• AMERICAN WRITERS. (lists concordances, standard editions, and important criticism)
  BRITISH WRITERS. (lists concordances, standard editions, and important criticism)

  Browning, David C. EVERYMAN'S DICTIONARY OF LITERARY BIOGRAPHY ENGLISH AND AMERICAN. rev. ed. 1960.

  CHAMBERS' CYCLOPEDIA OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 3 vols. Rev. ed., 1922-38. (biographical information and critical overview)

  DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. 21 vols., with supplements. (dead writers only)

  DIRECTORY OF AMERICAN SCHOLARS.

  GREAT WRITERS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. Vol. 2: Novels. (biography; bibiography of primary and secondary sources)

  Kunitz. AMERICAN AUTHORS, 1600-1900.

  MCGRAW-HILL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD BIOGRAPHY.

  NOTABLE AMERICAN WOMEN, 1607-1950. 3 vols. (with supplement)

  SOMETHING ABOUT THE AUTHOR. (also autobiography series)

  Stephen, Leslie and Sidney Lee. DICTIONARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY. 8 vols. 1967-68. (dead English writers only)

  Wakeman, John. ed. WORLD AUTHORS, 1950-1970.

  WEBSTER'S BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

  WHO'S WHO...AN ANNUAL BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY. 1849.

  WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA.

  WHO WAS WHO, 1897...A COMPANION TO WHO'S WHO...1929.

  WHO WAS WHO IN LITERATURE. 1906-34.

  WORLD AUTHORS. 1950-85.

Current and Contemporary

• CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS. 1962-.
  CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS. 2nd ed., 1977.

  CONTEMPORARY NOVELISTS. 2nd ed., 1976. (brief biography only-currently active writers)

  CONTEMPORARY POETS. 4th ed., 1985. (biography, list of works, critical essay)

  CURRENT BIOGRAPHY. 1940-. (annual additions)

  ENCYCLOPEDIA OF WORLD LITERATURE IN THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. 4 vols. 1972. (short essays with list of works and some criticism)

  Ethridge, James, et al., ed. CONTEMPORARY AUTHORS: A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO CURRENT AUTHORS AND THEIR WORKS. 1963.

  Kunitz. TWENTIETH CENTURY AUTHORS, WITH SUPPLEMENT.

  Murphy, Rosalie and James Vinson. ed. CONTEMPORARY POETS OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE. 1970.

  Stewart, J. I. M. EIGHT MODERN WRITERS. 1963.

  WORLD AUTHORS. 1950-1970, and WORLD AUTHORS, 1970-1975. (brief biography)

Indices

• AUTHOR BIOGRAPHIES MASTER INDEX.
  BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES MASTER INDEX.

  BIOGRAPHY INDEX: A CUMULATIVE INDEX TO BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL IN BOOKS AND MAGAZINES. 1947.

• Baugh, Albert. A LITERARY HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 2nd ed., 1967.
  CONCISE CAMBRIDGE HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE.

  Coyle, et al. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE AND CRITICISM.

  OXFORD HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. Individual volumes:

  -Bennet, H. S. CHAUCER AND THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY. 1947.
  -Chambers, E. K. ENGLISH LITERATURE AT THE CLOSE OF THE MIDDLE AGES. 1945.
  -Lewis, C. S. ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY EXCLUDING DRAMA. 1954.
  -Wilson, F. P. THE ENGLISH DRAMA 1485-1585. 1969.
  -Bush, Douglas. ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE EARLIER SEVENTEENTH CENTURY, 1600-1660. 2nd ed., 1962.
  -Sutherland, James. ENGLISH LITERATURE IN THE LATE SEVENTEENTH CENTURY. 1959.
  -Renwick, W. L. ENGLISH LITERATURE 1789-1815. 1963.
  -Jack, Ian. ENGLISH LITERATURE 1815-1832. 1963.

  Daiches, David. A CRITICAL HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE. 1970.

  Spiller, Robert L., et al. LITERARY HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES.

Period

• Coyle, et al. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE AND CRITICISM. (Essays on Medieval Literature, Renaissance, Augustanism, Romanticism, Modernism, Postmodernism)
  Holman and Harmon. A HANDBOOK TO LITERATURE. 1986. (historical outline)

  Ruoff, JAMES E. CROWELL'S HANDBOOK OF ELIZABETHAN AND STUART LITERATURE. 1975. (includes genres, movements, terms, standard editions, some critical commentary)

  Spence, Lewis. A DICTIONARY OF MEDIEVAL ROMANCE AND ROMANCE WRITERS. 1962.

