About
Reference books are usually encyclopedias, dictionaries, handbooks, bibliographies, guides, etc. They are intended to provide quick, reliable information, summaries of complex matters, and, very importantly, bibliographies--which can guide you to other sources for further reading.
Books
The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French by Call Number: PQ41 .N48 1995ISBN: 0198661258Publication Date: 1995-05-04
The Cambridge Introduction to French Literature by Call Number: PQ103 .N45 2015ISBN: 9780521887083Publication Date: 2015-06-11
The Cambridge Companion to French Literature by Call Number: PQ103 .L95 2016ISBN: 9781107036048Publication Date: 2015-11-26
The Cambridge Companion to the French Enlightenment by ISBN: 9781139108959Publication Date: 2014-11-05
Reference Sources
Databases have largely replaced printed bibliographies, but the following titles are still important. Print bibliographies are especially useful for single-author studies and similar focused topics. To find bibliographies in the library catalog, you can search by "Subject Heading" under:
- French literature - Bibliography - Periodicals
- French literature - History and criticism - Bibliography
- French literature - 20th century - Bibliography
- Renaissance - Bibliography - Periodicals
Bibliographies
Bassan, Fernande. An annotated bibliography of French language and literature. Z2175.A2 B38 1976 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Besterman, Theodore. A world bibliography of bibliographies and bibliographical catalogues, calendars, abstracts, digests, indexes, and the like. 4th edition. 5 vols. Z1002 .B5685 1982 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Cabeen, David. A critical bibliography of French literature. Z2171 .C5 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Cioranescu, Alexandre. Bibliographie de la littérature française du dix-septième siècle. Z2172 .C52 v. 1-3 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Cioranescu, Alexandre. Bibliographie de la littérature française du dix-huitième siècle. Z2172 .C48 v. 1-3 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Kempton, Richard. French literature: an annotated guide to selected bibliographies. Z2171 .A1 C34 1981 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Klapp, Otto. Bibliographie der franzosischen Literaturwissenschaft. Z2171 .K55 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks) **This resource is also available online in the Databases A-Z listed under Klapp-Online, Bibliography of French Literature
French XX Bibliography. (French Institute) Z2173 .M6 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Bibliographie internationale de l’Humanisme et de la Renaissance. Z6207 .R4 B5 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Place, Joseph and Place, Georges G. Bibliographie des auteurs modernes de langue française. Z2173 .T3 v.1-22 (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Rancoeur, René. Bibliographie de la littérature française du Moyen Age à nos jours. Z2171 .R3X (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
Rancoeur, René. Bibliographie de la littérature franc̜aise moderne (16.-20. siècles). Z2171 .R3X (Watson Library 2 1/2 Center Stacks)
The Year's Work in Modern Language Studies. Print PB1 .Y45 (Watson Library 2 West Stacks)
Guides & Dictionaries
Grand dictionnaire encyclopédique Larousse. AE25 .G63 1982 (Watson Library 1 East Stacks)
Levi, Anthony. Guide to French Literature, 2 vols. PQ226 .L48 1992 (Watson Library 3 West Stacks)
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française. PQ41 .B412 2001 (Watson Library Reference Collection - 3rd floor near service desk)
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. PQ41 .B4 1994 v. 1-4 folio (Watson Library 1 1/2 East Stacks)
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française. PQ41 .B42 1994 folio (Watson Library 1 1/2 East Stacks)
Imbs, Paul. Trésor de la langue française; dictionnaire de la langue du XIXe et de XXe siècle (1789-1960). PC2625 .I4 v. 1-16 (Watson Library Reference Collection - 3rd floor near service desk)
Littré, Emile. Dictionnaire de la langue française. PC2625 .L63 v. 1-7 (Watson Library Reference Collection - 3rd floor near service desk)
Online Dictionaries & Other e-Reference Sources
- ARTFL-FRANTEXT This link opens in a new window Consists of nearly 2000 texts, ranging from classic works of French literature to various kinds of non-fiction prose and technical writing.
