CSSLibraryGuides: Subject Encyclopedias @ The College of St. Scholastica Library: LITERATURE & LANGUAGES

Scribner Writers Online
Bio-critical essays on the lives and works of more than 1,400 important authors from around the world. Entries include concise essays, citations, and biographical information that places the author's work in personal and historical context.
Twayne's Authors Online
Series, 1962 -
A to Z of American Women Writers, 3rd edition
2016.
The Writers Directory, 31st edition
6 volumes. 2013.
Major Tudor Authors: A Bio-Bibiiographical Critical Sourcebook
Call Number: Ref. PR411 .M25 1997
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists
Call Number: Ref. PR701 .R4 1989
Modern Irish Writers: A Bio-Critical Sourcebook
Call Number: Ref. PR8727 .G66 1997
Contemporary Novelists, 6th edition
Major 21st Century Writers
5 volumes. 2005.
Nineteenth Century American Women Writers
Call Number: Ref. PS217.W64 .N56 1997
Latin American Women Writers: An Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PQ7081.3 .L37 2008
Isabel Allende: A Literary Companion
Call Number: Ref. PQ8098.1 .L54 Z87 2013
The Cambridge Companion to William Blake
Call Number: Ref. PR4147 .C36 2003
The Brontes, A to Z: An Essential Reference to Their Lives and Works
Call Number: Ref. PR4168 .P28 2003
All Things Chaucer: An Encyclopedia of Chaucer's World
Call Number: Ref. PR1903 .R55 2007
2 volumes.
The House on Mango Street
Call Number: Ref. PS3553.I78 H627 2011
Critical Insights.
The Dante Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PQ4333 .D36 2000
Brief articles with bibliographies on Dante's works & world.
An Emily Dickinson Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PS1541 .Z49 E47 1998
All Things Dickinson: An Encyclopedia of Emily Dickinson's World
Call Number: Ref. PS1541.Z49 A45 2014
2 volumes.
A Henry James Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PS2122 .G35 1989
C.S. Lewis: Life, Works, and Legacy
Call Number: Ref. PR6023.E926 Z597 2007
4 volumes.
Herman Melville: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work
Call Number: Ref. PS2386 .G38 2006
Critical Companion to Flannery O'Connor: A Literary Reference to Her Life and Work
Call Number: Ref. PS3565.C57 Z735 2008
Short Fiction of Flannery O'Connor
Call Number: Ref. PS3565.C57 Z62 2016
Critical Companion to George Orwell
Call Number: Ref. PR6029 .R8 Z765 2009
Shakespeare for Students
3 volumes. 2007.
The Facts on File Companion to Shakespeare
Call Number: Ref. PR2892 .B26 2012
5 volumes. Comprehensive - covers all works & provides background of the times.
The Routledge Guide to William Shakespeare
Call Number: Ref. PR1903 .R67 1999
Critical Survey of Shakespeare's Sonnets
Call Number: Ref. PR2848.A2 S35 2014
The Definitive Shakespeare Companion: Overviews, Documents, and Analysis
Call Number: Ref. PR2976 .D43 2017
4 volumes.
Shakespeare's Plants and Gardens: A Dictionary
Call Number: Ref. PR3041 .T56 2014
Shakespeares after Shakespeare: An Encyclopedia of the Bard in Mass Media and Popular Culture
Call Number: Ref. PR2880.A1 S48 2007.
2 volumes.
William Shakespeare: A Documentary Volume
Call Number: Ref. PR2893 .W55 2002
J.R.R. Tolkien Encyclopedia: Scholarship and Critical Assessment
Call Number: Ref. PR6039.O32 Z664 2007
Critical Companion to J. R. R. Tolkien: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work
Call Number: Ref. PR6039.O32 Z8187 2011
The Hobbit
Call Number: Ref. PR6039.O32 H63356 2016
Critical Insights
The Virgil Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PA6825 .V49 2014
3 volumes.
Virginia Woolf, A to Z: A Comprehensive Reference for Students, Teachers, and Common Readers to Her Life, Works, and Critical Reception
Call Number: Ref. 6045.O72 Z729 1995
William Butler Yeats Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PR5906 .M44 1997

