History

Second Edition

Along with adding important reference tools that appeared after February 1989 and deleting discussions of superseded works or journals that have ceased publication, I have revised about one-half of the original entries. This second edition includes 1,194 entries, refers to an additional 1,248 books and articles in annotations and headnotes, and cites 745 reviews.

Third Edition

In preparing the third edition, I assessed anew each of the works cited in the second edition and evaluated reference works, print and electronic, that appeared after April 1992. I deleted 47 entries, added 60, and revised 560. The resulting edition includes 1,207 entries; refers to 1,331 additional books, articles, and electronic resources in annotations and headnotes; and cites 752 reviews.

Although I cite URLs for Internet sites related to printed works, databases, and online library catalogs, I have admitted few resources that exist only as World Wide Web sites. As I write (April 1997), the Web is too unstructured, unregulated, and unstable to offer many literary reference sources of value.

Fourth Edition

In preparing the fourth edition, I assessed anew each of the works cited in the third edition and evaluated reference works, print and electronic, that appeared after April 1997. I deleted 25 entries, added 41, conflated a few existing entries, and revised 568. The resulting edition includes 1,217 entries; refers to 1,496 additional books, articles, and electronic resources in annotations and headnotes; and cites 730 reviews. Many of the new entries reflect the expansion of literary study into gay, lesbian, and transgendered studies and postcolonial theory; other cutting-edge fields (e.g., cultural studies) have not yet produced reference works of sufficient focus or quality to warrant inclusion in this Guide.

Although this edition includes substantially more electronic resources, I generally include only those related to printed works, subscription sites, or resources sponsored by an academic institution or learned society. I admit very few Web sites maintained by individuals: the Web remains too unstructured, unregulated, and unstable to offer many free literary reference sources of value. Users familiar with the protean nature of the Web will realize that many URLs I cite will have changed by the time this copy sees print, and they will thus resort to a good search engine (I recommend Google) to locate a current URL.

Fifth Edition

In preparing the fifth edition, I reassessed each of the works included in the fourth edition and evaluated reference sources, print and electronic, that appeared after May 2001. Readers of earlier editions will notice some major changes in the fifth edition: the inclusion of far more electronic resources and the wholesale deletion of entries for scholarly journals and background studies as well as the section on encyclopedias in the Literature-Related Topics and Sources division. The reason for the electronic additions is obvious: the proliferation of bibliographic databases, text archives, and other online resources. As in the fourth edition, I favor subscription-based resources or those sponsored by a professional organization or university. The wholesale deletion arose from the need make room for the entries on electronic resources and to sharpen the focus on reference sources. I have added a section on cultural studies. In numerical terms, I deleted 236 entries, added 78, and revised 482. The Guide now includes 1,059 entries; refers to 1,555 additional books, articles, and electronic resources in annotations and headnotes; and cites 723 reviews.

Since the electronic format of the Guide will be updated regularly, I shall no longer post revisions and additions for the next edition at my Web site.

In preparing the first electronic version of the fifth edition, I focused on assessing works that appeared (or were revised) after October 2006 and on developing The Research Process. I added entries and substantively revised some entries (to view the list of changes, see “Update Information”).

In revising the first electronic version, I added 4 entries and revised 32. The Guide now includes 1,076 entries; refers to 1,597 additional books, articles, and electronic resources in annotations and headnotes; and cites 734 reviews.