Librarian for Literary Criticism

For questions related to Literary Criticism, please visit or call the reference desk on the first floor of the library, or send an email to our Ask-A-Librarian service.

NYU Links

At Bobst Library

• Fascimiles of English Language Medieval Manuscripts at Bobst Library
  Bobst Library's holdings of Old English and Middle English manuscripts in facsimile, including indexes
• The Essay Anthology Database Project
  A searchable index of prominent essays and essayists found in reference sources at Bobst Library.
• The Digital Studio: Electronic Texts in English Language and Literature
  The Digital Studio contains numerous CD-ROMs of full-text works in English and American literature.
• Collection Development Policy for English and American Literature

At New York University

• NYU Department of American Studies
• NYU Department of Comparative Literature
• NYU Department of Creative Writing
• NYU Department of English
  • Electronic Text List
  • Other Links and Gateways
• NYU Department of Poetics and Theory

Related Subject Guides

• English and American Literature
• African-American Literature
• Essays and Essayists
• Literary Theory
• Plays and Playwrights
• Poems and Poets
• Classical Studies
• French Language and Literature
• German Literature
• Italian Language and Literature
• Linguistics
• Slavic Literature
• Spanish and Portuguese Literature

Research Assistance

Tutorials

• How to Find Books or Articles
  

Internet Links

• Oxford Text Archive (Oxford University)
• Corpus of Middle English Prose and Verse (University of Michigan)
• Alciato's Book of Emblems Memorial University of Newfoundland)
• Milton Texts on the Internet (University of Richmond)
• British Poetry 1780-1910: A Hypertext Archive of Scholarly Editions (University of Virginia)
• The William Blake Archive (University of Virginia)
• Dante Gabriel Rossetti: A Hypermedia Research Archive (University of Virginia)
• Victorian Women Writers Project (Indiana University)
• The Modern English Collection (University of Virginia)
• William Blake's Songs of Innocence and of Experience (University of Michigan)
• Renascence Editions (University of Oregon)
• The Edmund Spenser Home Page (University of Oregon)

Associations

• MHRA: Modern Humanities Research Association (Cambridge University)
• MLA: Modern Language Association of America
• The Keats-Shelley Association of America

Bibliographies

• ABELL: The Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature (MHRA)
• Centre for Research in Early English Drama | Records of Early English Drama (REED)(University of Toronto)
• Paleography and Codicology: Introductory Bibliography (Georgetown University)
• ESTC (English Short Title Catalog) Over 350,000 full bibliographic descriptions of English printing in the 18th century. Access from "nyu.edu" computers only.

Links to Libraries

• British Library:
  Newspaper Library
  Portico: The British Library's Online Information Server
• Cambridge University Library:
  Department of Manuscripts and University Archives
• Leeds University Library:
  Rare Books
  

Miscellaneous Web Links

• Voice of the Shuttle: English Literature Main Page (University of California)
• Calls for Papers (University of Pennsylvania)
• Medieval Links (NYU English Department Homepage)
• Early Modern England Source (Quelle)
• Victoria Research Web (Indiana University)
• Victorian Web (Brown University)
• Victorian Women Writers Project (Indiana University)
• VWW: Virginia Woolf Web

Finding Criticism in BobCat

To find books of literary criticism, history and biography (but not periodical articles) search Bobcat by Subject, or, if you have a specific study in mind, by its title or by the critic's name as author. The subject heading "American Literature" leads to books on the whole field of American literature. More specific headings are "English Fiction," "French Poetry -- 16th Century," "Comedy," "Romanticism," or "Adolescence in Literature." For help with subject headings, use the Library of Congress Subject Headings volumes or ask a librarian.

In BobCat, books about a writer or one of her books will be found by doing a subject search. Searching by author lists books by that writer. (Examples given correspond to text version of BobCat available in the library. The web version will retrieve the same results.)

