English 4188/7188: Victorian Women Writers:The Brontë Family: Biographical Sources

The authors covered in this class all have entries in multiple volumes of the Dictionary of Literary Biography. Use the online Literary Index to identify which volumes. The print volumes are kept in Reference, PN451 .D43

The following sources give brief biographical information.

• Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
  Online for only one user at a time, print copy in Reference DA28 .O95 2004
• Dictionary of National Biography (1885-1901)
  The Victorian predecessor to the ODNB. Scroll down in the record to see full text of each volume.
• Modern English Biography
  Reference CT773 .B6 1965A
• A Critical Dictionary of English Literature and British and American Authors (Allibone)
  Scroll down to view the full text of volumes, including John Foster Kirk's supplement, 1899.
• Men and Women of the Time: A Dictionary of Contemporaries
• Who's Who: An Annual Biographical Dictionary
  Scroll down to view the full text of volumes, 1858-1912.
• Who Was Who: A Companion to Who's Who...
  Biographies of those who died 1897-1915.
• Chambers's Biographical Dictionary
  CT103 .C4 1969, stacks 3 East. 1912 edition available online.
• Encyclopaedia Britannica
  AE5 .E363 1910, stacks 4 East.
  Almost all the volumes of the 11th edition of 1910 are available at this link. Earlier editions are also available from the Hathi Trust Digital Library.
• Literature Online contains brief biographies of authors.
• The Stanford Guide to Victorian Fiction incudes brief biographies.
  PR 871 .S87 1989, stacks 2 East

Use the following sources to locate obituaries.

• Palmer's Index to the [London] "Times" Newspaper
  To find obituaries search for "deaths" and the person's last name.
  The Times is available on microfilm in Special Collections, in the SW corner of the 4th floor.
• The Annual Register
  1758-1837 onine, 1840-1862 online, 
  D2 .A7, 1758-1837 Depository, 1838-1945 stacks 3 East.

Biographical materials can also be located using the standard library catalogs, MERLIN, MOBIUS, WorldCat.
Do a subject search on the person's name, last name first.
Useful subheadings include: autobiography, biography, correspondence, diaries.

While the authors you are studying are well known, you may find reviewers who are more hidden. Identifying anonymous and pseudonymous authors can be challenging. Start with these resources:

• Wellesley Index to Victorian Periodicals, 1824-1900
  This is the main source for identifying authors. Search by contributor or pseudonym to list contributions by that author. Open any of these records to "view contributor information" to see the identity and sources from which the identity is derived. The Curran Index of corrections and revisions to Wellesley has been integrated into the online Wellesley Index, except for some notes on periodicals not included in the original Wellesley.
• Cumulative Author Index for Poole's Index, 1802-1906
  Reference AI3 .W3
  Use with caution! Attributions are not always correct.
• Reader's Guide Retrospective, 1890-1982
  Provides author attributions for late 19th century works.
• Dictionary of Anonymous and Pseudonymous English Literature
  Reference Z1065 .H17 1926
• Initials and Pseudonyms: A Dictionary of Literary Disguises (1885, 1888)

Studies of individual periodicals may identify authors:

• The Nineteenth-Century Periodical Press in Britain: A Bibliography of Modern Studies 1901 to 1971
  lists studies of individual periodicals that may contain useful information.
  Z6956.G6 M3, stacks 1 West
• Victorian Periodicals Newsletter (1968-1978) and Victorian Periodicals Review (1979-present) provide updates.

Identify the editors, publishers, and others associated with a periodical and search for biographical and manuscript sources related to them.

• WorldCat
  Search the name of the publisher as a "named corporation" to find business records or archives.
• National Union Catalog of Manuscript Collections (NUCMC)
• British Book Trade Archives 1830-1939 : a Location Register
  Special Collections, Rare Reference Z325 .W444 1996
  An abbreviated list is available online.
• A Guide to Archives and Manuscripts in the United States
  CD3022 .A45 1961, stacks 3 East
• National Archives (UK)
• Index of English Literary Manuscripts
  Vol. 4: 1800-1900
  Special Collections Rare Reference PR83 .I52 1980
• Location Register of English Literary Manuscripts and Letters: Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries
  Special Collections Rare Reference PR441 .L6 1995
• Primary Sources for Victorian Studies: A Guide to the Location and Use of Unpublished Materials  
  Depository Z2019 .S86