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English Language & Literature

Recommended Secondary Sources

Allen, Walter. The English Novel: A Short Critical History. (1954)
PR821 .A4
 
Baker, Ernest Albert. The History of the English Novel. vol. 1-7, 9-10 (1924-36)
PR821 .B16
Old but still useful.
 
Bakhtin, M. M. The Dialogic Imagination: Four Essays. Trans. Caryl Emerson and ed. Michael Holquist. (1981)
PN3331 .B2513
A major theoretical work on the "dialogic" nature of novelistic discourse.
 
Booth, Wayne C. The Rhetoric of Fiction. 2nd ed.
PN3355 .B597 1983
A standard work on point of view and narrative technique.
 
Kettle, Arnold. An Introduction to the English Novel. Rev. ed. 2 vols.
PR821 .K4 1968
Emphasizes relations between fiction and social history.
 
Lodge, David. Language of Fiction: Essays in Criticism and Verbal Analysis of the English Novel. 2nd ed. (1984)
PR821 .L6 1984
First published in 1966. Part 1 addresses modern critics and "problems in criticism"; part 2 consists of essays on Austen, Charlotte Bronte, Dickens, Hardy, James, Wells, and Kingsley Amis.
 
Van Ghent, Dorothy Bendon. The English Novel, Form and Function. (1953)
PR821 .V25
A major work of formalist criticism.

Watt, Ian P. The Rise of the Novel: Studies in Defoe, Richardson, and Fielding.
PR3406 .W34 1963
A seminal historical study of realist fiction.

Selected Bibliographies

Esdaile, Arundell. A List of English Tales and Prose Romances Printed before 1740. 
REF Z2014 .F4 E8 1971
 
Summers, Montague. A Gothic Bibliography 
PR861.2 S9
Not comprehensive, but lists works ranging from 1728 to 1916.
 
Raven, James. British Fiction, 1750-1770: A Chronological Checklist...
REF Z2014 .F4 R34 1987
Intended as a comprehensive listing, including reprints and publications with no surviving copies.
 
Garside, Peter et al., eds. The English Novel 1770-1829: A Bibliographical Survey of Prose Fiction Published in the British Isles. 2 vols.
REF Z2014 .F4 E52 2000
Attempts to "list all novels in the period whether or not surviving in extant copies, their publication and pricing details, and contemporary review information."
 
Orr, Leonard. A Catalogue Checklist of English Prose Fiction, 1750-1800. 
Z2014 .F4 O77
 
Daims, Diva and Janet Grimes. Toward a Feminist Tradition: An Annotated Bibliography of Novels in English by Women, 1891-1920.
REF Z2013.5 .W6 D34 1982
Lists and describes over 3400 novels. Organized alphabetically by author, with a title index.
 
Wright, Lyle Henry. American Fiction, 1774-1850: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography. Rev. ed.
REF Z1231 .F4 W9 1948
 
Wright, Lyle Henry. American Fiction, 1851-1875: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography. 
REF Z1231 .F4 W92
 
Wright, Lyle Henry. American Fiction, 1876-1900: A Contribution Toward a Bibliography. 
REF Z1231 .F4 W93
 
Smith, Geoffrey D. American Fiction, 1901-1925: A Bibliography.
REF Z1231 .F4 S6 1997
Includes indexes of titles, illustrators, publishers, and pseudonyms.

Anthologies & Compilations

Kelly, Gary et al., eds. Varieties of Female Gothic. 6 vols.
PR830 .T3 V28 2002
Reproduces gothic tales by women writers under headings of Enlightenment, Terror, Street, Erotic, Historical, and Orientalist Gothic.
 
Maunder, Andrew et al., eds. Varieties of Women's Sensation Fiction, 1855-1890 6 vols.
PR878 S44 V37 2004
Vol. I, Sensationalism and the Sensation Debate, reprints documents from the Victorian controversy over the "sensation novels"; the successive volumes reproduce "forgotten" novels in the genre.

Guides and Compilations of Secondary Sources

Comprehensive
 
Palmer, Helen H. English Novel Explication: Criticisms to 1972. 1973 REF Z2014 .F5P26
References to critical interpretations of individual works by major authors. See also the supplements (1976-), under the same call number.
 
Dictionary of Literary Biography (Gale British Novelists) Series:
  • British Novelists, 1660-1800.
    ed. Martin C. Battestin, 2 vols.
    REF PR851 .B7 1985
  • British Romantic Novelists, 1789-1832.
    ed. Bradford K. Mudge.
    REF PR861 .B74 1992
  • Victorian Novelists before 1885.
    ed. Ira B. Nadel and William E. Fredeman.
    REF PR871 .V55 1983
  • Victorian Novelists after 1885.
    ed. Ira B. Nadel and William E. Fredeman.
    REF PR871 .V54 1983
  • British Novelists, 1890-1929: Traditionalists.
    ed. Thomas F. Staley.
    REF PR881 .B724 1985
  • British Novelists, 1890-1929: Modernists.
    ed. Thomas F. Staley.
    REF PR851 .B73 1985
  • British Novelists, 1930-1959.
    ed. Bernard Oldsey, 2 vols.
    ï REF PR881 .B725 1983
  • British Novelists since 1960.
    ed. Jay L. Halio, 2 vols.
    REF PR881 .B73 1983
  • British Novelists since 1960, 2nd series.
    ed. Merritt Moseley.
    REF PR881 .B732 1998
These illustrated volumes in the Dictionary of Literary Biography series provide a brief critical biography, a bibliography of primary works, and a very selective list of secondary works for each novelist.
 
