Cambridge Companions Offers introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods.
Cambridge Histories Online More than 260 volumes from the esteemed Cambridge Histories series covering 14 subject areas including general and regional history, literary studies, philosophy and religious studies.
Encyclopedia of American Studies This source brings together a wide range of disciplines related to the history and cultures of the United States, from pre-colonial days to the present. It features broad, synthetic articles covering areas such as history, literature, art, photography, film, architecture, urban studies, ethnicity, race, gender, economics, politics, wars, consumer culture, and global America.
You can also search for other encyclopedias and scholarly books about your topic. Some phrases and search terms you might try:
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MLA International Bibliography A subject index for books, articles and websites published on modern languages, literatures, folklore, and linguistics. It is produced by the Modern Language Association (MLA), an organization dedicated to the study and teaching of language and literature. The electronic version of the Bibliography dates back to 1925 and contains over 2 million citations from more than 4,400 periodicals (including peer-reviewed e-journals) and 1,000 book publishers.
JSTOR Full text of core scholarly journals from their beginning to approximately one year ago. Disciplines include botany, business, ecology, general science, humanities, mathematics, social sciences, and statistics. Browsable by discipline and full-text searchable across all disciplines. Especially good for historic or classic articles in most fields. Coverage: 1665 to present. How to export to RefWorks
- Cambridge Companion to American Realism and Naturalism. Online.
- Dictionary of Literary Terms and Literary Theory. Online.
Dictionary of Literary Biography (DLB) Provides more than 16,000 biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures from all eras and genres. DLB Complete Online includes the DLB main series, the DLB Documentary Series, and the DLB Yearbook Series.
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Women's Magazine Archive An archival research resource comprising the full backfiles of leading women’s interest consumer magazines. Titles are scanned from cover to cover in high-resolution color and feature detailed article-level indexing. Coverage ranges from the late-19th century through to 2005 and these key primary sources permit the examination of the events, trends, and attitudes of this period.
History Vault: Southern Life and Slavery A collection of digitized primary sources documenting the far-reaching impact of slavery and the plantation system on the American South and the nation.
American Periodicals Online Series This source includes digitized images of the pages of American magazines and journals published from 1740-1940. Titles range from Benjamin Franklin's General Magazine and America's first scientific journal, Medical Repository; popular magazines such as Vanity Fair and Ladies' Home Journal; regional and niche publications; and groundbreaking journals like The Dial, Puck, and McClure's.
Harper's Weekly Directly experience the richness and historical significance of Harper’s Weekly, America's leading 19th century illustrated newspaper. Coverage: 1857-1889
New York Times Historical Offers full-text, full-image articles of The New York Times, going back to 1851. The database can be used to search national and international news, editorials, obituaries, birth and marriage announcements, plus historical photos and advertisements. The documents are downloadable in PDF format. How to export to RefWorks
Hathitrust.org: Full-text, scanned copies of books out of copyright. Select to search the catalog for primary sources that your 19th century readers would've hand in-hand.