The Cambridge Bibliography of English Literature ... - uogenglish

Where possible entries for major writers include a number
of obituaries which, in the case of nineteenth-century
writers, often provide important information as well as
useful contemporary assessment. Contemporary reviews of
individual works, as mentioned above, are listed under the
work concerned in section 1 of the entry. (2) A complete and
up-to-date listing of textual and bibliographical criticism
of the author’s works, either individually or collectively,
which provides information on composition, transmission,
printing and publication history, dating, and authorship,
and which glosses, corrects or emends the text(s) concerned.
(3) A selective list of authoritative biographies, normally one
contemporary and one recent, but which in the case of
significant figures, may be more extensive. In the case of
major figures there are notes of periodicals devoted to the
author, and areas not usually covered by the bibliography,
including film, television, and radio adaptations of works.
Titles of works reproduce the wording and spelling of the
title pages of first editions, but longer titles have usually
been abbreviated. Capitalization has been kept to a
minimum and arabic numerals preferred over roman. The
number of volumes is indicated, unless it is one. The place
of publication is assumed to be London unless otherwise
stated. In any given entry details of place of publication
and numbers of volumes apply until contradicted, whereupon
‘London’ and ‘1 vol’ may be reinstated. Names of
publishers are not usually provided, but the names of series
are given. Periodical articles are cited by volume and year,
occasionally by a complete date, but page numbers are
omitted. Translations are cited by language and date.
The details of an entry for a particular work tend to be
more intense during the lifetime of an author and the early
years of the life of a book. In the case of those works which
have undergone multiple reprints, some process of selection
has been undertaken and attempts have been made to
avoid the use of ‘etc’ for those works which were virtually
never out of print. The question of what constitutes a
‘significant’ English language edition is a vexed one. It has
not always been possible, in the case of prolific reprintings,
to distinguish between a new edition and an impression.
In the case of modern reprints, usually only those which
contain a useful introduction or editorial materials have
been included. The initials of the contributor are located in
square brackets at the end of an entry. In the case of those
entries which are unsigned, the revision or construction of a
new entry has been undertaken in house. Every attempt
has been made to make the information provided as up to
date as possible.
Joanne Shattock
University of Leicester
August 1999
Editor’s Preface
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