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Research Resources for Study of the 18th Century
This bibliography was inspired by and builds upon the online materials posted by Laura L. Runge for her students at University of SouthFlorida.
Major References
Austin and Allibone: A Critical Dictionary of EnglishLiterature and British and American Authors…3 vols.(Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1871), repr. Gale Research,1965. Virginia Tech Ref. Z 1224 A431
Dictionary of British and American Women Writers,1660-1800, ed, Janet Todd (Totowa, NJ: Rowman & Allanheld, 1985)McConnell Ref. PR 113.D51985
Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB). Multivolume, multi-editor series, each volume devoted to a thematic organization of authors, e.g. Eighteenth-Century Poets, or British Reform Writers 1789-1832 (vol. 158). Gale ResearchMcConnell Ref. PN 451.D52
Dictionary of National Biography (DNB). 22 volumes.London: Smith Elder & Co. 1908, reprinted, 1921-22, 1937-8. Valuable late nineteenth, early twentieth-century resourceMcConnell Ref.DA28.D45 1921
The New Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature. 5 vol. Ed. George Watson (Cambridge UP, 1969-77). Index in vol.5. Online call # contains link to English poetry full text databaseMcConnell Ref. Z2011.N45
The Oxford Companion to the Theatre. 4th edition. Ed.Phyllis Hartnoll (oxford UP, 1983).McConnell Ref. PN2035.094
A Biographical Dictionary of the Living Authors of Great Britain and Ireland. Comprising literary memoirs and anecdotes of their lives: a chronological register of their publications. (London, 1816), repr. Gale Research 1966.Virginia Tech Ref. Z2010.B61
Major Indexes
English Short-title Catalogue (ESTC) Descriptions and holdings information for letterpress materials printed in England or its dependencies (in any language) or in English (anywhere in the world) from 1473 to 1800. Updated daily. Available through Virginia Tech. From the main library page < select “Article Searching” under Online Resources. Then scroll down to the ESTC. See also the website for valuable information on publications in the eighteenth century. In particular, see “Statistics on the ESTC and printing in the UK and North America before 1800.”Virginia Tech
Modern Language Association Bibliography: Provides over one million citations for items from journals and series published worldwide. Indexes books, essay collections, working papers, proceedings, dissertations, and bibliographies. Contains in each record a bibliographic citation for a journal article, book, or other item including information about the libraries that own the library resources.Available through Infotrak at McConnell
Biography and Genealogy Master Index. A comprehensive index to more than 11 million biographical sketches in over 3000 volumes and editions of current and retrospective reference books, covering both contemporary and historical figures throughout the world.Virginia Tech (same instructions as accessing ESTC)
English literature, 1660-1800; ABibliography of Modern Studies, compiled for Philological Quarterly by Ronaly S. Crane, 6 vols. Princeton UP, 1950. McConnell Ref. Z2011.E6 Vl-4
The Eighteenth Century: A Current Bibliography (ECCB) 18 vols (1975-1992 and ongoing) AMS Press.McConnell Ref. Z6204.E35
Criticism, Reception
The Critical Heritage series, published by Routledge in the 1980s with a variety of editors. Each volume is dedicated to a single major author, such as Pope, Swift, Johnson, Congreve, goldsmith. Not too many women represented. This is an excellent resource for critical reception of the author and individual works, with excerpts from actual criticism form the eighteenth century forward. Virginia TechRef. 3494 R6
The Library of Literary Criticism of English and American Authors. 8 vols. Ed. Charles Wells Moulton. (Buffalo Moulton, 1901-1905) repr. NY: P. Smith, 1935.Valuable Guide to 18th and 19th century criticism of a work; contains bios., criticism articles.McConnell Ref. PR 83.73 1935
Indexes to Early Reviews
Ward, William S. Literary Reviews in British Periodicals 1789-1797. A bibliography with a supplementary list of general (non-review) articles on literary subjects (New York: Garland, 1979)Virginia Tech Ref. Z2013.W361979
Ward, William S. Literary Reviews in British Periodicals, 1798-1820. A bibliography with a supplementary list of general (non-review) articles on literary subjects (NY: Garland, 1972). Virginia Tech Ref. PR Z2013.W36
Forster, Antonia. Index to Book Reviews in England, 1749-1774 (Carbondale: Southern Illinois UP, 1990)Virginia Tech Ref Z1035.A1F67 1990
Forster, Antonia Index to Book Reviews in England,1775-1800 (London: Brit. Library, 1997)Virginia Tech Ref. Z1035.A1F675 1997
Statistical Profiles on Publications
Adburgham, Alison. Women in Print: Writing Women and Women’s Magazines from the Restoration to the Accession of Victoria (London: Allen and Unwin, 1972) Virginia Tech Ref. PR119A35