Example: S = Bronte, Emily retrieves:

The author's name will likely be followed by subdivisions, indicating the focus of each specific study, like "Biography," "Criticism and Interpretation," or "Characters." To find criticism of a specific book, you may search by subject [S=], typing the author's full name [with dates] and then the title of the book. But it will usually be simpler to do a subject word search [SW=].

Example: SW = Bronte and SW = Wuthering retrieves:

This sort of search excludes all general books on Emily Bronte, such as those noted under lines 7 or 10 of the S=Bronte, Emily search results, even though a general study may contain a chapter or more on the work in question.

Note: BobCat lists the periodicals which Bobst holds, but not their contents. To find periodical articles on literature, either look for the word "Bibliography" in a subject heading, as in: "Harlem Renaissance -- Bibliography" or "Shelley, Mary Wollstonecraft, 1797-1851 -- Bibliography", or check some of the bibliographies of literary criticism listed below.

General Indexes and Bibliographies

• MLA International Bibliography of Books and Articles on the Modern Languages and Literatures. New York: Modern Language Association, 1921 to date.
  Bobst Ref1 Z7006.M64 and Electronic Access
  (http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html)
  • A very important resource for literature, language and linguistics, folklore and film. The data from 1963 and after are accessible as very useful computer files.
• Humanities Index. New York: Wilson, 1974 to date.
  Bobst Ref1 AI3.H85n and Electronic Access
  (http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html)
  • Four issues per year with annual cumulations. Now covers about 350 of the most widely-read English-language journals in the humanities, nearly half of which are exclusively or in part concerned with literature. Alphabetical subject arrangement. Current to within approximately 6 months. Published since 1907 under other titles, and available electronically as the Humanities & Social Sciences Retrospective Index, 1907-1984.
• Essay and General Literature Index. New York: Wilson, 1900 to date.
  Bobst Ref1 AI3.E7 and Electronic Access (1985 to date)
  (http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html)
  • Two issues per year. Annual cumulations. Subject and author index to articles in selected books.
• Schwartz, Narda Lacey. Articles on Women Writers: A Bibliography. 2 vols. Santa Barbara, CA & Oxford, England: ABC-Clio, 1977-86.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2013.5.W6S37
  • Lists studies published between 1960 and 1984 on English-language writers.

Genre Bibliographies

• Gwinup, Thomas. Greek and Roman Authors: A Checklist of Criticism. 2nd ed. 1982.
  Bobst Ref1 Z7016.G9 1982

The Novel

• Adelman, Irving. The Contemporary Novel: A Checklist of Critical Literature on the British and American Novel Since 1945. 2nd ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1997.
  Bobst Ref1 Z1231.F4A34 1997
  • Limited to novelists active since 1945, but includes all of their works.
• Beene, Lynn. Guide to British Prose Fiction Explication: Nineteenth and Twentieth Century. 1997.
  Bobst Ref1 PR861.B38 1997
  • Lists studies of novels and short stories.
• The English Novel: Twentieth Century Criticism. 2 vols. Chicago: Swallow Pr., 1976-81.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2014.F4E53
  • 1: Defoe through Hardy. 2: Twentieth Century novelists.
• Palmer, Helen H. English Novel Explication: Criticisms to 1972. Hamden, CT: Shoestring Press, 1973.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2014.F5P26
  • This supplements Bell, The English Novel, 1578-1956: A Checklist of Twentieth Century Criticisms [Bobst Ref1 Z2014.F4B4] and is itself continued with 5 Supplements through 1994.
• Kearny, E.I. The Continental Novel: A Checklist of Criticism in English, 1900-1960. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1968.
  Bobst Ref1 Z5916.K4 and Bobst Stacks Z5916.K4
  • Lists novelists in sections, by language: French, Spanish and Portuguese, Italian, German, Scandinavian, and East European. Titles of novels sometimes in those languages, sometimes in English. A Supplement lists criticism from 1967 through 1980 [Bobst Ref 1 Z5916.F57 1983].
• Alexander, Harriet Semmes. English Language Criticism of the Foreign Novel: 1965-1975. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1989.
  Bobst Ref1 Z5916.A39 1989

