The following list is intended to highlight bibliographic resources -- most of
them in the Olin Library Reference Department -- that should be useful in
locating criticism of French literature. Olin Library call numbers follow each
entry. REF refers to the Reference reading room. The bibliography is divided into 6 sections, as follows:
I) General Secondary Sources in Western Literature
- Bibliographie Internationale de l'Humanisme et de la Renaissance.
Travaux parus en 1965-. (Paris, 1965-date)
- Annual. Lists books & journal articles on the history, arts, humanities,
& social sciences of the 15th and 16th centuries in Europe. Arrangement by
broad subject area and country. OLIN REF Z 7128 H7 B58
- Bulletin Signaletique. Section 523: Histoire et Sciences de la Litterature.
(Paris, v. 23- 1969-1995)
- Published quarterly by the Centre de Documentation Sciences Humaines.
Supercedes in part Bulletin Signaletique Sections 19-24: Sciences Humaines and
continues the volume numbering. OLIN AI 7 F815+
- Arts & Humanities Citation Index. (Philadelphia: ISI, 1975-date)
- Biannual. On compact disk, 1980-present. An international keyword index of
journal articles. All titles are in English. Good source for book reviews.
Allows searching by cited reference (e.g., who cited Racine in a given year).
OLIN REF AI 3 A79+ (on table labeled section 12), on compact disk
(1980-date), & via the Library Gateway
- MLA International Bibliography....
- Annual cumulations. 1921-date (print). 1963-date (Bear Access, CD).
Indexes books, articles in books, and periodicals; international in scope.
Since 1981 issued in 2 volumes: country/historical period, and subject. OLIN
REF Z 7006 M68+ Also available via the Library Gateway .
II) Secondary Sources in French Literature & History
- Bibliographie Annuelle de l'histoire de France du Cinquieme Siecle a...
(Paris, 1953-date) Annual.
- Issued by Comite Francais des Sciences Historiques. Classified by broad subject
area with specific subject index. OLIN REF Z 2176 B58
- Bibliographie de la Litterature Francaise du Dix-Septieme Siecle.
(Paris: CNRS, 1966) 3 vols.
- In two sections, (1) Generalities and (2) individual authors arranged
alphabetically. Includes books & articles published through 1950. OLIN REF
Z 2172 C57 B5+
- Bibliographie de la Litterature Francaise du Seizieme Siecle.
(Paris: Klincksieck, 1959)
- In two sections, (1) Generalities and (2) individual authors arranged
alphabetically. Includes books & articles published through 1950. Compiled
by Alexandre Cioranescu. OLIN REF Z 2172 C57+
- Bibliographie der franzosischen Literaturwissenshaft.
Annual. (Frankfurt am Main: Klostermann, 1956-date)
- Arranged chronologically by historical period. In French & German. Edited
by Otto Klapp.OLIN REF Z 2171 K63
- A Critical Bibliography of French Literature. (Syracuse Univ. Press,
1947-1985)
- Multi-volume set, each volume focusing on a different period (e.g., v1 on
Medieval, v2 on the 16th century.) OLIN REF Z 2171 C12 1951
- French 17.
(Colorado State Univ., 1953 - present)
- Annual bibliography of 17th century French studies. Formerly Bibliography of
French Seventeenth Century Studies originally published by the MLA. OLIN REF Z
2172 M69+
- French XX Bibliography. Critical and biographical references for the study of French Literature
since 1885.
(Susquehanna Univ. Press, 1940 - present)
- Annual listing of books, articles, and reviews concerning late-19th and 20th century literature.
OLIN REF Z 2171 B58
- Will, Samuel Frederic. A Bibliography of American Studies on the French
Renaissance (1500-1600). (Univ. of Illinois Press, 1940) OLIN P25 I29+ v. 26
n .2 (in Olin stacks, 3rd floor)
III) Research Guides/Handbooks in French Literature
- Baker, Robert K. Introduction to Library Research in French Literature.
(Westview Press, 1978) OLIN REF Z 2171 B16
- France, Peter, ed. The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French. (Oxford,
1995) OLIN REF PQ 41 N53 1995
- Kempton, Richard. French Literature: an Annotated Guide to Selected
Bibliographies. (MLA, 1981)
- Brief but solid overview of the major bibliographic sources in the
field. OLIN
REF Z 2171 A1 K32 1981
- Osburn, Charles B. Research and Reference Guide to French Studies. 2nd ed.
