Donne Reference (Tertiary)
The following Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) reveal literary criticism, mostly from books and book chapters. Cataloging librarians developed LCSH to describe book content. But tweaking the canned subject searches reveals even more secondary criticism published in journal articles. The key is to retain "criticism" or one of the other sub-divisions as a keyword (or search term). For example, the keywords Donne AND John AND criticism if restricted to the Subject field reveal hundreds of peer-reviewed articles published in Modern Philology, The Review of English Studies, Studies in English Literature, 1500-1900, and other journals.
Most useful LCSH:
Additional LCSH:
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 — Friends and associates
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 — Influence
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 — Knowledge
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 — Philosophy
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 — Political and social views
- Donne, John, 1572-1631 — Religion
Employ LCSH in WorldCat, a "union catalog" of tens of millions of book records, to retrieve additional titles held by other libraries relevant to your Donne research. Request items of interest via our interlibrary loan service.
What is a catalog?
A catalog is a "comprehensive list of the books, periodicals, maps, and other materials in a given collection, arranged in systematic order to facilitate retrieval (usually alphabetically by author, title, and/or subject). In most modern libraries, the [paper] card catalog has been converted to machine-readable bibliographic records and is available online. The purpose of a library catalog... is to offer the user a variety of approaches or access points to the information contained in the collection" (ODLIS).
Gitenstein Library's web scale discovery service—an extension of the online catalog—remains the best option for finding books and e-books held by our library. It now incorporates additional media (e.g., journal articles) from licensed databases and scholarly sources on the open web.
These reference works provide biographical essays, authors' publishing histories, and/or bibliographies—often annotated—of primary (e.g., author interviews) and secondary (i.e., criticism) sources.
Biography:
Best bet:
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by Call Number: DA28 .O95 2004ISBN: 019861411XPublication Date: 2004-09-23Donne's ~10,000-word biographical entry is authored by David Colclough (University of London).
Concise book-length biography:
Donne [Poetic Lives series] by Call Number: PR2248 .R575 2011ISBN: 9781843913030Publication Date: 2011-12-01print only
Dictionary of Literary Biography:
British Prose Writers of the Early Seventeenth Century by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0810357127Publication Date: 1995-04-27Donne's biographical entry, written by Clayton D. Lein (Purdue University), runs for over 16,000 words. Also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS129 .D47 v.151.- Seventeenth Century British Nondramatic Poets: First Series by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780810375987Publication Date: 1992-09-25Donne's biographical entry is authored by A.J. Smith (University of Southampton). Also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS129 .D47 v.121.
Latest biography:
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne by Call Number: Coming Fall 2022ISBN: 9780374607401Publication Date: 2022-09-06
Bibliography:
- Bibliography of the Works of Dr. John Donne, Dean of St. Paul's by Call Number: HathiTrust E-BOOKPublication Date: 1914 (1st ed.)"Keynes notes the various editions of Donne's prose and poetic writings, as well as books dedicated to him, his biography by Walton and books from Donne's own library, in addition to each text's location in libraries around the world."
- John Donne: An Annotated Bibliography of Modern Criticism, 1912-1967 by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0826201369Publication Date: 1973-07-01Although highly dated, this book-length bibliography would be worth consulting if your research project involves access to the older secondary literature. Avoid this title if you are looking for up-to-date secondary sources. This bibliography is also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PR2248. A3 1973b.
- John Donne: An Annotated Bibliography of Modern Criticism, 1968-1978 by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0826203647Publication Date: 1982-11-01Although highly dated, this book-length bibliography would be worth consulting if your research project involves access to the older secondary literature. Avoid this title if you are looking for up-to-date secondary sources.
Companions:
The Cambridge Companion to John Donne by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0521832373Publication Date: 2006-02-02also available in print, General Stacks, call # PR2248 .C33 2006
A John Donne Companion (Routledge Revivals) by Call Number: PR2248 .A3 2014ISBN: 9781317681472Publication Date: 2014-05-01"First published in 1990 [access e-book on Internet Archive], this title provides a compendium of useful information for any reader of Donne to have at hand: crucial biographical material, historical contextualisation, and details about his life's work. The intention throughout is to enhance understanding and appreciation, without being exhaustive. The major portion of the volume, in both importance and size, is 'A Donne Dictionary'. Its entries are arranged alphabetically: they identify, describe and explain the most influential persons in Donne's life and works, as well as places, characters, allusions, ideas, concepts, etc."
Handbooks:
- John Donne: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0585252858Publication Date: 1999-01-01
The Oxford Handbook of John Donne by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780199218608Publication Date: 2011-04-15also available in print, General Collection (3rd floor), call # PR2248 .O94 2016
Humanities Librarian
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