Short Stories

• Walker, Warren S. Twentieth Century Short Story Explication: Interpretations, 1900-1975, of Short Fiction since 1800. 3rd ed. Hamden, CT: Shoe String Press, 1977.
  Cooper Reference Z5917.S5W33 1977 and Supplements
  • Lists criticism in English of 19th and 20th century short stories in English and other languages. 8 Supplements, 1980-199?. An index to all volumes is at the Reference Desk. See also Walker's current checklist "Annual Bibliography of Short Fiction Interpretation" in the Summer issue (issue 3) of the journal Studies in Short Fiction [Bobst Stacks PN3373.S9, current issues in Periodicals Center, 3rd floor east].
• Weixlmann, Joe. American Short Fiction Criticism and Scholarship, 1959-1977: A Checklist. Chicago, IL: Swallow Press & Ohio University Press, 1982.
  Bobst Ref 1 Z1231.F4W43

Poetry

• Guide to American Poetry Explication. 2 vols. Boston: G. K. Hall & Co., 1989.
  Bobst Ref 1 Z1231.P7R66 1989 and Bobst Ref1 Z1231.P7L46 1989
  • Vol. 1: Colonial and Nineteenth-Century; Vol. 2: Modern and Contemporary.
• Guide to British Poetry Explication. 4 vols. Boston: G. K. Hall, 1991-1995.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2014.P7M34 1991
  • Vol. 1: Old English - Medieval; Vol. 2: Renaissance; Vol. 3: Restoration-Romantic; Vol. 4: Victorian-Contemporary.
• Kuntz, Joseph. Poetry Explication: A Checklist of Interpretation Since 1925 of British and American Poems Past and Present. 3rd ed. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1980.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2014.P7K8 1980 and Bobst Stacks Z2014.P7K8 1980
• Alexander, Harriet Semmes. American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism, 1925-1978. Athens, Ohio: Swallow Press, 1984.
  Bobst Ref1 Z1231.P7A44 1984
  • Lists criticism, mostly from the 1960s and 1970s, of English-language poetry. A supplement covers criticism from 1979 to 1990.
• Donow, Herbert S. The Sonnet in England and America: A Bibliography of Criticism. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1982.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2014.S6D66 1982
  • Includes 200 pages on Shakespeare's sonnets.

Plays

See also RG #34, Theater & Performing Arts Resources, especially for indexes to reviews of productions of plays.

• Palmer, Helen H. European Drama Criticism, 1900-1975. 2nd ed. Hamden, CT: ShoeString Press, 1977.
  Bobst Ref1 Z5781.P2 1977
  • Classical, medieval, and modern European playwrights. Lists many reviews of performances as well as studies of the plays as literature.
• Carpenter, Charles A. Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism, 1966-1980: An International Bibliography. Toronto & Buffalo: University of Toronto Press, 1986.
  Bobst Ref1 PN1861.C37 1986
  • A supplement lists criticism from 1981 to 1990 [Bobst Ref1 PN1861.C37 1997]. See also Carpenter's checklist "Modern Drama Studies: An Annual Bibliography" in the Summer issue (issue 2) of the journal Modern Drama, which keeps this book up-to-date. [Bobst Stacks PN1861.M55, current issues in Periodicals Center, 3rd floor east].
• Douglas, Krystan V. Guide to British Drama Explication. New York: G.K. Hall, 1996-.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2014.D7D68 1996
  • Vol. 1: Beginnings to 1640.
• Champion, Larry S. The Essential Shakespeare: An Annotated Bibliography of Major Modern Studies. 2nd ed. New York: G.K. Hall, 1993.
  Bobst Ref1 Z8811.C53 1993
  • A list of books and articles, by play studied, with a subject index.
• "Shakespeare: An Annotated World Bibliography," in Shakespeare Quarterly 1950 to date.
  Bobst Stacks PR2885.S5 [for bound volumes of last 5 years; current issues in Periodicals Center, 3rd floor east] and Electronic Access
  (http://library.nyu.edu/collections/ejournals.html)
  • Now in issue 5 (a supplementary issue). References are annotated, with thorough coverage of foreign criticism. Indexes to topics, titles of plays, and characters.
• Otero, Rosalie. Guide to American Drama Explication. London: Prentice Hall, 1995.
  Bobst Ref1 PS332.O84 1995
• Eddleman, Floyd E. American Drama Criticism: Interpretations, 1890-1977. 2nd ed. 1979.
  Bobst Ref1 Z1231.D7P3 1979 and Supplements
  • Criticism of plays as literature and of productions. Title index. 4 supplements list criticism through 1993.
• Kolin, Philip C. American Playwrights since 1945: A Guide to Scholarship, Criticism and Performance. New York: Greenwood Press, 1989.
  Bobst Ref1 Z1231.D7A53 1989

