Books: Suggested Reference Works

Indicates items held by the WVU Libraries.

Baker, Ernest Albert The History of the English Novel. London: Witherby, 1924-39. 10 Vols.
PR821 .B3

Provides a standard history of major authors.

The Blackwell Companion to the Enlightenment. John W. Yolton [et al.] Oxford: Blackwell, 1992.

Covers issues in society, politics, religion, and technology from 1720-1780.

Dictionary of British Literary Characters: 18th- and 19th-Century Novels John R. Greenfield and David Brailow, eds. New YorK: Facts on File, 1993.
R PR830 .C47 D5

Describes over ten thousand characters, including those from novels of lesser known and women authors. Includes indexing by author, a chronological list of novels, and lists of characters for each novel.

Dobree, Bonamy. English Literature in the Early Eighteenth Century, 1700-1740. Vol. 7 of Oxford History of English Literature. Oxford: Claredon, 1959; rpt. 1977.

Well indexed introduction to literary and cultural issues of the eighteenth century.

Merriam Webster's Encyclopedia of LiteratureSpringfield MA: Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, 1995.
R PN41 .M42

Provides a brief summary of British novelists' life and work. Also defines many literary terms and conventions.

Sambrook, James. The Eighteenth Century: The Intellectual and Cultural Context of English Literature, 1700-1789. Longman Literature in English Series. London: Longman, 1986.

Summarizes major issues for a broad background of the eighteenth century.

Spector, Robert Donald. The English Gothic: A Bibliographic Guide to Writers from Horace Walpole to Mary Shelley. Westport: Greenwood, 1984.

Provides an adequate introduction to the genre and its major authors.