Library Guides/ English Language and Culture

Welcome

This guide covers a set of high-quality sources of information for English language and culture. This is the starting point for your research.

Bibliographies on English language and literature

Drama Online - RSC Live Collection
Features 26 videos of Shakespeare's plays performed live by the Royal Shakespeare Company
Shakespeare's Globe on Screen
30 plays recorded live on the Globe stage from leading actors and directors.
Linguistic Bibliography Online
Bibliography for linguistics focusing on the lesser known and extinct languages
Linguistics and Language Behavior Abstracts (LLBA)
Bibliography containing references and abstracts on language and linguistics
MLA International Bibliography (Modern Language Association)
Online bibliography on language and literature
Oxford Bibliographies Online
Developed cooperatively with scholars and librarians worldwide, Oxford Bibliographies offers exclusive, authoritative research guides

Oxford Scholarly Editions Online
Authoritative poetry, drama and fiction texts from Classical Antiquity and all periods of English literature

The Year's Work in English Studies
Narrative bibliographical review of scholarly work on English language and literature

General bibliographies

Literature resource center (Gale)

Web of Science (incl. Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI))

Reference works

Encyclopedia of Language & Linguistics
The prime online encyclopedia on language and language behavior
Ethnologue : Languages of the world
Resource on the more than 7100 languages spoken in the world.
Literary Encyclopedia
Middle English Compendium
Oxford Reference
Dictionaries and introductory reference works in all fields (extended edition)
Sage eReference

Dictionaries

Oxford English Dictionary Online (OED)
Historical dictionary of the English language
Van Dale Dictionaries
Bilingual dictionaries from and into Dutch, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish and Swedish, and the 'Dikke Van Dale' (Dutch dictionary).

Online dictionaries of Van Dale can also be accessed via smartphone or tablet, by means of the Van Dale App! Once the app has been downloaded, you can open the app and click on the Surfspot link on the bottom of the log in screen to log in with your UG account.
Dictionary of Old English (A-Le)
Dictionary of Old English words (600-1100)

The New Partridge Dictionary of Slang and Unconventional English by Tom Dalzell & Terry Victor (eds)
ISBN: 9781315672229

Publication Date: 2015

Containing over 60,000 entries, this new edition of the authoritative work on slang details the slang and unconventional English of the English-speaking world since 1945, and through the first decade of the new millennium.
Take My Word for It by Anatoly Liberman
ISBN: 9781452968629

Publication Date: 2023

Liberman, Anatoly. Take My Word for It: A Dictionary of English Idioms. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2022.

Handbooks

The Anglo Saxon Literature Handbook by Mark C. Amodio
ISBN: 9781118286500

Publication Date: 2014

The Anglo-Saxon Literature Handbook presents an accessible introduction to the surviving works of prose and poetry produced in Anglo-Saxon England, from AD 410-1066.
The Cambridge Companion to Old English Literature (2nd Edition) by Malcolm Godden & Michael Lapidge (eds)
ISBN: 9780521193320

Publication Date: 2013

Provides a clear and accessible introduction for those encountering Old English literature for the first time. Including seventeen essays by distinguished scholars, this new edition provides a discussion of the literature of the period 600 to 1066 in the context of how Anglo-Saxon society functioned.
Handbook of British Romanticism by Ralf Haekel (ed.)
ISBN: 9783110376692

Publication Date: 2017

The Handbook of British Romanticism provides students with an introduction to Romantic literature in general and literary scholars with a discussion of innovative and groundbreaking theoretical developments.
A Handbook of English Renaissance Literary Studies by John Lee (ed.)
ISBN: 9781118458778

Publication Date: 2017

A Handbook of English Renaissance Literary Studies is a groundbreaking guide to the contemporary engagement with critical theory within the larger disciplinary area of Renaissance and Early Modern studies.
A Handbook of Middle English Studies by Marion Turner (ed.)
ISBN: 9781118328767

Publication Date: 2013

A Handbook of Middle English Studies presents twenty-six original and accessible essays by leading scholars, analyzing the relationship between critical theory and late-medieval literature.
The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Literature in English by Elaine Treharne & Greg Walker (eds)
ISBN: 9780191572593

Publication Date: 2010

The Oxford Handbook of Medieval Literature in English brings together the insights of new fields and approaches with those of more familiar texts and methods of study, to provide a comprehensive overview of the state of medieval literature today.
The Oxford Handbook of Milton by Nicholas McDowell & Nigel Smith (eds)
ISBN: 9780199697885

Publication Date: 2011

Four hundred years after his birth, John Milton remains one of the greatest and most controversial figures in English literature. The Oxford Handbook of Milton is a comprehensive guide to the state of Milton studies in the early twenty-first century, bringing together an international team of thirty-five leading scholars in one volume.
The Oxford Handbook of Shakespeare by Arthur F. Kinney (ed.)
ISBN: 9780191618123

Publication Date: 2011

The Oxford Handbook to Shakespeare contains forty specially written essays. It provides fresh and imaginative readings of his plays and poems, reflects on the current state of Shakespeare Studies, and suggests the likely future directions it will take.
The Oxford Handbook of the Victorian Novel by Lisa Rodensky (ed.)
ISBN: 9780191652516

Publication Date: 2013

Much has been written about the Victorian novel, and for good reason. The cultural power it exerted is beyond question. The Oxford Handbook of the Victorian Novel contributes substantially to this thriving scholarly field by offering new approaches to familiar topics as well as essays on topics often overlooked.
The Oxford Handbook of Tudor Literature by Mike Pincombe & Cathy Shrank (eds)
ISBN: 9780199697892

Publication Date: 2009

This is the first major collection of essays to look at the literature of the entire Tudor period, from the reign of Henry VII to the death of Elizabeth I. It pays particular attention to the years before 1580.
The Routledge Handbook of English As a Lingua Franca by Jennifer Jenkins, Will Baker & Martin Dewey (eds)
ISBN: 9781317509196

Publication Date: 2018

The Routledge Handbook of English as a Lingua Franca (ELF) provides an accessible, authoritative and comprehensive introduction to the main theories, concepts, contexts and applications of this rapidly developing field of study.
The Oxford Handbook of Samuel Taylor Coleridge by Frederick Burwick (ed.)
ISBN: 9780199644179

Publication Date: 2012

A practical and comprehensive reference work, the Oxford Handbook provides the best single-volume source of original scholarship on all aspects of Coleridge's diverse writings.
A Companion to Old and Middle English Literature by Laura Lambdin & Robert Thomas Lambdin
ISBN: 9780313011115

Publication Date: 2002

Old and Middle English literature can be obscure and challenging. This reference is a comprehensive overview of Old and Middle English literature. Chapters focus on particular genres and provide extensive reviews of scholarship and close with detailed bibliographies
The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1740-1830 by Thomas Keymer & Jon Mee (eds)
ISBN: 9780511999246

Publication Date: 2004

This 2004 volume offers an introduction to British literature that challenges the traditional divide between eighteenth-century and Romantic studies. Contributors explore the development of literary genres and modes through a period of rapid change.
The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1830-1914 by Joanne Shattock (ed.)
ISBN: 9781139002806

Publication Date: 2010

The nineteenth century witnessed unprecedented expansion in the reading public and an explosive growth in the number of books and newspapers produced to meet its demands. These specially commissioned essays examine not only the full range and variety of texts that entertained and informed the Victorians, but also the boundaries of Victorian literature.