Cambridge Companions to Literature are lively, accessible introductions to major writers, artists, philosophers, topics and periods. All are collections of specially commissioned essays, shaped and introduced to appeal to student readers. Together the chapters add up to a systematic critical account of, for example Plato, Luther, Jane Austen, Tom Stoppard or Stravinsky, the French Novel or Jewish American Literature, and each book is supported by reference features such as a chronology and guide to further reading.Companions have colonized several fields within Humanities. The first two titles - Companions to Shakespeare and to Chaucer - were published in 1986.

Cambridge Introductions to Literature address the fundamental issues literature students require to pursue a course of study. They provide basic information on the history of a literary topic with accessible and comprehensive coverage of its development. Leading scholars guide students through the major issues involved in each area. Combining relevant information and fresh interpretation, these Introductions are specifically designed for use on courses and in the classroom.

Established in 1981 and with well over 100 titles now in print, Cambridge Studies in American Literature and Culture is internationally regarded as the leading forum for high-level American critical studies. Volumes in the series are written by outstanding scholars from the United States and Europe, and cover a wide range of key topics and approaches.

Seeks to cover the whole area of literature written in the major medieval languages - the main European vernaculars, and medieval Latin and Greek - during the period c.1100–1500. Its chief aim is to publish and stimulate fresh scholarship and criticism on medieval literature, special emphasis being placed on understanding major works of poetry, prose, and drama in relation to the contemporary culture and learning which fostered them.

Offers critical introductions to a range of literary topics and genres. Volumes evaluate the influence of literary, cultural and historical contexts on both writers and readers. Each title also contains an anthology of texts and extracts exemplifying key issues raised in the introduction to the areas of study.

Concise introductory monographs on a wide range of topics, including the arts and humanities.

This microform collection contains a rich sample of the writing that has shaped British culture over the last few centuries, from histories and literature, to religious works and biographies. The material provides fascinating insights into how the British saw themselves and their place in history. It will appeal both to the scholar seeking to explore the works of individual writers, and to those interested in tracing cultural developments over time. 

*Please note that these titles are on microform.

The ambition of the Stanford series is to move beyond a narrow disciplinarity based on conventional historical premises and to refocus contemporary cultural studies in the direction of close reading. Its themes include boundary-crossing projects and interrogations of canon and institutions in philosophy, religion, anthropology, literature, media studies, and visual analysis.

The series seeks to foster approaches that combine innovative theoretical perspective, close attention to the detail of the cultural object, and an effort of interpretation geared to the meaning of the object for a present that is not amnesiac.

Introductions to authors and texts most frequently studied by undergraduate students of literature. Each book explores texts, contexts and criticism, highlighting the critical views and contextual factors that students must consider in advanced studies of literary works.  Each guide presents a variety of approaches and interpretations, encouraging readers to think critically about 'standard' views and to make independent readings of literary texts. Alongside general guides to texts and authors, the series includes 'sourcebooks', which incorporate extracts from key contextual and critical materials as well as annotated passages from the primary text.

This series offers comprehensive, newly written surveys of key periods and movements and certain major authors, in English literary culture and history. Extensive volumes provide new perspectives and positions on contexts and on canonical and post-canonical texts, orientating the beginning student in new fields of study and providing the experienced undergraduate and new graduate with current and new directions, as pioneered and developed by leading scholars in the field.

Focuses primarily upon major authors and subjects within Romantic and Victorian literature. It also includes studies of other nineteenth-century British writers and issues, where these are matters of current debate: for example, biography and autobiography; journalism; periodical literature; travel writing; book production; gender; non-canonical writing.

Nineteenth-century British literature and culture are a rich field for interdisciplinary studies. Since the turn of the twentieth century, scholars and critics have tracked the intersections and tensions between Victorian literature and the visual arts, politics, social organization, economic life, technical innovations, scientific thought - in short, culture in its broadest sense. In recent years, theoretical challenges and historiographical shifts have unsettled the assumptions of previous scholarly syntheses and called into question the terms of older debates. Whereas the tendency in much past literary critical interpretation was to use the metaphor of culture as 'background', feminist, Foulcauldian, and other analyses have employed more dynamic models that raise questions of power and of circulation. Such developments have re-animated the field. This series aims to accommodate and promote the most interesting work being undertaken on the frontiers of the field of nineteenth-century literary studies: work which intersects fruitfully with other fields of study such as history, or literary theory, or the history of science.

