LibGuides: English: which resources do I use?: 18th-19th Century

Books

You may find some of these books useful. See your reading list for the required and recommended reading for your module.

The Cambridge Companion to English Literature, 1740-1830 by Thomas Keymer (Editor); Jon Mee (Editor) 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. They show how literature was shaped by historical factors including the development of the book trade, the rise of literary criticism and the expansion of commercial society and empire. The first part of the volume focuses on broad themes including taste and aesthetics, national identity and empire, and key cultural trends such as sensibility and the gothic. The second part pays close attention to the work of individual writers including Sterne, Blake, Barbauld and Austen, and to the role of literary schools such as the Lake and Cockney schools. The wide scope of the collection, juxtaposing canonical authors with those now gaining new attention from scholars, makes it essential reading for students of eighteenth-century literature and Romanticism.
ISBN: 9780521809740
Publication Date: 2004
English Literature, 1830-1914 by Joanne Shattock (Editor) 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: the links and overlap with Romanticism in the 1830s, and the roots of modernism in the years leading up to the First World War. The Companion demonstrates how science, medicine and theology influenced creative writing and emphasizes the importance of the visual in painting, book illustration and in technological innovations from the kaleidoscope to the cinema. Essays also chart the complex and fruitful interchanges with writers in America, Europe and the Empire, highlighting the geographical expansion of literature in English. This Companion brings together the most important aspects of this prolific and popular period of English literature.
ISBN: 9780521882880
Publication Date: 2010
The Romantic Period by Katharine Eisaman Maus (Editor); James Noggle (Editor); Jahan Ramazani (Editor); Catherine Robson (Editor); James Simpson (Editor); Jon Stallworthy (Editor); Jack Stillinger (Editor); Stephen Greenblatt (General Editor); M. H. Abrams (General Editor); Carol T. Christ (Editor); Alfred David (Editor); Barbara K. Lewalski (Editor); Lawrence Lipking (Editor); George M. Logan (Editor); Deidre Shauna Lynch (Editor) The Ninth Edition offers more complete works and more teachable groupings than ever before, the apparatus you trust, and a new, free Supplemental Ebook with more than 1,000 additional texts. Read by more than 8 million students, The Norton Anthology of English Literature sets the standard and remains an unmatched value.The Norton Anthology of English Literature is now available as an interactive ebook, at just a fraction of the print price.
ISBN: 9780393912524
Publication Date: 2012
Broadview Anthology of British Literature Volume 4: the age of Romanticism by Black, Joseph
ISBN: 9781554813117
Publication Date: 2018
Broadview Anthology of British Literature Volume 5: the Victorian era by Roberts, Tammy
ISBN: 9781554810734
Publication Date: 2011

Archives and Special Collections: Victorian studies

Visit the Archives and Special Collections libguide to find out more about the Victorian collections at the University, inlcuding Sir John Betjeman's Library and the Hypatia Collection.

Visit the webpage for University of Exeter's Centre for Victorian Studies to see details of current and past research projects.

Defining Gender

Defining Gender This link opens in a new window UK primary source materials from 1450 to 1910 relating to the study of history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective. Documents include ephemera, pamphlets & periodicals, education documents, books, personal writings, business records, government papers, ballads and literature.

Defining Gender is a collection of original primary source material from British archives.

It will aid those studying history, literature, sociology, education and cultural studies from a gendered perspective.
The types of documents in the collection vary from pamphlets and letters to diaries and illustrated writings.
Topics addressed range from anatomy, children and education to etiquette, fashion, sexuality and sport.

To find material from the 18th and 19th centuries, try searching the resources below:

Oxford Scholarly Editions Online This link opens in a new window Full text major works of poetry, prose and drama. Classical Latin and Greek literature, plus literature from the 15th to the 19th centuries are included. Read major works of literature online alongside explanatory notes and details of variations in the text.
ProQuest One Literature - Incorporating Literature Online This link opens in a new window Collection of 20th Century English Poetry, 20th Century Drama, 20th Century American Poetry literature, literary criticism, and reference works.

For help using these resources, see the guides on this page.

