Encyclopedias
Most of these include brief essays on literary concepts and genre, major themes, national literatures, and major works and authors.
Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia via InfoTrac Web (General Reference Center Gold)
PN4.B4 (Reference)
The Concise Encyclopedia of Modern World Literature.
PN41.C64 (Reference)
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. Wolfgang Bernard Fleischmann, ed.
PN774.L4333 3 vols. (Reference)
Cassell's Encyclopedia of World Literature.
PN41.C3 1973 3 vols. (Reference)
McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama, Second Edition.
PN1625.M3 vol. 1-5 (Reference)
Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics.
PN1021.E5 (Reference)
Biography
- Contemporary Authors via InfoTrac Web's Biography Resource Center
PS21.C6 (Reference)
Autobiography Series. PN453.C63 (Reference)
New Revision Series. PS21.C6 (Reference) - These comprehensive series covering fiction and nonfiction writers in all disciplines provide brief biographical sketches with lists of major works and critical reviews. To locate entries on your author check the index in the last volume. The index also includes references to articles in other reference books published by Gale.
- Cyclopedia of World Authors
PN451.M36 3 vols. (Reference)
- Cyclopedia of World Authors II.
PN451.C93 4 vols. (Reference) - Brief critical biographical essays with lists of principle works and critical references. The revised edition covers writers from ancient times to the present. Both sets should be consulted for contemporary writers.
- Dictionary of Literary Biography
PS21.D5 (Reference)
Documentary Series PS21.D52x (Reference)
Yearbooks PS21.D51x (Reference) - Lengthy biographical and critical essays on authors are grouped together in volumes organized by topic, period, or genre with good bibliographies. Major Authors may be covered in more than one volume so check the index in the latest yearbook.
- American Women Writers; A Critical Reference Guide from Colonial Times to the present. Abridged Edition. Langdon Lynne Fause, ed.
PS147.A42 (Reference)
Literary Criticism
- Book-length works about a particular author can be found using the Library Catalog. Search for the author's name as subject. Articles in literary journals will be indexed by works listed under the section "Indexes to Periodical Articles and Essays."
- Contemporary Literary Criticism Select.
Complete set available in PN771.C59 vols. 1-46+ (Reference) - Includes authors whose works were published 1960+.
- Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism.
PN771.T86x vols. 1-25+ (Reference)
- Nineteenth-Century Literature Criticism.
PN761.N56 25 vols. (Reference) - These three sets include excerpts from criticism of novelists, poets, playwrights, short story writers, philosophers, scriptwriters and other creative writers. The Nineteenth-Century set includes writers who died between 1800 and 1899 and the Twentieth Century set those who died between 1900 and 1960. Excerpts are from "the First Critical Appraisals to Current Evaluations."
- Dictionary of Literary Biography.
PN451.D5 (Reference) - Each volume in this literary history set covers a different topic, period or genre. Some authors are covered in several volumes with different emphases. For a comprehensive index check the last volume of the set.
- Ancient Writers. T. James Luce, ed.
PH3002.A5 2 vols. (Reference) - Long essays examine the works of Greek and Roman writers.
- European Writers. George Stade, ed.
PN501.E9 9 vols. (Reference) - Extensive essays examine the works of major writers and genre from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. The essays concentrate on the writers' works and their relationship with predecessors and contemporaries.
- A Library of Literary Criticism: Modern American Literature.
PS221.C8 4 vols. (Reference)
- A Library of Literary Criticism: Modern British Literature.
PR473.T4 3 vols. (Reference)
- Moulton's Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors through the Beginning of the Twentieth Century.
PR83.M73 4 vols. (Reference) - These sets contain many brief excerpts from critical essays on English language authors.
- Critical Survey of Drama: English Language Series.
PR625.C74 6 vols. (Reference)
- Critical Survey of Poetry: English Language Series.
PR502.C85 8 vols. (Reference)
- Critical Survey of Poetry: Foreign Language Series.
PN41.C7 5 vols. (Reference)
- Critical Survey of Short Fiction.
PN3321.C7 7 vols. (Reference)
- Critical Survey of Long Fiction: English Language Series.
PN3503.C7 8 vols. (Reference)
- Critical Survey of Long Fiction: Foreign Language Series.