Literature and Its Times
5 volumes. 1997.
Literature and Its Time: Supplement
2 volumes. 2003.
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of World Literature
Call Number: Ref. PN41 .G36 2009
4 volumes.
American History through Literature, 1820-1870
Call Number: Ref. PS217.H57 A84 2006
3 volumes.
American History through Literature, 1870-1920
Call Number: Ref. PS217.H57 A843 2006
3 volumes.
Literary Themes for Students--Race and Prejudice
2 volumes. 2007.
Literary Themes for Students: The American Dream
2 volumes. 2007.
Literary Themes for Students: War and Peace
2 volumes. 2006.
Encyclopedia of English Studies and Language Arts
Call Number: Ref. PE65 .E47 1994
2 volumes.
The Dictionary of Imaginary Places, Newly Updated and Expanded
Call Number: Ref. GR650 .M36 2000
Literature and Politics Today: The Political Nature of Modern Fiction, Poetry, and Drama
Call Number: Ref. PN51 .L57395 2015
An Encyclopedia of Swearing: The Social History of Oaths, Profanity, Foul Language, and Ethnic Slurs in the English Speaking World
Call Number: Ref. PE3724.O3 H84 2006
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century
1999.
Encyclopedia of Contemporary LGBTQ Literature of the United States
Call Number: Ref. PS153 .S39 E53 2009
2 volumes.
A Historical and Etymological Dictionary of American Sign Language
Call Number: Ref. HV2475 .S522 2015
Books to Film: Cinematic Adaptations of Literary Works
2018.

Novels for Students
Series, 1998 - 2016.
Encyclopedia of the Novel
Call Number: Ref. PN41 .E487 1998
2 volumes.
Twenty-First Century Novels
3 volumes. 2011.
Short Stories for Students [series]
Series, 19978 - 2017.
The Facts on File Companion to the American Short Story
Call Number: Ref. PS374 .S5 F33 2010
2 volumes.
Literary Movements for Students
2 volumes. 2009.
Nonfiction Classics for Students
5 volumes. 2003.
The Encyclopedia of the Essay
Call Number: Ref. PN4500 .E63 1997
Encyclopedia of Rhetoric
Call Number: Ref. PN172 .E52 2001
The Literature of Autobiographical Narrative
3 volumes. 2013.
The Literature of Propaganda
3 volumes. 2013.
The Literature of War
Call Number: Ref. PN56.W3 L55 2012
3 volumes.
Encyclopedia of American War Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS169.W27 E53 2001
The Oxford Guide to Arthurian Literature and Legend
Call Number: Ref. DA152.5 .A7 L87 2005
Epics for Students: Presenting Analysis, Context and Criticism on Commonly Studied Epics
Call Number: Ref. PN56 .E65 E67 1997
Catholic Women Writers: A Bio-Bibliographical Sourcebook
Call Number: Ref. PN471 .C38 2001
Encyclopedia of Catholic Literature
Call Number: Ref. PN485 .E53 2004
2 volumes.
International Companion Encyclopedia of Children's Literature, 2nd edition
Call Number: Ref. PN1008.5 .I57 2004
2 volumes.
Oxford Encyclopedia of Children's Literature
Call Number: Ref. PN1008.5 .O94 2006
5 volumes.
A Critical History of French Children's Literature
Call Number: Ref. PQ845 .B76 2008
2 volumes.
Critical Survey of Young Adult Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS490 .C75 2016
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy
Call Number: Ref. PS374.S35 G74
3 volumes.
New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction
Call Number: Ref. PN3433.4 .N48 1988
The Oxford Companion to Crime & Mystery Writing
Call Number: Ref. PN3448.D4 H37 1999
The American Comic Book
Call Number: Ref. PN6725 .A46 2014
Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Heroes and Superheroes
Call Number: Ref. PN6725 .C753 2012
2 volumes.
Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: History, Theme, & Technique
Call Number: Ref. PN6725 .C7536 2013
Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Manga
Call Number: Ref. PN6725 .C756 2013
Critical Survey of Graphic Novels: Independents & Underground Classics
Call Number: Ref. PN6725 .C754 2012
3 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Comic Books and Graphic Novels
Call Number: Ref. PN6707 .E49 2010
2 volumes.
Pulp Fiction of the '20s and '30s
Call Number: Ref. PS228.F35 P85 2013
American Nature Writers
Call Number: Ref. PS163 .A6 1996
2 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Humor Studies
Call Number: Ref. BF575.L3 E53 2014
2 volumes.
Understanding 19th-Century Slave Narratives
Call Number: Ref. E444 .U54 2016
Encyclopedia of Life Writing: Autobiographical and Biographical Forms
2001.
Encyclopedia of Post-Colonial Literatures in English
1994.
Supernatural Literature
Call Number: Ref. PN56.S8 S85 2017
3 volumes.
Horror Literature Through History: An Encyclopedia of the Stories that Speak to Our Deepest Fear
Call Number: Ref. PN3435 .H665 2017
2 volumes.