Other resources include:

19th Century Pamphlets Collection This link opens in a new window A selection of 19th Century British pamphlets providing insight into the politics and culture of Victorian Britain.
19th Century UK Periodicals Online, Series 1 This link opens in a new window A selection of 19th Century British magazines providing insight into the emergence of modern British magazine publishing in the 19th century.
Black Drama, 3rd ed This link opens in a new window Contains the full text of more than 1,700 plays written from the mid-1800s to the present by more than 200 playwrights from North America, English-speaking Africa, the Caribbean, and other African diaspora countries. Many of the works are rare, hard to find, or out of print. More than 40% of the collection consists of previously unpublished plays.
British Periodicals I, II, III and IV. This link opens in a new window Searchable facsimile reproductions of British periodicals published from the 17th through the early 20th centuries.
British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture - Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window 19th Century arts ephemera including playbills, scripts and music scores providing details of the cultural history of Britain during this period.
Children's Literature and Culture This link opens in a new window Rare books, games, ephemera, and artwork from the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, the golden age of childrens literature. From mass-produced chapbooks to richly illustrated book-beautifuls, this resource examines the way in which new concepts were introduced to young readers, encouraging an engagement with the imagination which went on to fundamentally shape established notions of childhood.
Corvey Collection: Nineteenth Century Collections Online: European Literature, 1790 - 1840 This link opens in a new window The Corvey Collection includes the full-text of more than 9,500 English, French and German titles. The collection is sourced from the remarkable library of Victor Amadeus, whose Castle Corvey collection was one of the most spectacular discoveries of the late 1970s. The Corvey Collection comprises one of the most important collections of Romantic era writing in existence anywhere -- including fiction, short prose, dramatic works, poetry, and more -- with a focus on especially difficult-to-find works by lesser-known, historically neglected writers.
Crime, Punishment, and Popular Culture 1790-1920 This link opens in a new window Archival material covering crime and popular culture in the long 19th century. Drawing on global sources, the collection includes trial transcripts, police and forensic documents, photographs, true crime literature and detective novels, and newspaper accounts.
Defining Gender This link opens in a new window UK primary source materials from 1450 to 1910 relating to the study of history, literature, sociology and education from a gendered perspective. Documents include ephemera, pamphlets & periodicals, education documents, books, personal writings, business records, government papers, ballads and literature.
Eighteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window Full text digital versions of over 180,000 works published during the 18th Century. The collection includes books, pamphlets, essays, broadsides and more, reflecting the social, cultural and literary history of the time.
Eighteenth Century Drama This link opens in a new window An archive of almost every play submitted for licence between 1737 and 1824, and hundreds of documents, including playbills, theatre records and correspondence that provide social context.
Eighteenth Century Fiction This link opens in a new window English fiction from 1700 to 1780. Including works by Daniel Defoe, Henry Fielding, Eliza Haywood, Samuel Richardson, Tobias Smollett, Laurence Sterne and Jonathan Swift.
Eighteenth Century Journals This link opens in a new window Bringing together rare journals printed between c.1685 and 1835, this resource illuminates all aspects of eighteenth-century social, political and literary life.
Grand Tour This link opens in a new window Taking the phenomenon of the Grand Tour as a starting point, this resource explores the relationship between Britain and Europe from c.1550 to 1850, exploring the Anglo-European response to continental travel for pleasure, business and diplomacy.
Harper's Bazaar Archive This link opens in a new window Full colour magazine archive covering from 1867 - current. A chronicle of American, British, and international fashion, culture, and society, offering unique insights into the events, attitudes, and interests of the modern era.
Jane Austen Manuscripts Online This link opens in a new window Online access to the collective works of Jane Austen’s fiction manuscripts.
Literary Manuscripts - Berg This link opens in a new window The Berg Collection is recognised as one of the finest literary research collections in the world, Covering a broad range of authors from across the nineteenth century.
Literary Manuscripts - Leeds This link opens in a new window This resource offers literary scholars the opportunity to examine manuscripts of 17th and 18th century verse held in the celebrated Brotherton Collection at the University of Leeds.
Literary Studies This link opens in a new window This collection covers British and American literature including Literary manuscripts, rare printed works, and personal papers of a range of leading literary figures, as well as unique access to rare and obscure literary texts and genres.
London Low Life This link opens in a new window Digitised images of books, ephemera, maps and other materials relating to 18th, 19th and early 20th century street life culture in London.
Mapping the World: Maps and Travel Literature - Nineteenth Century Collections Online This link opens in a new window The archive presents unique insight into the age of cartography and the rise of leisure travel, spotlighting a distinguished array of historical atlases, gazetteers, travel narratives, and a variety of maps,
Nineteenth - Century Fiction This link opens in a new window A collection of British and Irish novels from the period 1782 to 1903. Useful for researching different genres of fiction literature.
Nineteenth Century Literary Society This link opens in a new window Discover the work of one of the worlds most important publishing dynasties through this collection from the historic John Murray Archive. From book history to travel writing, politics to poetry, this newly digitised resource introduces an unparalleled repository for nineteenth century culture and the literary luminaries who shaped it.
Romanticism: Life, Literature and Landscape This link opens in a new window Discover the working methods of Romantic poets and trace the evolution of celebrated verse. Presenting the manuscript collections of the Wordsworth Trust. Includes verse manuscripts, printed manuscripts, prose manuscripts, printed verse, correspondence, diaries, travel journals, autograph albums, guide books, fine art and maps. Content spans from the 17th century to the 1980s.
Travel Writing, Spectacle and World History This link opens in a new window Hundreds of accounts by women of their travels across the globe from the early nineteenth century to the late twentieth century. Includes unique manuscripts, diaries and correspondence to drawings, guidebooks and photographs. The resource also includes a gallery with hundreds of items of visual material, including postcards, sketches and photographs.
Victorian Popular Culture This link opens in a new window Primary source material relating to popular entertainment in America, Britain and Europe in the period from 1779 to 1930.
Victorians on Film This link opens in a new window Includes collections of early films from the British Film Institute (the Victorian Collection and the Mitchell and Kenyon collection), plus a selection of films from the Eye Filmmuseum. Also contains contextual essays, video interviews and exhibitions in support of the film resources. Coverage is 1895-1913.

