Victorian, Romantic, and Gothic British Authors:

A Pathfinder

 

 

 

Contents

Introduction and Scope
Key Words and Subject Headings
British Reference Books

Video and Audio Recordings
Period Literature Sources
Biographical Sources
Readings and Critical Essays
Internet Sources
Online Books, Indexes, and Journal Sources

 

Introduction and Scope


Introduction

The Victorian, Gothic, and Romantics are often pooled together, their themes and influences overlapping, finding the some of the most interesting, innovative, and influential works and authors to be seen. The late eighteenth century through the early twentieth century offered a barrage of writers in these genres that were popular in the time they created through the present. This time period in particular, yielded some of the most noteworthy authors and pieces of literature that have left an overwhelming impact on literature and authors wholly, overflowing into now popular mediums such as film and music. The literature of the time as transcended and touched the lives of many through novels, prose and poetry.

The purpose of this pathfinder is to provide resources on this magnificently significant time, giving way to research of the time period, authors and works, readings and critical essays on the literature of the great Romantic, Victorian and Gothic writers.

Scope

This pathfinder is intended for rising college freshman students studying works of British literature during their senior year. The featured pathfinder is generated to aid students seeking vital information in order to begin the research process.  The works and resources listed are available from the Freedom High School Media Center, located in the Hillsborough County School District in Tampa, Florida. The Freedom Media Center can be accessed online from anywhere.

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Keywords and Subject Headings


Locating credible and reliable information on British Authors featured in the Gothic, Victorian and Romantics periods are notably difficult to locate due to the popularity of the topic. Students often refer to web pages that are created by enthusiasts and offer unsecured and incorrect information that cannot be considered credible.  It is often complicated to find the right subject headings or keywords to search by.

Combinations of the headings and keywords should provide accurate and useful results. The following keywords and subject headings are available on CyberCat, the online Library Resources Link provided for Hillsborough County Schools. CyberCat can be used to generate results from specific schools, Freedom's Media Center was used for this pathfinder.

Click this link to access Freedom's Website .

 

Keywords in CyberCAT:

British Authors

Gothic

Victorian Literature

Romantic Literature

Useful Subject Headings in CyberCat:

English Literature - Romanticism Britain-Prose Writers

Women Authors - Women and Literature-Monsters in Literature - Horror Tales

English Poetry -- 19th Century

English fiction

 

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British Reference Books

These reference materials provide more general information on the British writers and its literary movements are featured within, pending the author. Research may be yield literary trends, author biographical information, and historical or social facts. These reference books often include discussion of the authors' works, major themes, and critical commentary or reception of their work. Each entry concludes with a list of critical sources that discuss the author's work in further detail. This information can serve as a catalyst to finding topics or information deemed necessary for basic research on a chosen topic or author. These reference materials are available for onsite use only and cannot be checked out.

á        Nadel, I.B and Fredeman, W.E. Victorian novelists after 1885. Gale Research Co, 1983. [Freedom Media Center -- Reference Collection --Call number R 920 DLB]

á        Nadel, I.B and Fredeman, W.E. Victorian novelists before 1885. Gale Research Co, 1983. [Freedom Media Center -- Reference Collection --Call number R 920 DLB]

á        Nadel, I.B and Fredeman, W.E. Victorian poets after 1850. Gale Research Co, 1985. [Freedom Media Center -- Reference Collection --Call number R 920 DLB]

á        Nadel, I.B and Fredeman, W.E. Victorian poets before 1850. Gale Research Co, 1984. [Freedom Media Center -- Reference Collection --Call number R 920 DLB]

á        Thesing, W.B. Victorian prose writers after 1867. Gale Research Co., 1987. [Freedom Media Center -- Reference Collection --Call number R 920 DLB]

á        Thesing, W.B. Victorian prose writers before 1867. Gale Research Co., 1987. [Freedom Media Center -- Reference Collection --Call number R 920 DLB]

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Video and Audio Recordings

Video and audio resources serve as options and are popular methods to assist students to generate interest in a topic. Specialized videos and audio recordings directly gear the audience for the areas of pointed interest.

 

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Period Literature Sources

Literature sources provide comprehensive information on periods, trends, and writers. The titles chosen in this subheading provide the foundations of Victorian, Gothic and Romantic literature. The following sources are available for checkout for optimum reader results, pending their needs and can be found by the listed call number and by author last name in the Freedom Media Center.

