Research Guides: English Literature Research Guide: British Literature

Scholarship and Databases

Below are the most commonly used databases in the study of British literature. This guide is designed to get you started and not meant to be comprehensive. If you have further questions about databases or the research process, be sure to reach out to a librarian with your questions.

JSTOR This link opens in a new window
Access a wide variety of journal articles in the humanities and other disciplines.
Note: You may not be able to access the most current 2–7 years of certain journals—but many of these recent publications are found in Project MUSE.
MLA International Bibliography This link opens in a new window
Indexes critical materials on literature, criticism, drama, languages, linguistics, and folklore. Coverage includes journals, series, essay collections, monographs, dissertations, bibliographies, proceedings, and other materials. Produced by the Modern Language Association.
Project MUSE This link opens in a new window
Includes the most recently published output of many major scholarly journals. Covers the fields of literature and criticism, history, cultural studies, education, political science, and more.

Drama and Performance

Shakespeare's Globe Archive This link opens in a new window
This digitized archive offers insights into the performance practice in the reconstructed Globe Theatre. This resource includes documentation of over 300 performances through prompt books, costume notes, programs, publicity material, annual reports, show reports, photographs, and architectural plans.
English Drama This link opens in a new window
Contains plays in verse and prose in English from the late thirteenth century to the early twentieth century.
BBC Shakespeare Plays This link opens in a new window
Access streaming versions of the BBC Shakespeare Plays, a joint production of the BBC and Time-Life Television officially known as The BBC Television Shakespeare. 37 plays in total, broadcast over seven seasons from 1979 to 1985.

Fiction and Poetry

Literary Manuscripts: 17th and 18th Century Poetry from the Brotherton Library, University of Leeds This link opens in a new window
These literary manuscripts include presentation volumes, commonplace books, and volumes of household accounts, which give context for the poetry and are valuable sources for social and cultural history.The project combines facsimile images of all the manuscripts in their entirety, linked to new indexing and to the powerful BCMSV database (Leeds Verse Database), which lists first lines, last lines, attribution, author, title, date, length, verse form, content, bibliographic references, MS and record number for over 6,600 poems within the collection.
Some of the poets represented include Mary Campbell, John Dryden, George Herbert, Mary Leapor, Andrew Marvell, Alexander Pope, Hester Pulter, and Jonathan Swift. This resource also includes a wealth of songs, riddles, and popular tags.
Early English Prose Fiction This link opens in a new window
Contains works in English prose by writers from the British Isles from the period 1500-1700.
Eighteenth-Century Fiction (1700-1780) This link opens in a new window
Access 96 complete works in English prose from the period 1700-1780, by writers from the British Isles.
English Poetry This link opens in a new window
Contains a large collection of English poems from the eighth to the early twentieth centuries.
Nineteenth Century Fiction This link opens in a new window
Access a collection of British and Irish novels from the period of 1782 to 1903.
Twentieth-Century English Poetry This link opens in a new window
Access a large collection of English poetry from 1900 to the present day.