ENGL 601: Literary Research and Critical Contexts (Special Collections)

Professor Theresa Coletti

This page is intended to provide an introduction to conducting literary research using Special Collections. Special collections have characteristics that set them apart from other types of collections in libraries. These special aspects may include rarity, format, and comprehensiveness (Definitions: Special Collections). Contact Literary Manuscripts (Curator, Beth Alvarez or Assistant Curator, Maureen Cech) or Rare Books (Curator, Doug McElrath) with questions or for assistance.

Types of materials that are housed in Special Collections

Locating Special Collections materials for a literary research project

• Union Catalogs
• Location Register (University of Reading)
• Archives Hub
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC). Records created since 1986 at participating institutions are searchable through OCLC WorldCat (see databases below). Records created between 1959 and 1985 can be found in the print volumes. Most records though are very likely to be online.
• Author Societies
• American Literature Association Directory of Affiliated Societies
• MLA Directory of Allied and Affiliate Organizations
• International Virginia Woolf Society
• Eudora Welty Society
• William Faulkner Society
• Byron Society of America
• Selected Manuscript Repositories
• Literary Manuscripts, University of Maryland Libraries
• University of Texas at Austin, Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center Library
• Yale University Library, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library
• Princeton University, Department of Rare Books and Special Collections, Harvey S. Firestone Library
• University of Virginia Library, Albert and Shirley Small Special Collections Library
• Henry W. and Albert A. Berg Collection of English and American Literature, New York Public Library
• Digital Editions and Archives
• eOneill: An Eugene O'Neill Archive
• The Mark Twain Papers & Project
• Emily Dickinson Electronic Archives
• The Whitman Archive
• The Rossetti Archive
• Databases
• WorldCat (WorldCat allows one to search NUCMC records created since 1986. Limit results to Archival Holdings.)
• WorldCatUM (In Advanced Search, there is an option to add other databases like ArchivesGrid and OAIster to a search. Limit results to archival holdings.)

Descriptive Bibliography

An important branch of literary study is bibliographic study; however, there are sveral kinds of bibliographies. "Analytical bibliography is concerned with the whole study of the physical book: its history, its appearance, and the influence of the manner of production on its text" (Belanger, para. 12). Terry Belanger's article "Descriptive Bibliography" describes the different types of bibliographic activities in which book historians, literary scholars and collectors can be involved. (Belanger's article can be found under the "Bibliography Defined" link from the Bibliographic Society of America's site.)

Descriptive bibliography, a type of analytical bibliography, is the study of book-as-object. Questions concerning how the book is put together, types and placement of illustration, typography, binding work, and type and quality of paper are all considered when viewing the book as an object.

For some further resources on bibliography, see:

• Studies in Bibliography, via the Bibliographic Society of the University of Virginia
• Bibliographic Society of America

Issues Related to special collections use

• Using finding aids
• Using Special Collections material
• Avoiding plagiarism by properly citing sources
• Fair use, permissions, and copyright

Further Resources

• Intute: Manuscript Studies
• Intute > English > Manuscripts

Some of the links on this page are drawn from Research Using Primary Resources, a Web guide created by University of Maryland Libraries' Special Collections librarians as a faculty research project.

return to top