Classical Literature and Its Times
Call Number: Ref. PN50 .M625 1999
Encyclopedia of Ancient Literature, 2nd edition
2014.
Old and Middle English Literature
Call Number: Ref. PR166 .O43 1994
Describes the original manuscripts of Old & Middle English literature & their history. Includes bibliography of secondary sources.
Encyclopedia of Medieval Literature
Call Number: Ref. PN669 .R88 2006
Brief articles with biographies.
Literature of the French and Occitan Middle Ages: Eleventh to Fifteenth Century
Call Number: Ref. PQ151 .L56 1999
Biographical information on authors, along with summaries of their works and a list of primary & secondary source by and about the authors. A few articles on genres, such as animal stories.
Classical Myths and Legends in the Middle Ages and Renaissance
Call Number: Ref. PN669 .B78 1998
Describes the allegorical meaning of classical mythological characters in medieval & Renaissance writings.
Arabic Literary Culture, 500-925
Call Number: Ref. PJ7521 .A73 2005
Encyclopedia of Renaissance Literature, 2nd edition
2014.
The Encyclopedia of English Renaissance Literature
Call Number: Ref. PR411 .E53 2012
3 volumes. Focus on biography of writers.
The Encyclopedia of British Literature, 1660-1789
Call Number: Ref. PR441 .E67 2015
3 volumes.
New Companion to Renaissance Drama
Call Number: Ref. PR651 .N49 2017
Jacobean and Caroline Dramatists
Call Number: Ref. PR671 .J33 1987
1987.
Restoration and Eighteenth-Century Dramatists
Call Number: Ref. PR701 .R4 1989
American Colonial Writers, 1606-1734
Call Number: Ref. PS185 .A39 1984
Colonial Literature, 1607-1776
Call Number: Ref. PS51 .R47 2010
[Vol. 1].
Early American Literature, 1776-1820
Call Number: Ref. PS51 .R47 2010
[Vol. 2].
Romanticism and Transcendentalism, 1820-1865
Call Number: Ref. PS51 .R47 2010
[Vol. 3].
Gothic Literature: A Gale Critical Companion
Call Number: Ref. PR408.G68 G675 2006
3 volumes.
Gothic Novelists
Call Number: Ref. PN3435 .G667 2012
Encyclopedia of the Romantic Era, 1760-1850
2004.
Encyclopedia of Literary Romanticism
Call Number: Ref. PR457 .E53 2010
The Encyclopedia of Romantic Literature
Call Number: Ref. PR447 .E56 2012
3 volumes.
British Romantic Novelists, 1789-1832
Call Number: Ref. PR861 .B74 1992
Modern American Literature, 5th edition
3 volumes. 1999.
Encyclopedia of Victorian Literature
Call Number: Ref. PR451 .E533
4 volumes. 2015.
Realism and Regionalism, 1865-1914
Call Number: Ref. PS51 .R47 2010
[Vol. 4].
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century
Call Number: Ref. PN774 .L45 1981
5 volumes.
The Cambridge Companion to American Fiction after 1945
Call Number: Ref. PS379 .C26 2012
Encyclopedia of Beat Literature: The Essential Guide to the Lives and Works of the Beat Writers
Call Number: Ref. PS228 .B6 E53 2007
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature
4 volumes. 2009.

