Research Guide to Edgar Allan Poe


| Resources on the Web | Reference Books | CONSULS Catalog | Databases & Indexes | Locating Periodicals | Interlibrary Loan | Questions? |


Resources on the World Wide Web

Here are some links to help you explore the growing number of Web sites devoted to Edgar Allen Poe and his works:

For tips on citation format, please see Diana Hacker's Humanities: Documenting Sources (www.dianahacker.com/resdoc/humanities.html) or MLA Style via Yahoo!


Reference Books for Background Information

Reference books are shelved by Library of Congress call number in the reference stacks on the first floor of the Ruth Haas Library. They may not be checked out, but photocopiers are available for student use on the first and third floors of the Haas Library.

General Background on Literature

Dictionary of Biblical Tradition in English LiteratureRef PR 149.B5.D53 1992
Dictionary of the History of Ideas. 5 volumes.Ref CB 5.D52 1974
Encyclopedia of Fantasy LiteratureRef PN 3435.E53 1997
Encyclopedia of World Literature in the 20th Century. 5 volumes.Ref PN 771.E5 1984
HarperCollins Reader's Encyclopedia of American Literature. 2nd edition.Ref PN 41.B4 2002
Oxford Companion to American Literature. 6th edition.Ref PS 21.H3 1995
Oxford Encyclopedia of American Literature (see essay in vol. 3)Ref PS 21.E537 2004

Literary Terminology

Dictionary of Literary Terms (Shaw)Ref PN 44.5.S46 1972
Dictionary of Literary Terms (Cuddon)Ref PN 41.C83 1979
Dictionary of Literary Themes and Motifs. 2 volumes.Ref PN 43.D48 1988
Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms. Revised and enlarged edition.Ref PN 41.D4794 1987
Glossary of Literary Terms. 5th edition.Ref PN 41.A184 1988
Literary Terms: A Dictionary. Revised edition.Ref PN 44.5.B334 1975

Symbols, Allusions, and Metaphors

Allusions: Cultural, Literary, Biblical, and Historical: A Thematic DictionaryRef PN 43.A4 1982
Brewer's Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 15th edition.Ref PN 43.B65 1995
Common Knowledge: A Reader's Guide to Literary AllusionsRef PN 43.G68 1987
Dictionary of Biblical Allusions in English LiteratureRef PR 145.F8 1965
Dictionary of Literary SymbolsRef PN 56.S9.F47 1999
Dictionary of Symbols and ImageryRef BL 600.V74 1976
Facts on File Dictionary of Classical, Biblical, and Literary AllusionsRef PN 43.L37 1987
Metaphors DictionaryRef PE 1689.M47 1995
Symbolism: A Comprehensive DictionaryRef CB 475.O38 1986
Thesaurus of Traditional English MetaphorsRef PE 1689.W56 1993

Background on Critical Theory

A-Z Guide to Modern Literary and Cultural TheoristsRef PN 74.A2 1995
Dictionary of Concepts in Literary Criticism and TheoryRef PN 41.H36 1992
Dictionary of Modern Critical Terms. Revised and enlarged edition.Ref PN 41.D4794 1987
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Literary Theory: Approaches, Scholars, TermsRef PN 81.E43 1993
Enyclopedia of Literature and CriticismRef PN 81.E53 1991
Glossary of Contemporary Literary Theory Ref PN 44.5.H37 1992
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory and Criticism. Second edition.Ref PN 81.J554 2005

Literary Criticism

Nineteenth-Century Literary Criticism (NCLC) (see vol. 1, 16, 55, 78, 94, 97, and 117))Ref PN 761.N5
Short Story Criticism (SSC) (see vol. 1, 22, 34, 35, and 54)Ref PN 3373.S386
Critical Survey of Mystery and Detective Fiction (see vol. 4)Ref PN 3448.D4.C75 1988
Critical Survey of Short Fiction. Second revised edition (see vol. 5).Ref PN 3321.C7 2001
American Short Fiction Criticism, 1959-1977: A ChecklistRef PS 374.S5.W43 1982
Reference Guide to Short Fiction (see p. 435)Ref PN 3373.R36 1994
Short Fiction Criticism: A ChecklistRef PN 3353.T5 1960
Poetry Criticism (PC) (see vol. 1 and 54)Ref PN 1010.P499
Critical Survey of Poetry. Second revised edition (see vol. 5)Ref PN 1021.C74 2003
Poetry Explication. 3rd edition.Ref Z 2014.P7.K8 1980
American and British Poetry: A Guide to the Criticism, 1979-1990Ref PS 303.A49 1996
Index to Criticisms of British and American PoetryRef PR 89.C5

Poetry

Concordance to the Poetry of Edgar Allan PoeRef PS 2645.W55 1989
The Columbia Granger's Index to Poetry in AnthologiesRef PN 1022.H39 1997
The Columbia History of American PoetryRef PS 303.C64 1993
Dictionary of Poetic TermsRef PN 1042.M93 2003
Longman Dictionary of Poetic TermsRef PN 1042.M94 1989
Master Index to Poetry. 2 volumes + supplements.Ref PN 1022.M37 1988
New Princeton Encyclopedia of Poetry and PoeticsRef Ref 1021.N39 1993
The Poet's Dictionary: A Handbook of Prosody and Poetic DevicesRef PN 44.5.P3 1989