ProQuest One Literature/Literature Online: search by literary period or movement

ProQuest One Literature - Incorporating Literature Online This link opens in a new window Collection of 20th Century English Poetry, 20th Century Drama, 20th Century American Poetry literature, literary criticism, and reference works.

When searching ProQuest One Literature, you can refine your search by literary period.

Click on Advanced Search and choose Primary Texts on the left side of the page.

Click on Look up Literary Periods.

Either search for Eighteenth Century or browse alphabetically and select Eighteenth Century, 1700-1799 and add to search.

You can add additional keywords and author details if you like, or just click Search to see everything under this category in the database.

Alternatively you could search by literary movement, if applicable, e.g. Gothic novel (1764-c1820) or Romanticism (1780-1837). Click on Look up literary movement to select from a list.

Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians

Discovering Literature is a free resource from the British Library:

"The site uses manuscript and printed sources to shed light on the historical, political and cultural contexts in which key literary works were written. Users can explore high-resolution digitised images; articles written by scholars, poets, novelists and journalists; short documentary films; and teachers' notes."

Discovering Literature: Romantics and Victorians

Oxford Scholarly Editions Online

Oxford Scholarly Editions Online gives access to primary texts from writers between 1485-1901.

Browse by Work, Edition or Author.

Once you are inside the full text of a work you can:

Move through the play with the arrows at the top of the page.
Shrink the left-hand navigation bar by clicking the little arrow at its top, if required.
Hide the notes if you prefer by unchecking the notes box on the title bar
Click on the note symbols at the ends of the lines to scroll the notes pane to the right place.

The three little tabs on the left help you navigate around the work or edition.

The magnifying glass tab lets you search, jump to a print page, see the pdf of that original print page, or jump to a location in the text.
In the Location box, enter 3.3.57 if you want to go to Act III Scene iii line 57

At the top right of the tool bar you'll find pdf and printer icons for saving or printing.

If you highlight some text and choose ‘Copy and cite’ from the pop up menu, you’ll be able to automatically add a citation and the URL to the text you highlighted, so you can copy the lot: convenient for note-taking.

Run a 'Quick search' across works, titles, authors, and full text.

For example, search "to be or not to be"

You can refine your results using the options on the left hand side; for example, choose to refine where your keyword appears by checking the relevant box under 'Show Hits Within'. You can also refine by author, genre or date.

Jump to a precise location in a text, e.g. Shakespeare Sonnet 18, or Marlowe, Faustus, 12.81