reviews in older journals and magazines. All resources below are located in Suzzallo Reference (1st
floor) unless otherwise noted:
Historical
Encyclopedias and Dictionaries
- Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837, DA 480 .B75 1997
- Dictionary of Eighteenth-Century World History, D 286 .D53 1994
- Encyclopedia of the Early Modern World (6 vols.), D 209 .E97 2004
- Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment (B 802 .E53 2003) - UW restricted
- Historical Dictionary of London, DA 677 .P33 2001
- London Encyclopedia, DA 677 .L66 1983
- Oxford Companion to British History (DA 34 .O93 1997) - UW restricted
- Readers Guide to British History, DA 34 .R43 2004
- Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Poetry, 1660-1780, PR502 .R58 v.3 (Suzzallo & OUGL Stacks)
- Women in World History: A Biographical Encyclopedia (17 vols.), HQ 1115 .W6 1999
Literary
Encyclopedias & Biographies
- British Writers (15 vols.), PR 85 .B688
- British Literary Book Trade 1700-1820 (Dictionary of Literary Biography, vol. 154), PN41 .D484 1978
- Cambridge History of English Literature 1660-1780, PR 442 .C36 2005
- Dictionary of British Literary Characters: 18th- and 19th-Century Novels, PR830.C47 D5 1993
- Dictionary of National Biography- UW restricted
- Eighteenth Century British Poets (Dictionary of Literary Biography, vols. 95 & 109), PN41 .D484 1978
- Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, Terms,
PN81 .E53 1993
- Encyclopedia of the Novel (2 vols.), PN 41 .E487 1998
- English Literature in the Early Eighteenth Century, 1700-1740 (Oxford History of English Literature vol. 7), PR 83 .O93
- English Literature in the Mid-Eighteenth Century (Oxford History of English Literature vol. 8), PR 83 .O93
- English Literature 1789-1818 (Oxford History of English Literature vol. 9), PR 83 .O93
- Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature - UW restricted
- Restoration and Eighteenth Century Dramatists (Dictionary of Literary Biography, vols. 84, 80& 89), PN41 .D484 1978
Bibliographies
- Annals of English Verse, 1770-1835: A Preliminary Survey of the Volumes Published, Z2039.P6 J32 1985 (Suzzallo Stacks)
- Backgrounds to Restoration and Eighteenth-Century English Literature: an
Annotated Bibliographical Guide to Modern Scholarship, Z2012 .S65 1989
- Bibliography of British History; the Eighteenth Century, 1714-1789, Z2019
.P3
- The Eighteenth Century British Novel and Its Background: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Topics, Z2014.F4 H33 1985
- Eighteenth-Century English Literary Studies: A Bibliography, Z2012 .G56 1984
- English Fiction, 1660-1800: a Guide to Information Sources, Z2014.F5 B32
- English Literature, 1660-1800: A Bibliography of Modern Studies v.1-6 (1926-1970), Z2011 .E6
- Index to Book Reviews in England, 1749-1774, Z1035 .A1 F67
- Literary Reviews in British Periodicals, 1789-1797:
A Bibliography, With a Supplementary List of General (Non-Review) Articles on Literary Subjects, Z2013 .W36 1979a
- The New Cambridge Bibliography of English literature, Z2011 .C35 1969
- Romantic Poetry by Women: a Bibliography, 1770-1835, Z2013.5.W6 J33 1993
Finding
Books:
Use the
following catalogs to locate books in the UW Libraries, other libraries
around the region or available online. Books that are not available at the UW
or in Summit can be requested through Interlibrary
Loan.
- UW Libraries'
Catalog
The catalog contains over 1.9 million titles (books, journals, newspapers,
videos, etc.) held by more than 20 branches of the UW Libraries.
- Summit Catalog
Summit includes over 28 million books, sound recordings, films, maps and more
from 36 colleges, universities, and community colleges throughout Oregon and
Washington. Use Summit if a UW book is missing/checked out, or if the UW does
not have a book that you need. Request books through the catalog and
get them in 3 days.
- OCLC
WorldCat - UW restricted
OCLC is catalog of books and other materials in libraries worldwide. It includes
millions of bibliographic records and represents 400 languages. Use WorldCat
to search for books not owned by UW or other Summit libraries. You must request
these items through Interlibrary
loan/UW Express.
- ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online) - UW restricted
ECCO includes every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas, between 1701 and 1800. Subject categories include history and geography; fine arts; social sciences; medicine, science, and technology; literature and language; religion and philosophy; law; general reference.
Finding
Scholarly Journal Articles:
Use a Research
Database on the UW Libraries website to find scholarly articles on your topic. The following databases
are good choices for topics pertaining to 18th Century England or British Literature:
- MLA
International Bibliography - UW restricted
MLA is the best database for finding information on literature, language,
linguistics, and folklore. MLA covers scholarly journals and series, as well
as chapters in books and dissertations. Please note: there is NO FULL TEXT
in MLA. You must search the UW Libraries catalog to see if the journal/book
is available in the libraries.
- Historical
Abstracts - UW restricted
Historical Abstracts is an excellent database for finding scholarly
articles, chapters in books, and book reviews pertaining to world history
from 1450 to the present. Please note: there is NO FULL TEXT in Historical
Abstracts. You must search the UW Libraries catalog
to see if the journal/book is available in the libraries.
- Academic OneFile - UW restricted
Covers all subject areas--humanities, social sciences and sciences. Thus,
it covers both history and literature, but not in the same depth as the databases
above. Keep in mind that OneFile includes both scholarly journals and popular
magazines. Some full text is available.
Finding Primary Sources:
When studying literature, a "primary source" can be the text itself, or relevant documents (letters from the author, historical documents from the time period, etc.) that help interpret meaning. Find tips on searching the UW Libraries catalog to locate primary sources or search the following databases to locate primary materials from 18th Century England:
- Burney Collection of 17th & 18th Century British Newspapers - UW restricted
Full-text access to the British Library's collection of the newspapers, pamphlets, and books gathered by Reverend Charles Burney (1757-1817)--the largest and most comprehensive collection of early English news media. More than twelve hundred titles and almost one million pages are included.
- ECCO (Eighteenth Century Collections Online) - UW restricted
ECCO includes every significant English-language and foreign-language title printed in the United Kingdom, along with thousands of important works from the Americas, between 1701 and 1800. Subject categories include history and geography; fine arts; social sciences; medicine, science, and technology; literature and language; religion and philosophy; law; general reference. See MORE information on ECCO.
- Electronic Enlightenment - UW restricted
Access to correspondence between the greatest thinkers and writers of the 18th century and their families and friends, bankers and booksellers, patrons and publishers.
- Internet Library of Early Journals: 18th and 19th Century
A joint project by the Universities of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford, which "aims to digitise substantial runs of 18th and 19th century journals, and make these images available on the Internet, together with their associated bibliographic data."
- Times (of London) - UW restricted
Full-text access to the London Times from 1785-1985. Does not include text of Times Literary Supplement.
There are also many excellent websites that provide access to primary resources
pertaining to England in the 18th Century. Some are listed
below. If searching for additional sites on Google, be sure to note the
author/sponsor of the site and see if it is a credible source. For more
tips on evaluating websites, see the following guide:
- British History Online
"British History Online is the digital library containing some of the core printed primary and secondary sources for the medieval and modern history of the British Isles." Created by the Institute of Historical Research and the History of Parliament Trust. For 18th Century, collections includes records of proceedings in Parliament, higher clergy, office holders in central government and the Survey of London.
- British Library Images Online
"Instant access to thousands of the greatest images from the British Library's collections which include manuscripts, rare books, musical texts and maps spanning almost 3000 years. The range of images available include illustrations, drawings, paintings and photographs of topics pertaining to all areas of British history and culture.
- Dying Speeches & Bloody Murders: Crime Broadsides
Collected by the Harvard Law School Library, digitized images of 500 broadsides spanning the years 1707 to 1891 "include accounts of executions for such
crimes as arson, assault, counterfeiting, horse stealing, murder, rape,
robbery, and treason. Many of the broadsides vividly describe the
results of sentences handed down at London's central criminal court,
the Old Bailey."
- Proceedings of the Old Bailey Online (1674-1913)
"A fully searchable edition of the largest body of texts detailing the lives of non-elite people ever published, containing 197,745 criminal trials held at London's central criminal court."
- The Spectator Text Project
The Spectator Project is an interactive hypermedia environment for the study of The Tatler (1709-1711), The Spectator (1711-14), and the eighteenth-century periodical in general. Currently, the complete version of both journals are available online.