á        Mitchell, Sally. Daily life in Victorian England. Greenwood Press, 1996. Call number 941.081 Mit.

á        Reed, John Robert. Dickens and Thackeray : punishment and forgiveness. Ohio University Press, 1995. Call number 823 Ree.

á        Pritchard, R.E. Dickens's England : life in Victorian times. Praeger, 2003. Call number 942.081 Dic .

á        Kalman, Bobbie. Victorian Christmas.Crabtree Publishing, 1997. Call number 394.2663 Kal .

á        Swisher, Clarice. Victorian England. Lucent Books, 2001. Call number 941.081 Swi .

á        Swisher, Clarice. Victorian England. Greenhaven, 2000. Call number 941.081 Vic .

á        Stocks. Mike., Edwards, Les,, Warner, Darrell. Victorian Ghost Stories. EDC Publishing, 1997. Call number F Sto .

á        Stocks, Mike., Chesterman, Adrian,, Stannard, Lee. Victorian Ghost Stories. EDC Publishing, 1997. Call number F Sto .

á        Picard, Liza. Victorian London : the life of the city, 1840-1870. St. Martin's Press, 2005. Call number 942.1 Pic .

á        Bloom, Harold. The Victorian novel. Chelsea House Publishers, 2004. Call number R 823 Vic.

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Biographical Sources

The following sources are useful for learning more about an author's life in lieu of simply reading material written by them.  These sources are a minute sample of what is available for further research. Please check with the Media Specialist for interest in particular authors not listed or run a search by the author name in CyberCat. The following entries are available for checkout for optimum reader results, pending their needs and can be found by the listed call number and by author last name in the Freedom Media Center.

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Readings and Critical Essays

These readings and critical essays cover some of the popular or well-known works created during the expanse of the Victorian and Romantic Periods. Readings and essays are valuable for discovering perspectives, knowledge and criticism relating to the writers and their works of the selected period.

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Internet Resources

The following Internet websites offer reliable information on the selected period as well as directing a researcher to other valuable sources. All Internet mediums are free and can be accessed from anywhere.

 

 

This well developed Website includes extensive links relating to Victorians in nearly every aspect. The Victorian Web includes links to texts, periodicals, beliefs, trends, and theories of the period as well as research resources, journals, and more.

á        Victoria Research Web

The Victoria Research Web offers scholarly resources for Victorian research. The site boasts links to archives, print sources, discussion groups and journal guides.

The Literary Gothic page has been a credible source since 1995 for those seeking reliable information on the web referencing gothic fiction with a focus on the 18th and 19th centuries, corresponding with the Victorian and Romantics.

This website is dedicated to being the utmost comprehensive source for information on Gothic authors and literature. The Sickly Taper caters to separated bibliographies by alphabet to continent/culture.

The Academy of American Poets has contracted this website for many different facets. The researcher can use Poets.Org for finding information on particular poems or poets as well as criticisms, essays and interviews.

The researcher can find great use of this website, sponsored by Literary History.com by being provided an extensive list of web resources about popular authors they could research. Users will find only major authors on this particular site to choose from.

á        The Literature Network

The Literature Network is a useful online source for finding the beginning stages of information on authors, full books, and the use of quotes.  

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Online Books, Indexes, and Journal Sources

The following resources are available online and can be accessed anywhere.

The Literature Compass provides the researcher "a journal of peer-reviewed survey articles from across the discipline". Research can be found by key topic, trend, or within a particular area of study.

This journal is one of the oldest and widely acknowledged for being a historical journal source. Articles can be accessed and downloaded via PDF through a basic search. The user may find any type of information on periods or movements, authors, styles of literature and so on, pending availability.

á        Google Books

Google books proves to be a promising source for any researcher. The user may access books featured from the author, time period, criticisms, and essays, pending the desires of the user.

á        Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg allows the use of over 25,00 free ebooks, plus an additional 75,000 ebooks can be accessed through partners and affiliates. The researcher can find information on authors and their works as well as time periods at their convenience and for no cost.

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Created by Claire Kelly Shaw

University of South Florida 

Designed for

English IV students

Freedom High School, Tampa, FL
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Last Updated: November 30, 2008