This English Subject Guide offers electronic database, printed and other web resources for research in English and American Literature.
Books on English and American Literature topics can be found by searching the library catalog. The majority of books on English and American Literature are found in the PR and PS call number ranges. See below for detailed lists. They are located on the 3rd floor.
If Swem Library does not own the title you are looking for, search in OCLC World Cat for libraries where it can be found and enter an Interlibrary Loan request for the title.
You can also try Google Books, a full-text database of books based on holdings in several major research libraries. Books under copyright will be available only in brief, snippet view.
Google Scholar , a multidisciplinary database of scholarly material may provide some useful full-text scholarship but coverage of academic literary titles is quite limited.
If you are having problems, please make a research appointment with a librarian.
The Library of Congress Classification System for English Literature is organized as follows:
PR 1-56 Eng. Lit. History & Criticism
PR 57-78 Eng. Lit. Criticism
PR 111-116 Eng. Lit. Women Authors
PR 125-138 Eng. Lit. Relations to Other Countries
PR 171-236 Eng. Lit. Anglo-Saxon Through 1066
PR 251-369 Eng. Lit. Medieval. Middle English 1066-1500
PR 401-488 Eng. Lit. Modern
PR 421-429 Eng. Lit. Elizabethan era 1550-1640
PR 431-439 Eng. Lit. 17th Century
PR 441-449 Eng. Lit. 18th Century
PR 451-469 Eng. Lit. 19th Century
PR 471-479 Eng. Lit. 20th Century
PR 481-488 Eng. Lit. 21st Century
PR 500-614 Eng. Lit. Poetry
PR 621-744 Eng. Lit. Drama
PR 750-890 Eng. Lit. Prose
PR 821-890 Eng. Lit. Prose Fiction. The Novel
PR 901-907 Eng. Lit. Oratory
PR 908-928 Eng. Lit. Diaries, Letters, Essays
PR 931-938 Eng. LIt. Wit & Humor
PR 951-981 Eng. Lit. Folk Literature
PR 1098-1369 Eng. Lit. Collections of English Literature
PR 1490-1799 Eng. Lit. Anglo-Saxon Literature
PR 1803-2165 Eng. Lit. Anglo-Norman Period Early English, Middle English
PR 2199-3195 Eng. Lit. English Renaissance 1500-1640
PR 3291-3785 Eng. Lit. 17th & 18th Centuries 1640-1770
PR 3991-5990 Eng. Lit. 19th Century
PR 6000-6049 Eng. Lit. 1900-1960
PR 6050-6076 Eng. Lit. 1961-2000
PR 6100-6126 Eng. Lit. 2001-
PR 8309-9680 Eng. Lit. Provincial: Provincial, Local, etc.
The Library of Congress Classification System for American Literature is organized as follows:
PS Amer. Lit.
PS 126-138 Amer. Lit. Biography, Memoirs, Letters, etc.
PS 147-152 Amer. Lit. Women Authors
PS 163-173 Amer. Lit. Treatment of Special Subjects, Classes
PS 185-195 Amer. Lit. 17-18th Centuries
PS 201-217 Amer. Lit. 19th Century
PS 221-228 Amer. Lit. 20th Century
PS 229-231 Amer. Lit. 21st Century
PS 241-286 Amer. Lit. Special Regions, States etc.
PS 241-255 Amer. Lit. North
PS 261-267 Amer. Lit. South
PS 271-285 Amer. Lit. West & Central
PS 301-326 Amer. Lit. Poetry
PS 330-353 Amer. Lit. Drama
PS 360-380 Amer. Lit. Prose
PS 400-408 Amer. Lit. Oratory
PS 409 Amer. Lit. Diaries
PS 410-419 Amer. Lit. Letters
PS 420-429 Amer. Lit. Essays
PS 430-439 Amer. Lit. Wit & Humor, Satire
PS 451-478 Amer. Lit. Folk Literature
PS 501-689 Amer. Lit. Collections of American Literature
PS 700-3576 Amer. Lit. Individual Authors
PS 700-893 Amer. Lit. Colonial Period, 17th & 18th Centuries
PS 991-3390 Amer. Lit. 19th Century
PS 3500-3549 Amer. Lit. 1900-1960
PS 3550-3576 Amer. Lit. 1961-2000
PS 3600-3626 Amer. Lit. 2001-