Biographical Sources

Edgar Allan Poe A to ZRef PS 2630.S68 2001
The Poe EncyclopediaRef PS 2630.P58 1997
American Authors 1600-1900 (see p. 623)Ref PS 21.K8 1938
American Diversity, American Identity: The Lives and Work of 145 Writers Who Define the American Experience (see p. 241)Ref PS 169.N35.A44 1995
American Writers (see vol. III)Ref PS 129.A55
Biography Index (1946- )Index shelves in Haas reference area
Dictionary of Literary Biography:
Vol. 3: Antebellum Writers in New York and the South
Vol. 74: American Short-Story Writers Before 1880
Vol. 248: Antebellum Writers in the South
. Second Series.
Ref PS 21.D5
Notable Poets (see vol. 2)Ref PN 1021.N68 1998
Research Guide to Biography and Criticism: Literature (see vol. II, p. 922)Ref PR 85.R47 1985
World Poets (see vol. 2)Ref PN 1021.W67 2000

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CONSULS Online Catalog for Books and Media

CONSULS catalog workstations are located in the Reference Area on the first floor, and on each of the other floors of the Haas Library. You may logon to CONSULS via the WCSU Libraries Homepage at library.wcsu.edu/web or directly at www.consuls.org. For more detailed instructions on searching, please see the yellow CONSULS flyer on the display rack on the first floor.

Please Note: CONSULS ignores upper and lower case, and you may omit punctuation, except the hyphen which must be replaced by a space.

TO FIND WORKS WRITTEN BY A SPECIFIC AUTHOR:

Select Author at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the writer's name last-name-first. Correct spelling is important.

Example: poe edgar allan (press RETURN or ENTER)
Or just: poe ed (press RETURN)

To limit search results to items owned by WCSU, click on Limit/Sort and then select WCSU under "Where Item Is Located."

TO FIND WORKS WRITTEN ABOUT A SPECIFIC WRITER:

Select Subject at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the writer's name last-name-first. Correct spelling is important. To limit results to items owned by WCSU, click Limit/Sort and then select WCSU under "Where Item Is Located.".

Example: poe edgar allan (press RETURN or ENTER)
Or just: poe ed (press RETURN)

CONSULS will retrieve a list of Library of Congress Subject Headings that begin with the words you typed:

Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 (main heading is subdivided)
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Aesthetics
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Bibliography
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Biography
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Characters
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Concordances
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Criticism and interpretation
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Fictional works
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Influence
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Poetic works
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Political and social views
Edgar Allan Poe 1809 1849 - Sources

PLEASE NOTE: Personal name headings may also be subdivided by the titles of individual works, for example:

Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Fall of the House of Usher
Poe Edgar Allan 1809 1849 - Purloined Letter

TO FIND WORKS WITH A SPECIFIC TITLE:

Select Title at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type as much of the title as you remember in correct word order. In CONSULS, you may omit "a," "an," or "the" at the beginning of a title.

Example: An Edgar Allan Poe Companion: A Guide to the Short Stories, Romances, and Essays (press RETURN)
Or just: edgar allan poe compan (press RETURN)

If your TITLE search does not retrieve an entry for a separately published edition of the work, select the Words Search option to re-execute the search as a keywords search (example: tell-tale heart and press RETURN)--then scan the CONTENTS field of each entry for the title of the work you need.

TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC BY SUBJECT HEADING:

Select Subject at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the Library of Congress subject heading which best describes your topic. Correct spelling and word order are important. The complete list of Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) is published in a set of big red books available in the Reference Area on the first floor of the Haas Library.

Type: Short stories, America--History and criticism (press RETURN or ENTER)
Or just: short stories american (press RETURN)

The following Library of Congress subject headings are relevant to research on Edgar Allan Poe:

American fiction (many subdivisions)
American fiction--Bibliography
American fiction--19th century--History and criticism
American fiction--History and criticism
Authors, American--19th century (many subdivisions)
Fantasy literature, American--History and criticism
Horror tales, American--History and criticism
Short story
Short stories (many subdivisions)
Short stories, American (many subdivisions)
Short stories, American--History and criticism

American poetry (many subdivisions)
American poetry--Bibliography
American poetry--19th century--History and criticism
American poetry--History and criticism
Poets, American--19th century (many subdivisions)

See also:
Black in literature
Fear in literature
Light and darkness in literature
Psychoanalysis and literature
Symbolism in literature

TO FIND INFORMATION ABOUT A SPECIFIC TOPIC BY KEYWORD(S):

Select Keyword(s) at the CONSULS Main Menu, then type the words which best describe your topic, in any order.