Reference Guide to Russian Literature
Call Number: Ref. PG2940 .R44 1998
Handbook of Russian Literature
Call Number: Ref. PG2940 .H29 1985
Early Modern Russian Writers, Late Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries
Call Number: Ref. PG2991.2 .E37 1995
Critical Insights: Russia's Golden Age
Call Number: Ref. PG3012 .R877 2014
Russian Literature in the Age of Pushkin and Gogol: Poetry and Drama
Call Number: Ref. PG2991.3 R87 1999
Russian Literature in the Age of Realism
Call Number: Ref. PG3012 .R78 2003
Russian Novelists
Call Number: Ref PG3095 .R755 2012
A Critical History of French Children's Literature
Call Number: Ref. PQ845 .B76 2008
2 volumes.
Encyclopedia of German Literature
Call Number: Ref. PT91 .E53 2000
2 volumes.
Italian Literature and Its Times
Call Number: Ref. PN50 .M625 1999
World Literature in Spanish: An Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. PQ6006 .W67 2011
3 volumes.
Spanish and Portuguese Literature and Their Times
Call Number: Ref. PN50 .M625 1999
Middle Eastern Literature and Its Times
Ref. PN50 .M625 1999
The Cambridge Companion to the Spanish Novel
Call Number: Ref. PQ6138 .C36 2003
Oxford Encyclopedia of British Literature
Call Number: Ref. PR19 .O95 2006
5 volumes.
British and Irish Literature and Its Times; Celtic Migrations to the Reform Bill (Beginnings – 1830s)
Call Number: Ref. PN50 .M625 1999
British and Irish Literature and Its Times: The Victorian Era to the Present (1837-)
Call Number: Ref. PN50 .M625 1999
Dictionary of Irish Literature
Call Number: Ref. PR8706 .D5 1996
2 volumes.
The Oxford Companion to the Literature of Wales
Call Number: Ref. PB2202 .O94 1986
Encyclopedia of American Literature, 3rd edition
2013.
Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature
2004.
Gale Contextual Encyclopedia of American Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS21 .G36 2009
4 volumes.
Dictionary of Midwestern Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS273 .D53 2001
2 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Literature in Canada
2002.
Literary Cultures of Latin America: A Comparative History
Call Number: Ref. PQ7081 .A1 L525 2004
3 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Latin American and Caribbean Literature, 1900-2003
2004.
A Historical Companion to Postcolonial Literatures: Continental Europe and its Empires
2008.

Ethnic American Literature: An Encyclopedia for Students
Call Number: Ref. PS153.M56 E825 2015
Contemporary Immigrant Short Fiction
Call Number: Ref. PS508.I45 C668 2015
The Oxford Companion to African American Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS153.N5 .O96 1997
Encyclopedia of African-American Literature, 2nd edition
2013.
Encyclopedia of African-American Writing, 3rd edition
2018.
Encyclopedia of the Black Arts Movement
Call Number: Ref. NX512.3 .A35 E525 2019
2019.
Encyclopedia of American Indian Literature
Call Number: Ind. Res. Ref. PS153.I52 E53 2007
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Asian American Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS153.A84 G74 2009
3 volumes.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Latino Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS153.H56 G74 2008
3 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Hispanic-American Literature
Call Number: Ref. PS153 .H56 R36 2008
Chicano Literature: A Reference Guide
Call Number: Ref. PS153 .M4 C46 1985
Chicano Writers: First Series
Call Number: Ref. PS153.M4 C48 1989
Chicano Writers: Second Series
Call Number: Ref. PS153.M4 C484 1992
Chicano Writers: Third Series
Call Number: Ref. PS153.M4 C485 1999
The Routledge Companion to Latino/a Literature
2013.
Modern Latin-American Fiction Writers - First Series
Call Number: Ref. PQ7082.N7 M55 1992
The Contemporary Spanish-American Novel
Call Number: Ref. PQ7082.N7 C672 2013

Folktales and Fairy Tales: Traditions and Texts from Around the World
Call Number: Ref. GR74 .F65 2016
4 volumes.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of World Folklore and Folklife
Call Number: Ref. G35 .G75 2006
4 volumes.
Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Beliefs
Call Number: Ref. GR35 .F63 1997
2 volumes.
Medieval Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Myths, Legends, Tales, Beliefs, and Customs
Call Number: Ref. GR35 .M43 2000
2 volumes. Scholarly articles, from animal tales to scatology. A gem.
A Dictionary of English Folklore
Call Number: Ref. GR141 .S59 2000
A great treasure trove of English folklore (and superstition). Brief articles on bull-beggars, sin-eaters, and much more.
The Lore of Ireland: An Encyclopedia of Myth, Legend and Romance
Call Number: Ref. GR153.5 .O156 2006
American Folklore: An Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. GR101 .A54 1996
Celebrating Latino Folklore: An Encyclopedia of Cultural Traditions
2012. 3 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Asian American Folklore and Folklife
Call Number: Ref. GR111.A75 E63 2011
3 volumes.
Encyclopedia of Jewish Folklore and Traditions
2013.
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
2015.
The Oxford Companion to Fairy Tales
Call Number: Ref. PN3437 .O94 2000
Storytelling Encyclopedia
Call Number: Ref. GR72 .S76 199
Encyclopedia of Urban Legends: Updated and Expanded Edition
Call Number: Ref. GR105.34 .B78 2012
2 volumes.
Love, Sexuality, and Desire
Call Number: Ref. GR460 .C75 2013
2 volumes. Part of the series Critical Survey of Mythology and Folklore. Covers selected classical & medieval myths + international coverage & feminist critiques.
Clowns & Tricksters: An Encyclopedia of Tradition and Culture
Call Number: Ref. GR524 .C48 1998
The Mythological Zoo: An Encyclopedia of Animals in World Myth, Legend and Literature
Call Number: Ref. GR705 .S344 2001
A bestiary of the roles our animals friends have played in myth & legend.
Heroes & Heroines
Call Number: Ref. GR515 .C75 2013
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of Folktales & Fairy Tales
Call Number: Ref. G74 .G73 2008
3 volumes.