Crawford, Patricia. “Women’s Published Writings 1600-1700, “ M. Pror, ed. Women in English Society 1500-1800 (London: Methuen, 1985) 211-282.Virginia Tech Ref. HQ1599.E5W64 1985
Stanton, Judith, “Statistical Profile of Women Writing in English from 1660-1800,”Eighteenth-century Women and the Arts, ed. Frederick Keener and Susan Lorsch (New York: Greenwood, 1988).On order through ILL NX 452.E56 1988
Raven, James. British Fiction 1750-1770: A Chronological Check-List of Prose Fiction Printed in Britain and Ireland (Newark, DE: U of Delaware P, 1987).Virginia Tech Ref. PR851.R34 1987
The English Novel, 1770-1829: A Bibliographical Survey of Prose Fiction Published in the British Isles. Eds. Raven, James, Peter Garside and Rainer Schowerling (Oxford: Oxford UP, 2000). On order through ILL
Orr, Leonard. A Catalogue Checklist of English Prose Fiction, 1750-1800 (Troy, NY: Whitson, 1979)Ref. PR851.077. On order through ILL
Secondary Bibliographies
Bibliography of British Literary Bibliographies, 2nd edition. Compiled by T.H. Howard-Hill (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1987). Very useful for major authors.Virginia Tech Ref PR83.H68 vol 1
There are also some good bibliographies on websites: e.g.Horace Walpole, Frances Burney, The Gothic Novel
Resources for Publishing History
National Union Catalogue (WALLS and WALLS of volumes!)McConnell Ref. Z663.74 A43
British Library Catalogue, available on 5 CDs, accessible via the Internet and telnet
See also ESTC, RLIN and WorldCat Databases-
Resources for Manuscript locators:
Harner, James, L. Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies. 3rdedition. New York: MLA, 1998. You should buy a copy of this if you haven’t already, and especially so if you plan on writing a thesis or doing extended graduate work.
Index of English Literary Manuscripts. 5 vols. In various parts with a variety of compilers. [Vol. II 1625-1700, Vol. III 1700-1800, will be most of interest]Virginia Tech Ref. PR 83I5
Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and Letters, Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries. 2 vols. Edited by David C. Sutton (London: The British library, 1995)Virginia Tech Ref. PR441L62 1995
National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections. Virginia Tech Ref. Z6620.U5N3
Women’s History Sources: A Guide to Archive and Manuscript Collections in the United States.Virginia Tech Ref. HQ1410.W6
Microfilm Series
Early British Periodicals (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1972-) 902 reels Accompanied by A Guide to Early British Periodicals Collections on Microfilm Edited by Jean Hoornstra and Grace Puravs (Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms, 1980). This covers 168 periodicals from eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.Virginia Tech Ref. Ap4E15
Early English Books, 1641-1700 [Microfilm]; 1961, an invaluable source for Restoration authors.Virginia Tech Ref Z2002U577
Herstory: Women’s History Collection, Microfilm Series, Contains a surprising number of eighteenth-century texts by women. Worth checking if you cannot locate particular works in more conventional mediums.Virginia Tech HQ1101W75
Online Resources
- Internet Library of Early Journals: A Digital Library of 18th and 19th Century Periodicals. < Joint project by the Universities of Birmingham, Leeds, Manchester and Oxford, it aimed to digitise substantial runs of 18th and 19th century journals, and make these images available on the Internet, together with their associated bibliographic data. The core of the collection is runs of at least 20 consecutive years of:
Three 18th-century journals / Three 19th-century journals
Gentleman’s Magazine
The Annual Register
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society / Notes and Queries
The Builder
Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine
- Jack Lynch’s 18th Century Resources. < >. “The” internet site for study of the 18th c. research. Pages focus on the (very long) eighteenth century—Milton to Keats. The collection includes information on literature, history, art, music, religion, economics, philosophy, and so on, from around the world, as well as the home pages of societies and people who work on eighteenth-century topics. The site is aimed especially at scholars and students.
- Voice of the Shuttle: Web Page for Research in the Humanities
- British Poetry 1780-1910: A Hypertext Archive of Scholarly Editions< Electronic Text Center, University of Virginia
- The Aphra Behn Society Homepage This site provides information on this academic association, an affiliate of the American Society for Eighteenth-Century Studies; the page is maintained by Carole Meyers, EmoryUniversity.
- William Godwin Archive <
- The Gothic Literature Page
- The Literary Gothic page
- Art of William Hogarth