Research Guides: ENL 240 British Literary Studies I: Biographical Information

About Biographical and Bio-Critical Dictionaries

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography emphasizes details of people's lives. It can be useful to situate your knowledge of your subject.
The Dictionary of Literary Biography and Biography in Context database, however, provide both overviews of your person's life, and discussions of their major works, influences, critical receptions, and legacies.
Although the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography and Dictionary of Literary Biography are print Reference books, they are well worth the trip to the Berry Library Reference area. These multivolume sets have much useful information.

Biography in Context (Gale)
Provides biographical information drawn from reference works, magazine and newspaper articles, scholarly journals, and audio and video clips on figures from ancient times to the present. Full-text.

Enter the name of your person of interest in the search box on the top left.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography by H. C. G. Matthew (Editor); Brian Harrison (Editor)
Call Number: Ref. DA 28 .O95 2004
ISBN: 019861411X
Publication Date: 2004-09-23
This is a multivolume Reference set. Users must read the books in the Library.

Dictionary of Literary Biography
Ref. PS128.D5

A reference set of over 300 volumes. Many involve British literature. Users must read the works in the Library.