- Cambridge Histories This link opens in a new window Contains over 250 volumes published since 1960, equating to around 196,000 pages of scholarship on 15 different academic subjects.
- Johns Hopkins guide to literary theory & criticism This link opens in a new window A full-text searchable database of articles on individual critics and theorists, critical and theoretical schools and movements, and the critical and theoretical innovations of specific countries and historical periods. It also treats related persons and fields that have been shaped by or have themselves shaped literary theory and criticism.
- Klapp-Online, Bibliography of French Literature Klapp-Online is a comprehensive and authoritative bibliography of all periods of French literature from medieval through contemporary. It contains a database covering the years from 1991 to the present. The 1956-1990 years have been retrodigitized and made accessible in the form of a searchable PDF file.
- Literary Encyclopedia The Literary Encyclopedia is an online reference work that provides authoritative articles about literary and cultural history. Coverage includes English-language, Classical, German, French and Francophone, Hispanic, Italian, Russian, East European, and other world literatures. Over 7800 articles are included, with 20-40 new articles currently being added each month.
- Literary Reference Source This link opens in a new window Provides a broad spectrum of full-text information on thousands of authors and their works across literary disciplines and timeframes. Includes plot summaries, synopses, articles, author biographies, books reviews, poems, short stories and more.
- Literature online This link opens in a new window Provides searchable full-text of more than 350,000 literary works in the English language--poetry, drama, and prose; 175 full-text literary journals; the Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature; and reference sources including American Poetry and other bibliographies, biographies, and dictionaries. Individual units run from Anglo-Saxon literature, through the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the 18th and 19th centuries right up to the late 20th Century. LION also offers comprehensive cross-searching of EEBO - Early English Books Online.
- Oxford reference This link opens in a new window Cross-searchable online database of Oxford University Press subject dictionaries and reference works. Each topical division contains the searchable version of the latest edition of published dictionaries and encyclopedias.
Dictionnaires d'autrefois (Old French Dictionaries)
Dictionnaires d'autrefois are located in the ARTFL-FRANTEXT database:
- Jean Nicot, Thresor de la langue françoyse, tant ancienne que moderne
Jean Nicot's Thresor de la langue françoyse is the key to the development of French lexicography. The sum of four editions of Robert Estienne's bilingual Dictionaire françois-latin, the Thresor assumed, through the contributions of Nicot, the nature of a monolingual French dictionary. - Jean-François Féraud, Dictionaire critique de la langue française
Jean-François Féraud's Dictionaire critique de la langue française (1787-1788) is far from a mere general dictionary. Féraud's major concern in this wide and comprehensive release of his Dictionnaire grammatical is to provide foreigners or people from the remote regions of France with a comprehensive and easy guide to authorized, proper usage of French. Not only does he mention and criticize the major sources of good usage, such as the Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française, Trévoux's or Richelet's dictionaries, he also adds a wide range of his own grammatical remarks, proving in doing so to be one of the most penetrating observers of post-classical French language. As such, it will help many students and scholars towards a better understanding of Rousseau, Diderot, and Beaumarchais' fascinating works. Féraud homepage and full-text search form. - Dictionnaire de l'Académie Française
The Académie française was founded by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635 with the primary goal of creating a French dictionary. A total of eight editions have been published in the years since its foundation, from the first edition in 1694 up until the eighth edition in 1935. The ninth edition is currently in progress. The ARTFL Project, in collaboration with the Projet d'informatisation du Dictionnaire de l'Académie française, is pleased to offer electronic versions of the first (1694), 4th (1762), 5th (1798), 6th (1835), and 8th (1932-5) editions. - Émile Littré, Dictionnaire de la langue française
Thanks to data provided by François Gannaz at XMLittré, Émile Littré's literary dictionary of classical French (1872-1877) is incorporated into the Dictionnaires d'autrefois Collection.