Whitman 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 books. 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 Walt AND Whitman AND criticism if restricted to the Subject field reveal about 500 peer-reviewed articles from American Literature, PMLA, and other journals.
Most useful LCSH:
Additional LCSH:
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Aesthetics
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Appreciation
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Contemporaries
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Friends and associates
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Influence
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Knowledge
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Language
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Philosophy
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Political and social views
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Religion
- Whitman, Walt, 1819-1892 — Views on sex
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 Whitman 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.
See also the Biography page of this libguide.
Biography:
Antebellum Writers in New York: Second Series [Dictionary of Literary Biography] by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780787646677Publication Date: 2001-10-26See the biographical entry authored by Ed Folsom (University of Iowa) and Kenneth M. Price (University of Nebraska-Lincoln). Also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS129 .D47 v.250.
Walt Whitman: A Documentary Volume [Dictionary of Literary Biography] by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0787631337Publication Date: 2000-04-28also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS129 .D47 v.224
Bibliography:
A bibliography is a systematic list—sometimes annotated—of sources by and about, in this case, Walt Whitman.
An Annotated Walt Whitman Bibliography, 1976-1985 by Call Number: PS3231 .G53 2001ISBN: 077347577XPublication Date: 2001-01-01
Walt Whitman: A Descriptive Bibliography by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0822937395Publication Date: 1993-04-01also available in print, Reference Collection (1st floor), call # PS3231 .M93 1993
Supplement to "Walt Whitman, a Descriptive Bibliography" by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781587299803Publication Date: 2011-04-01
A companion is a "handbook intended to be used in connection with the study of a particular subject or field (examples: The Cambridge Companion to Ralph Ellison and The Oxford Companion to Philosophy). This type of reference work is often an edited collection of essays" (ODLIS).
A handbook is a "single-volume reference book of compact size that provides concise factual information on a specific subject, organized systematically for quick and easy access" (ODLIS).
Online:
The Cambridge Companion to Walt Whitman by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9780521443432Publication Date: 1995-06-30
Walt Whitman: A Companion by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 9781476676586Publication Date: 2022-12-08
Print:
A Companion to Walt Whitman [Blackwell] by Call Number: PS3238 .C57 2006ISBN: 1405120932Publication Date: 2006-03-24
Critical Companion to Walt Whitman: A Literary Reference to His Life and Work by Call Number: PS3231 .O53 2006ISBN: 0816057680Publication Date: 2005-12-01
The Poetry of Walt Whitman by Call Number: PS3238 .P64 2004ISBN: 1403933162Publication Date: 2003-11-17
A Political Companion to Walt Whitman by Call Number: PS3242.P64 P65 2014ISBN: 0813147379Publication Date: 2014-06-23
Chronology:
A chronology is a "book... that lists events and their dates in the order of their occurrence. Most chronologies are limited to a specific period (example: Roman Empire), event (World War II), or theme (women's history)," or, as is the case here, a chronology in the life of a literary figure (ODLIS).
A Whitman Chronology by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 087745647XPublication Date: 1998-11-01also available in print, General Collection (3rd floor), call # PS3231 .A2 1998
Concordance:
A concordance is an "alphabetically arranged index of the principal words or selected words in a text, or in the works of an author, giving the precise location of each word in the text, with a brief indication of its context. Concordances are usually devoted to very well known works, such as the Bible, or to the works of major writers (Chaucer, Shakespeare, etc.)" (ODLIS).
A Concordance of Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass and Selected Prose Writings by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKPublication Date: 1955also available in print, General Collection (3rd floor), call # PS3245 .E2
Encyclopedia:
An encyclopedia is a "book or numbered set of books containing authoritative summary information about a variety of topics in the form of short essays, usually arranged alphabetically by headword or classified in some manner. An entry may be signed or unsigned, with or without illustration or a list of references for further reading" (ODLIS).
The Routledge Encyclopedia of Walt Whitman by Call Number: PS3230 .W35 1998ISBN: 0815318766Publication Date: 1998-08-01
Quotations:
- An American Bible by Call Number: HathiTrust E-BOOKPublication Date: 1912This is a collection of quotations from public figures of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries including Walt Whitman (pp. 155-169).
Walt Whitman's Civil War by Call Number: Internet Archive E-BOOKISBN: 0306803550Publication Date: 1989-03-22also available in print, General Collection (3rd floor), call # PS3204 .L6 1989
Study guide:
Walt Whitman: Comprehensive Research and Study Guide by Call Number: Gitenstein Library E-BOOKISBN: 0791051080Publication Date: 1999-01-01
Humanities Librarian
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