(Scarecrow Press, 1981) OLIN REF Z 2175 A2 O81 1981
IV) Reference Sources in French Literary History
- Dictionnaire des Lettres Francaises. (Paris: Fayard, 1951)
- Alphabetically arranged literary encyclopedia of the French Renaissance.
Sources listed with each entry. OLIN REF PQ 41 D56+
- Dictionnaire des Oeuvres Littéraires de Langue Francaise. (Bordas,
1994)
- Four-volume encycopedia of French literary works arranged alphabetically by
title. OLIN REF PQ 41 B37 D5++
- Dictionnaire des Litteratures de Langue Francaise. (Paris: Bordas, 1984)
- Three-volume history of French literature arranged alphabetically rather than
by historical period. Illustrated. OLIN REF PQ 41 B37+
- Histoire de la Langue et de la Litterature Francaise des Origines a 1900.
(Paris: Colin & Co., 1897)
- A narrative literary history with some emphasis
on the language of the historical periods covered. Dated but illustrated. OLIN
REF PQ 101 P48
- Hollier, Denis, ed. A New History of French Literature. (Harvard Univ. Press,
1989)
- Chronologically arranged; illustrated; includes bibliographies. OLIN REF
PQ 119 N53
V) Selected French Language Dictionaries
- Cayrou, GastonLe Francais Classique; Lexique de la Langue du Dix-Septieme Siecle...
(Paris: Didier, 1923) OLIN PC 2650 C38 (in Olin stacks)
- Dubois, Jean. Dictionnaire du Francais Classique. (Paris: References
Larousse, 1988) OLIN PC 2650 D812 1988 (in Olin stacks)
- Dictionnaire de l'Academie Francaise. (Paris: Coignard, 1694)
Kroch Library, Dept. of Rare Books PC 2625 A16++ 1694
- Godefoy, Frederic. Dictionnaire de l'Ancienne Langue Francaise et de Tous ses
Dialectes du IXe au XVe Siecle. (Paris: Vieweg, 1881-1902)
- In ten volumes. OLIN REF PC 2889 G58+ 1961 (reprint of the original)
OLIN PC 2889 G58+ (original edition, shelved in Olin 301)
- Grandsaignes d'Hauterive, Robert
Dictionnaire d'Ancien Francais, Moyen Age et Renaissance.
(Paris: Larousse, 1947)
- One volume. Only Uris Library owns this. URIS PC 2889
G75 (several copies in stacks; one in Uris Reference)
- Huguet, Edmond
Dictionnaire de la Langue Francaise du Seizieme Siecle.
(Paris: E. Champion, 1925-1973).
- In seven volumes. OLIN PC 2650 H89+ (in Olin
stacks)
- Raconet, Aimar de, 1498-1559.
Thresor de la Langue Francoise, Tant Ancienne que Moderne. Au quel Entre
Autres Choses Sont les Mots Propres de Marine, Venerie, & Fauconnerie...
Reveu et Augmente en Ceste Derniere Impression de Plus de la Moite; par Jean
Nicot... (Paris: Picard, [1960])
- A facsimile of the of the 1606 edition
published by D. Douceure. A copy of the original is kept in Kroch Library's
Dept. of Rare Books. OLIN PC 2620 R18+ 1960 (in Olin stacks)
VI) Electronic Resources
- MLA Bibliography.
- FRANCIS (international humanities and social sciences) Coverage dates: 1984- date.
- A multilingual, multidisciplinary database indexing books and journal articles in the humanities (63%), social sciences (33%), and economics (4%). It is strong in religion, the history of art, and literature,
with particular emphasis on current trends in European and world literature. Updated monthly.
- ARTFL
(American & French Research on the Treasury of the French Language).
- Produced by the Dept. of Romance Languages and Literatures, Univ. of Chicago,
ARTFL is a database containing the full texts of major literary works in
French. World Wide Web access is available for Cornell community. URL is:
http://humanities.uchicago.edu/ARTFL/ARTFL.html
- L'Association des bibliophiles
Universels
- "L'accès libre au texte intégral d'oeuvres du domaine public francophone sur Internet depuis 1993." Provides access to a number of public domain French literary texts.
Last updated, 9/25/06, fm
http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/lit/frlitbib.html
Olin and Uris Libraries, Cornell University, Ithaca
NY 14853
PSA: Public Services and Assessment
Information and reference: 607-255-4144, okuref@cornell.edu
Circulation: (Olin) 607-255-4245, (Uris) 607-255-3537, olincirc@cornell.edu