Example: poe and tell-tale heart press RETURN or ENTER
Example: poe and (symbol* or image* or metaphor*) press RETURN
Example: poe and (dark* or black* or evil or deprav*) press RETURN

Use the * (asterisk) as a truncation symbol to retrieve variant forms of a word root. Use the Boolean OR to expand your search by including synonyms and related terms. When using two different Boolean commands in the same search statement ("and" and "or" in the preceding examples) you must include parentheses to indicate which command is to be performed first.

TO REQUEST MATERIALS FROM THE OTHER CSU LIBRARIES:

If the item you need is owned by one of the other CSU Libraries (CCSU, SCSU, or ECSU) but not by WCSU, or if the WCSU copy is checked out, you may order the item electronically via Inter-Campus Loan. Select the Request option at the full record display in CONSULS, then type your student ID# and your library PIN code. Be sure to specify a pickup location (Haas or Young Library) before clicking on the gray bar to initiate your request. If you need assistance with your library PIN, please contact the librarian at the Reference Desk at (203)837-9110.

There is a limit of ten (10) Inter-Campus Loan requests per person. Videos are available via Inter-Campus Loan. Please allow 4-5 days for delivery to the Haas Circulation Desk. Items borrowed via Inter-Campus Loan may be renewed for an additional borrowing period if no one has placed a HOLD on the item.

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Indexes & Databases for Finding Periodical Articles

Computerized Databases

Academic Search Premier in EBSCOhost
Coverage: 1990 - present (earlier for many publications)
Location: Under Articles/Databases at the WCSU Libraries Homepage.
Scope: Indexes approximately 8,000 newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals in most fields, with 4,000 available in full-text.
JSTOR
Coverage: Issue number one to within 1-3 years of present
Location: Under Articles/Databases on the WCSU Libraries Homepage.
Scope: Full-text of over 400 core scholarly journals in more than 25 disciplines, including language and literature (complete backfiles).
MLA International Bibliography
Coverage: 1963 - present
Location: Under Articles/Databases at the WCSU Libraries Homepage.
Scope: Indexes books, book articles, journal articles, and Ph.D. dissertations in literature, language, linguistics, and folklore. No abstracts; some linked full-text. Also available in print in the Haas reference area.
WorldCat via OCLC FirstSearch
Location: Select OCLC FirstSearch under Articles/Databases at the WCSU Libraries Homepage.
Scope: Indexes 60+ million books, manuscripts, theses, and non-print materials. If the item is not owned by WCSU, you may use Interlibrary Loan.

Printed Indexes

Humanities Index
Coverage: 1974 - present
Location: Index shelves in the Haas reference area (near the atrium).
Scope: Indexes articles by author and subject from 250+ English-language scholarly journals in the humanities, including language and literature. The most recently published articles are listed in paperback supplements.

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Locating Periodicals in the Haas Library

To find out if WCSU subscribes to a specific periodical:

1. Select Journal Title at the CONSULS main menu, then type the name of the periodical (example: studies in short fiction) and press RETURN. If a title list appears on the screen, select the desired title, then look inside the box to find WCSU holdings. Be sure to Scroll down the page to see if WCSU owns backfiles on microfilm or microfiche.

2. Or, use the printed WCSU Serials List, available in multiple copies in the Reference Area (first floor) and on the third floor of the Haas Library, which lists all the newspapers, magazines, and journals owned by WCSU in alphabetical order by title. If WCSU subscribes to the periodical you need, you will find it on the third floor. Print volumes are shelved alphabetically by periodical title. Microfilm and microfiche backfiles are stored alphabetically by title in metal filing cabinets. Reader/printer machines are available on the third floor for viewing and making copies of microforms.

3. To find out if a given periodical is available in full-text in an online database, you may use the A-to-Z Journal Title Locator at library.wcsu.edu/web/resources/journals or under "Resources" on the WCSU Libraries Homepage (library.wcsu.edu/web).


How to Use Interlibrary Loan

If the CSU Libraries do not own the book you need, or if WCSU does not subscribe to the periodical you need, you may request delivery of the item via Interlibrary Loan using the online ILLiad system available at: library.wcsu.edu/web/services/ill.

There is a limit of 5 Interlibrary Loan requests per person per day. Videos are not available via Interlibrary Loan. Under most circumstances, Interlibrary Loan is a free service, but please allow at least ten working days for delivery. You will be notified as soon as the material arrives. Faster document delivery service is available for a reasonable fee. Please see the librarian at the Reference Desk or call the Interlibrary Loan Desk at (203) 837-9114 for more information.


Do You Have a Question?

The Reference Desk on the first floor of the Haas Library is staffed by a professional librarian who is trained to assist in your research, or you may contact Joan Reitz, Instruction Librarian, at 837-8308 or reitzj@wcsu.edu. My office is located in Room 402 on the fourth floor of the Haas Library (near the glass elevator).

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Please send your comments to Joan Reitz, Haas Instruction Librarian, Western Connecticut State University.
reitzj@wcsu.edu
Last updated on August 8, 2006