Poetry for Students
Series, 1998 - 2016.
World Poets
3 volumes. 2000.
World Poets [From Critical Survey of Poetry]
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .C7 2011
Contemporary Poets, 7th edition
European Poets [From Critical Survey of Poetry]
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .C7 2011
3 volumes.
British, Irish, and Commonwealth Poets [from Critical Survey of Poetry]
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .C7 2011
3 volumes.
The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry Before 1600
Call Number: Ref. PR1175 .F19 2008
Critical Survey of Shakespeare's Sonnets
Call Number: Ref. PR2848.A2 S35 2014
The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry, 17th and 18th Centuries
Call Number: Ref. PR1209 .F27 2008
A Companion to Victorian Poetry
Call Number: Ref. PR591 .C66 2002
The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry: 19th Century
Call Number: Ref. PR590 .F57 2010
The Facts on File Companion to British Poetry: 1900 to the Present
Call Number: Ref. PR1225 .F29 2009
Poets [British & American]
2 volumes. 2000.
American Poets [From Critical Survey of Poetry]
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .C7 2011
4 volumes.
The Greenwood Encyclopedia of American Poets and Poetry
Call Number: Ref. PS303 .G74 2006
5 volumes.
Topical Essays [from Critical Survey of Poetry]
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .C7 2011
2 volumes.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry & Poetics, 4th edition
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .N39 2012
The New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and Poetics
Call Number: Ref. PN1021 .N39 1993
Culmulative Indexes [of Critical Survey of Poetry]
Call Number: Ref. PN 1021 .C7 2011
Encyclopedia of American Poetry: The Twentieth Century
2001.
The Princeton Handbook of World Poetries

The Cambridge Encyclopedia of the World's Ancient Languages
Call Number: Ref. P371 .C357 2004
Encyclopedia of the Languages of Europe
Call Number: Ref. P380 .E53 1998
The International Encyclopedia of Language and Social Interaction
3 volumes. 2015.
The Routledge Encyclopedia of the Chinese Language
Call Number: Ref. PL1031 .R68 2016

MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Your best first stop for journal literature. In the "advanced search" you can change the search default to 'SK Primary Subject Work" to locate articles on a particular literary work, i.e. ... Golden Legend [in] SK Primary Subject Work

Feminism in Literature
Call Number: Ref. PN471 .F43 2005
6 volumes.
A History of Feminist Literary Criticism
2007.
Critical Approaches to Literature: Feminist
2018.
The Edinburgh Encyclopaedia of Modern Criticism and Theory
2002.
The Encyclopedia of Literary and Cultural Theory
2011. 2 volumes.
Black Literature Criticism
3 volumes. 2008.
Literary Newsmakers for Students
Series, 2006-2009.

A History of Language
2018.
International Encyclopedia of Linguistics, 2nd edition
Call Number: Ref. P29 .I58 2003
4 volumes.
The Routledge Linguistics Encyclopedia, 3rd edition
Call Number: Ref. P29 .R67 2010
Encyclopedia of Communication and Information
Call Number: Ref. P87.5 .E53 2002
3 volumes.
International Encyclopedia of Communications
Call Number: Ref. P87.5 .I5 1989
4 volumes.
Key Ideas in Linguistics and the Philosophy of Language
Call Number: Ref. P107 .K48 2009
Encyclopedia of Language Development
Call Number: Ref. P118 .E523 2014

Oxford English Dictionary ( OED ) This link opens in a new window
The definitive source for the history of the English language.

An Analytic Dictionary of English Etymology
2008.
The Facts on File Encyclopedia of Word & Phrase Origins, 4th edition
Call Number: Ref. PE1689 .H47 2008
2 volumes. 2008.
Slang dictionaries
Browse the PE section of the Reference Collection on the first floor of the Library.