PN3503.C7 5 vols. (Reference) - Besides critical essays on the long or short fiction, poetry or drama of specific authors of many nations, the last volumes contain essays on the development of each genre.
- A Survey of Contemporary Literature. Frank N. Magill, ed.
PN44.M34 (Reference) - Brief analyses of major works of fiction and nonfiction published 1954-1976 with bibliographies of criticisms and review articles.
- Masterplots: Comprehensive Library Edition. Frank N. Magill, ed.
PN44.M33 vols. 1- (Reference) - Summaries only of major works of world literature: drama, novels, poetry, essays, personal journals, philosophy, etc.
- Masterplots II. Frank N. Magill, ed.
- American Fiction Series.
PN846.M37x vols 1- (Reference) - Short Stories Series.
PN3326.M27x vols. 1- (Reference) - World Fiction Series.
PN3326.M28 1987 vols. 1- (Reference) - For each work there is an essay on the plot, characters, and themes, and a bibliography for further study.
- Internet Public Library - Literary Criticism
http://www.ipl.org/ref/litcrit/
Search the Library Catalog for Books, Videos
WEBnet, the library catalog, is a great place to look for books and videos owned by Babson, Olin, Regis, Pine Manor and Bentley College libraries. If you find a book located at a library other than Babson, request it to be delivered by filling out a form at the Information Desk. Usually, it only takes a couple of days for us to get the item for you.
For books By a specific author, such as Ernest Hemingway's, For Whom the Bell Tolls, look in the Author section of the Library Catalog.
For current popular fiction and nonfiction browse through the New Books collection in the Jamie Horner Lounge. Books in this collection are not permanent acquisitions so the collection changes through the semester.
For biographies and literary criticism ABOUT an author, such as Ernest Hemingway: A Study of the Short Fiction, choose the Subject option of the Library Catalog and search under the name of the author.
The Library of Congress Classification system places works on language and literature in the P's on the third floor of the library. Works by AND about an author are grouped together by nationality and period; an author's literary works will be on the shelf before biographical and critical works. An outline of the P's is given below.
P ------- Philology and linguistics
PA ------ Classical languages and literature
PB-PH --- Modern European languages
PE ------ English language (including dictionaries)
PJ-PM --- Languages of Africa, Asia & Oceana
PN ------ Literature
PQ ------ French, Italian, Spanish & Portuguese literature
PR ------ English literature
PS ------ American literature
PT ------ Germanic literature
Full Text Articles & Indexes to Periodical Articles, Book Reviews and Essays
- InfoTrac - General Reference Center Gold or Expanded Academic ASAP
- Contains articles, book reviews, encyclopedia entries on a broad range of topics including literature.
- JSTOR
- MLA Bibliography.
- MLA covers literature, languages, linguistics and folklore in 4000 journals.
- Articles on American Literature (pre-1967)
PS221.L399 (Reference)
PS221.L4 (Reference) - These volumes list literary review articles by the subject author and by about 20 select topics, such as, fiction, regionalism, foreign influence, etc. Scan the table of contents for relevant headings.
- Reader's Index to the Twentieth Century Views of Literary Criticism Series.
PN81.P75 (Reference) - This actually includes the index pages for 100 collections of critical essays on specific authors. Horn Library has all of the works indexed.
- Salem, James M. A Guide to Critical Reviews.
PN81.P3 (Reference) - Part I: American Drama, 1909-1969.
- Part II: The Musical, 1909-1974
- Part III: Foreign Drama, 1909-1977.
- United States Fiction, 1870-1910.
PS21.E35x (Reference) - Index to contemporary critical comment 1870-1910 on U.S. writers. Research
- American Literary Scholarship: an annual. 1963 to the present.
PS3.A47 (Reference) - Annual review of new scholarship on American Literature. Scan the table of contents and the index for each volume.
- The Reader's Advisor; A Layman's Guide to Literature. 13th edition.
Z1035.R42 vols. 1-5 (Reference) - Volume 1 covers "The Best in American and British Fiction, Poetry, Essays, Literary Biography, Bibliography, and Reference. Volume 2 covers "The Best in American and British Drama and World Literature in English Translation"
