The scholarship available on Shakespeare is so voluminous it is an industry in itself. The following resources will help you locate specialized tools for Shakespeare research, whether for production, literary analysis, or appreciation.

Reference Works / Browsing for Books / Databases / Bibliographies / Series and Journals /Web Sites

Reference Books

Harvard Concordance to Shakespeare. Cambridge, MA: Belknap, 1973. (Ref PR2892.S62) Lists words and phrases used in Shakespeare's works and pinpoints where to find them.

Oxford English Dictionary. 2nd ed. 20 vols. Oxford: Clarendon, 1989. (Ref PE1625.O87 1989) An essential reference for understanding the changing meanings of English words over time.

Wells, Stanley. A Dictionary of Shakespeare. New York: Oxford, 1998 (Ref PR2892.W43 1998 and online.) Quick defnitions of terms, brief discussions of plays and characters, etc..

William Shakespeare: His World, His Work, His Influence. 3 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1985. (Ref PR2976.W5354 1985) Provides context and background.

Bullough, Geoffrey. Narrative and Dramatic Sources of Shakespeare. London: Routledge and Keegan Paul, 1957-75. (Ref PR 2952 .B8) This multi-volume set is essential for finding commentary and primary text on those texts that Shakespeare used as sources. Some volumes are also available in the general collection and can be checked out.

for historical context
Cambell, Gordon. The Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2003. (Ref CB361.C27 2003) A good place to get quick background on people, places, and concepts.

Encyclopedia of the Renaissance. 6 vols. New York: Scribner's, 1999. (Ref CB 361 .E52 1999) A great place to get informed background on topics such as "ritual, civic," "aristocracy," and "servants" as well as historical figures.

Browsing for Books

Our library shelves books according to the Library of Congress classification system. The following areas may be of interest.

DA 300 English History--Tudor period
GT 700 English costume
PN British drama
     2580-2590 Elizabethan period
PR English literature
     650 Elizabethan drama
     2750-2884 Shakespeare's works
     2885-3089 Shakespeare criticism
     3090-3100s Performance practice
Note: Some books on Shakespeare are also shelved in the Oversize section.

Databases

MLA International Bibliography - the most exhaustive databases covering the study of language and literature.

World Shakespeare Bibliography Online - lists books, articles, reviews, etc. published since 1968.

These databases don't include the text of the articles and books they list. To find out if we have a book, search our catalog.

Bibliographies

selective bibliographies
Bergeron, David M. and Geraldo U. de Sousa. Shakespeare: A Study and Research Guide. 2nd ed. Lawrence, KS: University Press of Kansas, 1987. (Ref PR 2894 .B44 1987) Though a bit data, this handbook does a good job of sorting out major trends in criticism and approaches to particular works in the form of bibliographic essays.

Champion, Larry S. The Essential Shakespeare : An Annotated Bibliography of Major Modern Studies. 2nd ed. Boston: G.K. Hall, 1993. (Ref PR 2894 .C53 1993) This checklist of criticism on Shakespeare seeks to select the most important contributions made in the twentieth century. There are around 1500 entries, all annotated, and there is a good general index to authors, subjects, etc. Browsing through the entries under a given play can provide a quick snapshot of the varieties of critical responses up to the book's publication date.

to keep up with what's new
Shakespeare Quarterly (online) and Shakespeare Survey (shelved in the regular collection under PR 2888 .C17) both include an annual roundup of new Shakespeare scholarship, as does the annual volume of The Year's World in English Studies (the most current volume is shevled in Reference PE 58 .E6). These are handy ways to see what's going on in Shakespeare scholarship, though there is some lag time in publication.

Series and Journals of Note

One of the most important electronic journal collections for Shakespeare research is JSTOR, which includes back issues of Shakespeare Quarterly, PMLA, Renaissance Quarterly, and other important journals. Note, this online collection does not include the most current issues of journals, only back issues.

Oxford Shakespeare Topics - shelved under various call numbers; search the catalog by title of series
Shakespeare Quarterly - current issues available through Project Muse; back issues available through JSTOR
Shakespeare Studies - PR2885.S64
Shakespeare Survey - PR2888.C17

Web Sites

"Shakespeare." Blackwell Compass - Literature. A pilot project that provides a selected collection of online books and articles chosen by a scholar in the field, in this case Shakespeare scholar Michael Hattaway.

Shakespeare Association of America - Links. A selection of the best Shakespeare-related sites on the Web.

The Works of the Bard. A long-running site maintained by James Matthew Farrow that includes a search engine for Shakespeare's works and html versions of his works.