Literary Research and the British Romantic Era: Strategies and Sources

The British Romantic era (ca. 1775-1830) was a time of contradictions, of growth, and of diversity in all aspects of English life. Romanticism originally referred to the works of six male poets: Wordsworth, Blake, Shelley, Coleridge, Keats, and Byron. However, current scholarly attempts to demonstrate that the period encompasses a rich and varied range of poets, essayists, and novelists of both genders have caused the definition to come under debate. Not limiting itself to these six figures, Literary Research and the British Romantic Era discusses English, Scottish, Irish, and Welsh resources for both primary and secondary research within the Romantic Era, including general literary research guides; union library catalogs; print and online bibliographies; manuscripts and archives; microfilm and digitization projects; eighteenth and nineteenth century journals and newspapers; contemporary reviews; and electronic texts, journals, and Web resources. Each chapter addresses the best methods to extract relevant information from the research tools employed, enabling scholars to find relevant materials. The strengths and weakness of core and specialized electronic and print research tools and standard search techniques are also examined.