Scholarly editions of well-known, (non-Shakespearean) works from the early Tudor period to about 1700, as well as other lesser-known plays of literary and theatrical merit.

The Library of America was founded in 1979 to undertake a historic endeavor: to help preserve the nation's cultural heritage by publishing America's best and most significant writing in durable and authoritative editions.

The idea for The Library of America was first discussed among scholars and literary critics who were concerned that many works by America's finest writers were either out of print or nearly impossible to find. Without a deliberate publishing effort to preserve American writing, many important works would virtually disappear and be lost to future generations. Deprived of an important part of their cultural inheritance, Americans would lose a collective sense of the country's literary accomplishments. The Pléiade series published in France provided a model, and discussion of a similar American series continued until the late 1970s, when seed money from the National Endowment for the Humanities and the Ford Foundation was secured to create The Library of America. The first volumes were published in 1982.

Like the historic preservation movement, which originated in the 1920s with concerns about architectural heritage, The Library of America seeks to restore and pass on to future generations our nation's literary heritage. This entails something never attempted before: not only publishing these volumes but keeping them permanently in print and widely available to readers.

In the years since The Library of America's inception it has come to be recognized by both scholars and the general public as the national edition of our country's literature. The series has won the National Book Critics Circle special award for "distinguished contributions to the enhancement of American literary and critical standards." It has also received the "Ambassador of Honor" title from the English-Speaking Union and the Carey- Thomas Award for Creative Publishing.

Provides first-hand accounts of American writers—published and unpublished, adulatory and critical—written by both famous and forgotten contemporaries, making them more accessible to scholars, students, and general readers.

Monographic series that reprint contemporary book reviews and/or literary notices (including summaries) of works by selected American authors.  In addition to chronological arrangements and helpful indexing, these volumes feature important contextual and bibliographic information documenting the publishing history and critical reception of a given author and book.

Descriptive bibliographies of American literary authors, including physical description and publishing histories.

These series feature the most widely read poets, novelists, and playwrights from the Western literary tradition, featuring an introductory essay by Harold Bloom and a representative selection of the best contemporary criticism of the writer.   Also included in each volume are bibliographic references, notes on the various contributors, and a useful chronology of the writer's life.

Provides concise and accessible introductions to key texts in literature and philosophy. Each book explores the themes, context, criticism and influence of key works, providing a practical introduction and close reading.

Specialized monographs on religion, literature, technology, and cultural history from the University of Pennsylvania.

A series in science fiction criticism featuring titles by internationally recognized scholars, prominent critics such as John Clute and Mike Ashley and critical works from some of the genre's major figures: Brian Aldiss, Joanna Russ and Gene Wolfe.

Monographic series from Greenwood and McFarland Presses.

Intended to stimulate research and encourage interdisciplinary dialogue on literature and cultural thought, as well as to introduce prominent European theorists to the American academy, this book series is internationally renowned for its foundational literary scholarship. By making available English translations of essential work by Theodor Adorno, Jean-François Lyotard, Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guattari, Maurice Blanchot, Hélène Cixous, Giorgio Agamben, Paul de Man, Tzvetan Todorov, Jean-Luc Nancy, Georges Bataille, and many others, as well as publishing such influential American scholars as Fredric Jameson and Alice Kaplan.

Literary Research: Strategies and Sources is a contemporary series of specialized literary research guides focused primarily on literatures in the English language.  Volumes highlight associated literary movements, national literatures, and cross-cultural literary contexts.  Each title in the series includes chapters on library and archival resources, manuscript collections, database search strategies, specialized print and electronic reference tools and resources, and useful information on newspaper collections, book reviews, and scholarly journals and literary periodicals.

Updated and expanded Salem Press literature reference sets cover 625 writers representing 44 countries and the history of short fiction from antiquity to the 21st century. Features 53 informative overviews with 24 overviews newly added to this edition, as well as all the literary movement essays from previous editions. Entries and indexing include bibliographies, dates and photos, awards, timelines, chronological and geographical indexes, and a subject index.