Research Guides: Shakespeare: Reference Sources

Reference Sources

There are many types of reference sources, including:

dictionaries
encyclopedias
biographical dictionaries
atlases
chronologies

These sources provide background information on a topic and can quickly prepare you for more in-depth research. They can also lead you to other sources if you read closely and make note of works cited that you might be interested in.

Search these eReference collections to find background information on William Shakespeare, his works, and the reception of those works.

Gale Literature This link opens in a new window
Formerly Gale Literary Sources. Use this platform to cross-search all of SLU’s Gale literary databases and eBook titles. Research authors, their works, and literary movements and access full-text literary works, journal articles, literature criticism, and reviews...more.

Find information on William Shakespeare, his works, and the reception of those works in print reference sources.

Gale's Literary Index This link opens in a new window
1970-present. Use this online index to locate Gale literary reference sources that contain information on a specific work or author. Pius Library owns many of the sources indexed. Click "more" link for call numbers or search the SLU Libraries Catalog....more.

Selected Reference Sources

A Dictionary of Shakespeare by Stanley Wells
Ebook
Oxford Companion to Shakespeare by Michael Dobson and Stanley Wells
Ebook
William Shakespeare: A Documentary Volume by Catherine Loomis
Call Number: Ref. PR2893 .W55 2002
Available in the Reference collection - Pius Library Level 4 South.

Additional Biographical Information

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Find biographies of deceased persons of note (either good or bad) associated with the British Isles from the fourth century BC to 2000. This subscription provides for use by one person at a time.