Collections of Excerpts from Critical Studies

• Classical and Medieval Literature Criticism. 1988-.
  Bobst Ref1 PN610.C52
• Literature Criticism from 1400 to 1800. 1984-.
  Bobst Ref1 PN86.L53 1984
• Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism. 1981-.
  Bobst Ref1 PN761.N5
• Twentieth-Century Literary Criticism. 1978-.
  Bobst Ref1 PN94.T83n
• Contemporary Literary Criticism. 1973-.
  Bobst Ref1 PN771.C59 and Electronic Access
  (http://library.nyu.edu/collections/databases.html)

Biographies

• Dictionary of Literary Biography, 334 volumes by 2005. Detroit: Gale, 1978-.
  Bobst Ref1. [Call number varies; ask at Reference Desk]
  • Lengthy illustrated biographical and critical articles, with bibliographies. Each volume covers writers from a country (mostly the United States or England) and era. Ask at the Reference Desk for an index and guide to this set.
• American Writers: A Collection of Literary Biographies. NY: Scribner's, 1974-. 4 volumes.
  Bobst Ref1 PS129.A55
  • Two 2 volume supplements, 1979 & 1981.
• African American Writers. NY: Scribner's, 1991.
  Bobst Ref1 PS153.N5A344 1991
• British Writers. NY: Scribner's, 1979-84. 8 volumes.
  Bobst Ref1 PR85.B688
  • With 2 supplements.
• Ancient Writers, Greece and Rome. NY: Scribner's, 1982. 2 volumes.
  Bobst Ref1 PA3002.A5 1982
• European Writers. NY: Scribner's, 1983-91. 14 volumes.
  Bobst Ref1 PN501.E9 1983
• Latin American Writers. NY: Scribner's, 1989. 3 volumes.
  Bobst Ref1 PQ7081.A1L37 1989
• Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. NY: Ungar, 1981-84.
  Bobst Ref1 PN771.E5 1981
  • Four volumes.
• The Cambridge Guide to Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993.
  Bobst Ref1 PR85.C29 1993
• Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English. 1994. 2 vols.
  Bobst Ref1 PR9080.A52 E53 1994
• Contemporary Dramatists. 4th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1988.
  Bobst Ref1 PR737.C57 1988
  • Covers living English-language writers only, as do the next 2 works.
• Contemporary Novelists. 5th ed. New York: St. Martin's Press, 1991.
  Bobst Ref1 PR883.C64 1991
• Contemporary Poets. 5th ed. Chicago: St. James Press, 1991.
  Bobst Ref1 PR603.C63 1991
• Contemporary Authors: A Bio-Bibliographical Guide to Current Writers. . . . Detroit: Gale, 1962 to date.
  Bobst Ref1 PN771.C58
  • Not limited to literary figures. More than 200 volumes in several series, by 1997. Check the cumulated index at the Reference Desk for a complete list of writers included.

Interviews

• Vrana, Stan A. Interviews and Conversations with 20th Century Authors Writing in English: An Index. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow Press, 1982-1986. 3 volumes.
  Bobst Ref1 Z2013.V73 1982

Statistics

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Journals

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Government Information

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