Individual plays and playwrights

• Bassner, John and Edward Quinn. READER'S ENCYLOPEDIA OF WORLD DRAMA. 1969. (playwrights, plays, and terms)
  CONTEMPORARY DRAMATISTS. (essay on major plays of living playwrights with biographical and bibliographical information)

  CROWELL'S HANDBOOK OF CONTEMPORARY DRAMA. (critical estimates of post-World War II playwrights and plays)

  Hartnoll, Phyllis. THE OXFORD COMPANION TO THE THEATRE. 3rd. ed. 1967. (includes theatre personalities and terms)

  McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of World Drama. 4 vols. 1972.

Performance history and theater reviews

• AMERICAN THEATER ANNUAL (first two volumes called New York Theater Annual).
  Evans, Gareth, and Barbara Lloyd. THE SHAKESPEARE COMPANION. 1978. (performance history from the 16th century to the 20th century)

  GUIDE TO PLAY SELECTION: A SELECTIVE BIBLIOGRAPHY FOR PRODUCTION AND STUDY OF MODERN PLAYS. 3rd. ed., 1975. (brief summaries to help choose plays to produce)

  Hartnoll, Phyllis, ed. THE OXFORD COMPANION TO THEATRE. 3rd ed.

  THE LONDON STAGE 1660-1800: A CALENDAR OF PLAYS, ENTERTAINMENT, AND AFTERPIECES TOGETHER WITH CASTS, BOX RECEIPTS AND CONTEMPORARY COMMENT. 5 parts in 11 vols., 1960-68.

  MODERN WORLD THEATRE. (performance data and interpretive summary of post-war plays)

  NEW YORK THEATRE CRITICS REVIEWS. vol. 1. 1940.

  NEW YORK TIMES THEATER REVIEWS. 19 vols. 1870-1976.

  Salem, James M. A GUIDE TO CRITICAL REVIEWS. IN 4 PARTS. (I-American Drama; II-The Musical; III-Foreign Drama)

  SHAKESPEARE SURVEY. (annual performance reviews)

  Shipley, Joseph. A GUIDE TO GREAT PLAYS. 1956. (plot summary and production background)

• ACADEMIC AMERICAN ENCYCLOPEDIA.
  THE CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA. 17 vols. 1907-1922.

  COLLIER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA.

  COLUMBIA ENCYCLOPEDIA.

  ENCYCLOPEDIA AMERICANA.

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. 29 vols.

  ENCYCLOPEDIA BRITANNICA. l1th ed., 1910-1911. 32 vols.

  NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA. 15 vols. 1967.

  WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA.

• Campbell and Quinn. THE READER'S ENCYCLOPEDIA OF SHAKESPEARE.
  Hunter, William. A MILTON ENCYCLOPEDIA.

• THE CAMBRIDGE ANCIENT HISTORY. . . 12 vols. with 5 vols. of plates. 1923-39.
  THE CAMBRIDGE MEDIEVAL HISTORY. . . 8 vols. 1911-36.

  DICTIONARY OF AMERICAN HISTORY.

  NEW CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORY. 14 vols. 1957.

  THE OXFORD HISTORY OF ENGLAND. 15 vols. 1934-65.

  Ploski. THE NEGRO ALMANAC.

  Ward, A.W. THE CAMBRIDGE MODERN HISTORY. 13 vols. and atlas. 1902-26.

  Worldmark. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF NATIONS.

• Coyle, et al. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF LITERATURE AND CRITICISM.
  Weiner, Philip. DICTIONARY OF THE HISTORY OF IDEAS. 4 vols. and index. 1973.

• Baldwin, James. DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY. 3 vols. 1901-1905.
  Edwards, Paul. THE ENCYCLOPEDIA OF PHILOSOPHY. 8 vols. 1967.

• CATHOLIC ENCYCOPEDIA. 16 vols.
  Hastings, James. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGION AND ETHICS. 12 vols. 1911-27.

  JEWISH ENCYCLOPEDIA.

  Kittel. THEOLOGICAL DICTIONARY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

  NEW CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA.

  NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA OF RELIGIOUS KNOWLEDGE.

• Baldwin, James. DICTIONARY OF PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY. 3 vols. 1901-1905.
  ENCYCLOPEDIA OF AMERICAN ECONOMIC HISTORY. Vols. 1-3.

  INTERNATIONAL ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. 17 vols. 1968.

  Seligman, Edwin, and Alvin Johnson. ENCYCLOPEDIA OF THE SOCIAL SCIENCES. 15 vols.