Library Research Guide for American Studies

Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature: ABELL (1920- ) includes book reviews of literary works as well as literary criticism.

MLA International Bibliography (1926- )

Historic Literary Criticism (17th-early 20th century) offers over 20,000 historical contemporary reviews, essays and commentaries related to over 500 authors.

Literary research and the era of American nationalism and romanticism : strategy and sources, by Angela Courtney. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2008, 251 p.
HOLLIS Record
Covers 1783-1850.

Literary research and the American realism and naturalism period : strategies and sources, by Linda L. Stein, Peter J. Lehu. Lanham, Md. : Scarecrow Press, 2009, 319 p.
HOLLIS Record 

Literary research and the American modernist era : strategies and sources, by Robert N. Matuozzi and Elizabeth Blakesley Lindsay. Published: Lanham, Md. : The Scarecrow Press, 2008, 173 p.
HOLLIS Record 

Literary research and American postmodernism : strategies and sources, by Emily Witsell. Lanham, Maryland : Rowman & Littlefield, 2016, 197 pages
HOLLIS Record

MagillOnLiterature Plus (EBSCOhost) includes review essays, plot summaries, character descriptions, and short biographical sketches.

Literature Compass offers review and survey articles

Concise Oxford Companion to African American Literature

Concise Oxford Companion to American Literature

Cambridge companions online

Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism
Print Version

Contemporary authors; a bio-bibliographical guide to current writers in fiction, general nonfiction, poetry, journalism, drama, motion pictures, television and other fields. Detroit, Gale Research Co.; v. 1- 1962- .
HOLLIS Record
--Major source for literary and non-literary writers worldwide. Articles typically include short critical essay (“Sidelights”);  brief who’s who type personal information (including agent); awards; brief career summary;  list of author’s writings; books, articles (including reviews) and/or websites about the author; and sometimes a portrait.

Dictionary of Literary Biography is a huge series of volumes offering biographical-critical essays on authors, including references for interviews, critical writings. Coverage is international, with emphasis on English and American.
Lamont REF.ROOM PN451 .D5 1978x (Lamont holds selected volumes.)
Widener RR3129 (Widener holds the complete set.)
The DLB is indexed by name in the Literary Index
Includes numerous volumes on essayists, travel writers, literary biographers, book collectors and bibliographers, major publishing forms, etc. as well as on literary authors.

Bibliography of American Literature (Lion)  (print version: 9 vols, Yale University Press, 1955-1991) provides nearly 40,000 records of the literary works of approximately 300 American writers from the period of the Revolution to 1930.

African-American Poetry (Lion) (1750-1900)

Alexander Street Literature includes

• Black Short Fiction and Folklore
• Black Women Writers
• Caribbean Literature
• Latino Literature
• Latin American Women Writers
• Scottish Women Poets of the Romantic Period
• Irish Women Poets of the Romantic Period
• South and Southeast Asian Literature in English

American Poetry (Lion) (1600-1900)

Arte Público Hispanic Historical Collection contains advertisements; broadsides, editorials, essays, letters, monographs, newspapers, pamphlets, periodicals, poetry, reviews, short stories, and other bibliographic materials documenting Hispanic literature, political commentary and culture.

Baldwin Library of Children's Literature Digital Collection

Black Short Fiction (1950- )

Database of Twentieth Century African-American Poetry (Lion) (1901-1998)

Early American Fiction (Lion) (1774-1850)

Emily Dickinson's Correspondences: A Born-Digital Textual Inquiry

Poet's Voice - A Digital Poetry Collection (1931- ) offers readings from the "spoken" poetry archive of the Woodberry Poetry Room (Harvard University).

Radical Scatters: Emily Dickinson's Fragments and Related Texts, 1870-1886

Twentieth Century American Poetry (Lion) (1914-1997)

Underground and Independent Comics, Comix, and Graphic Novels (1965-2005)