May, Charles E. et al., eds. Critical Survey of Short Fiction. 2nd ed. 7 vols.
REF PN3321 .C7 2001
 
Rogers, Jane et al., eds. Good Fiction Guide
REF PN3503 .G66 2001
 
Specific Periods
 
Harner, James L. English Renaissance Prose Fiction, 1500-1660: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism. 
Z2014 .F4 H37
 
Letellier, Robert Ignatius. The English Novel, 1660-1700: An Annotated Bibliography.
REF Z2014 .F4 L46 1997
 
Beasley, Jerry C. English Fiction, 1660-1800: A Guide to Information Sources. 
REF Z2014 .F5B42
Begins with lists of general and historical sources; entries for 29 fiction writers list resources including works, letters, biographies, and critical studies.
 
Hahn, H. George and Carl Behm III. The Eighteenth-Century British Novel and its Background: An Annotated Bibliography and Guide to Topics. 
REF Z2014 .F4 H33 1985
Begins with an extensive index of subjects, themes, and critical issues in eighteenth-century fiction, with each entry in the index listing relevant works in the bibliographies. Each entry in the bibliographies (which list critical studies of eighteenth-century backgrounds, of the eighteenth-century novel in general, and of major and minor novelists) cites the relevant headings in the index in lieu of fuller annotation.
 
McNutt, Dan J. The Eighteenth Century Gothic Novel: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism and Selected Texts. 
REF Z2014 .F5M3
 
Spector, Robert Donald. The English Gothic: A Bibliographic Guide to Writers from Horace Walpole to Mary Shelley.
REF Z2014 .H67S66 1984
Advice on critical sources in the form of a bibliographic essay.
 
Frank, Frederick S. Guide to the Gothic: An Annotated Bibliography of Criticism.
REF Z5917 .G66F7 1984
 
Ford, George Harry, ed. Victorian Fiction: A Second Guide to Research.
REF PR871 .V5 1978
 
Nagel, James and Gwen L. Nagel, eds. Facts on File: Bibliography of American Fiction, 1866-1918.
REF Z1231 .F4 B46 1993
Selective bibliographies of primary and secondary sources for 140 writers.
 
Kemp, Sandra et al. Edwardian Fiction: An Oxford Companion.
PR881 .K39 1997
"[S]urveys fiction in English, published principally but not exclusively in Great Britain and Ireland between 1 January 1900 and 31 December 1914." Excludes American fiction but includes some from Canada, the African colonies, British India, Australia, and New Zealand. Includes articles on themes and sub-genres as well as on authors.
 
Eichelberger, Clayton L. A Guide to Critical Reviews of United States Fiction, 1870-1910. 2 vols. 
REF Z1225 .E35
A "preliminary" list of 20,000 critical notices of works of American fiction.
 
Cassis, A.F. The Twentieth-Century English Novel: An Annotated Bibliography of General Criticism.
REF Z2014 .F4 C35
 
Rice, Thomas Jackson. English Fiction, 1900-1950: General Bibliography and Individual Authors: A Guide to Information Sources. 2 vols.
REF Z2014 .F4R5
The general bibliography lists standard secondary sources, with separate lists for sub-genres including short story, crime fiction, political and religious fiction, science fiction, utopian fiction, and fantasy. The entries for 35 authors list primary and secondary sources.
 
Stanton, Robert J. A Bibliography of Modern British Novelists. 2 vols.
REF Z2039 .F4S72 1978
A list of books, dissertations, and periodical articles on 25 well-known 20th-century British novelists.
 
Adelman, Irving and Rita Dworkin. The Contemporary Novel: A Checklist of Critical Literature on the English Language Novel Since 1945. 2nd ed. 
REF Z1231 .F4 A34 1997
Selected listing of criticism through 1982.
 
Vinson, James, ed. Contemporary Novelists. 3rd ed.
REF PR833 .V55 1982
Biographical data, brief critical essay, and bibliographies of primary and secondary sources for each of over 500 writers.
 
Schlager, Neil and Josh Lauer, eds. Contemporary Novelists. 7th ed.
REF PR881 .C69 2001
Updated version of the volume cited above; since these volumes focus on living writers, see the earlier editions for entries concerning recently deceased writers. The 1st and 2nd editions are in the general stacks (PR883 .V55).
 
McCaffrey, Larry, ed. Postmodern Fiction: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide.
REF PR3503 .P594 1986
In two main sections. The first includes essays on postmodern genres, the second essays on authors and critics of postmodern fiction.
Specific Sub-Genres
 
Albert, Walter. Detective and Mystery Fiction: An International Bibliography of Secondary Sources.
REF PN3448 .D4 A36 1985u
 
Barzun, Jacques and Wendell Hertig Taylor. a Catalogue of Crime. 
REF Z5917.D5 B37 1971
A guide to crime and detective fiction.
 
Nicholls, Peter. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction: An Illustrated A to Z. 
REF PN3435 .N5