Microform Resources for the Study of American Literature

Research Guide No. 14
Library of Congress, Humanities and Social Sciences Division

Compiled by Evelyn Timberlake, Reference Specialist in American Literature, The Main Reading Room

The collections listed below (with the exception of Black Literature) are described more generally in the 1987 edition of Microform Collections and Selected Titles in the Microform Reading Room, which is available at the Main Reading Room reference desk.

American culture series. -- Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms, 1956-1976. -- 643 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. Microfilm 02191 <MicRR>

This microfilm collection is based on David R. Wemer's Bibliography of American Culture (Z1215.A585 MRR Alc), a list of basic, pre-1876 Americana developed "to encourage the establishment of inter-departmental courses in American culture at colleges having limited library resources." The guide provides author, title and subject indexes to the collection. Subject headings follow the standard Library of Congress format.

Most of the works in this collection are also available in book form in the Library of Congress. Many of the pre-1800 titles are in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

GUIDE: American Culture Series, 1493-1875, Z1215.A583.

American fiction. -- New haven, Conn. : Research Publications, [197-]- . -- <1,568> microfilm reels : ill. ; 35 mm. Microfilm 51559 <MicRR>

A microfilm collection of works included in Lyle H. Wright's bibliography, American Fiction, published in three volumes: 1774- 1850 (Z1231.F4 W9 1969 MRR Alc); 1851-1875 (Z1231.F4 W92 1965 MRR Alc); and 1876-1900 (Z1231.F4 W93 MRR Alc). All titles in the collection have been filmed in their entirety.

Wright's bibliography was intended as a census of "American editions of novels, novelettes, tales, romances, short stories and allegories in prose written [for adults] by Americans" and printed in the United States. The bibliography locates each book in one or more of the seventeen American libraries and private collections (including the Library of Congress) surveyed for this project.

GUIDE: American Fiction 1774-1900, Cumulative Author Index to the Microfilm Collection, Z1231.F4 R4 1974. Request by volume number and reel number, as given in guide.

[American periodical series] American periodical series, 18th century. -- Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms, [1942-1946?]. -- 33 microfilm reels : ill. ; 35 mm. -- (American periodical series ; I) Microfilm 01103 <MicRR>

American periodicals, 1800-1850. -- Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International, 1946-1978. -- 1,966 microfilm reels : ill. ; 35 mm. -- (American periodical series ; II) Microfilm 01104 <MicRR>

American periodicals, 1859-1900. : Civil War and Reconstruction. -- Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms, [196-]-1975. -- 771 microfilm reels : ill. ; 35 mm. -- (American periodical series ; III) Microfilm 05422 <MicRR>

Three collections of more than 1100 American periodicals published between 1741 and 1900. The guide to the collection is a cumulative index which allows access to the periodicals through title, subject, editor, and microfilm reel number. The student of American literature will want to use the subject index which employs Library of Congress headings, as well as the title index. In addition to entries on the various literary genres, subject entries are included for book reviews and dramatic criticism and for articles about American authors.

GUIDE: American Periodicals, 1741-1900 : An Index to the Microfilm Collections, Z6951.H65.

Bio-base : a periodic cumulative master index on microfiche to sketches found in over 375 current and historical biographical dictionaries. -- 2nd ed. -- Detroit, Mich. : Gale Research Co., c1981. -- 156 microfiches : negative ; 11 x 15 cm. + 1 pamphlet (80 p.) Microfiche 82/207 <MicRR>

The microform counterpart to the print edition of Biography and Genealogy Master Index (Z5305.U5 B57 1980 MRR Biog) developed from the database prepared for that publication. Because this source indexes every name appearing in several hundred biographical dictionaries, subject encyclopedias, and volumes of literary criticism, the user learns that information was not found as well as that it was found and where. According to the publisher, cumulative editions of all Bio-base entries will be issued every five years beginning in 1990.

GUIDE: A printed guide which accompanies the collection gives complete citations for the biographical works indexed and those that are in the Main Reading Room are annotated with call numbers.

Black journals : periodical resources for Afro-American and African studies. -- Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, [1975?]. - - < > microfiches ; 11 x 15 cm. + pamphlet (6 leaves) Microfiche 5062 <MicRR>

A collection of fifty journals providing an historical record of all areas of African-American culture, including literary criticism, essays, fiction, and poetry ranging in date from 1827 to 1965. An annotated list of the journals appears in Ardie Myers's "Afro-Americana in the Microform Reading Room," available at the Main Reading Room reference desk.

GUIDE: MicRR Guide No. 35, checklist of titles. Request by title and date.

Black literature, 1827-1940. -- Alexandria, Va. : Chadwyck-Healey Inc., 1987- . -- <1-198, 397-793 > microfiches ; 11 x 15 cm. Microfiche 90/7069 (P) <MicRR>

A new collection of African-American periodical literature generated by The Black Periodical Fiction Project now based at Harvard University. The collection consists of more than 150,000 pieces of African-American poetry, fiction, book reviews and literary notices published in 900 African-American periodicals and newspapers between 1827 and 1940. Accessible by author and title, the collection is noteworthy for its generous inclusion of the writings of Black women authors as well as of certain white authors whose work was published in Black periodicals and newspapers.

GUIDE: Accompanied by printed guide, Black Literature, 1827- 1940 : Author/title Index to Unit 1, edited by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. MicRR guide no. 247a

Copyright deposits, 1901-1944 : class D dramas. -- Washington : Library of Congress, Photoduplication Service, 1975-1981. -- 415 microfilm reels ; 35 mm. Microfilm 51571 <MicRR>

A microfilmed collection of unpublished playscripts deposited for copyright protection. Access to the collection is by copyright registration number.

GUIDE: Dramatic Compositions Copyrighted in the United States, 1870-1916, Z663.8.D7 or Z5781.U56 (2 vols.) leads from the author or title to registration number; visitors to the Library can also find registration numbers in the Copyright Office's card catalog, LM402, open Monday-Friday 8:30-5:00.

Dime novels, escape fiction of the nineteenth century. -- Ann Arbor, Mich. : University Microfilms International, 1980. -- <73> microfilm reels ; 35 mm. Microfilm 51570 <MicRR>

A microfilm collection of more than three thousand dime novels, most of them originally published by Beadle and Adams, New York, between 1860 and 1898. Original editions of many of the titles in this collection are in the Rare Book and Special Collections Division.

GUIDE: The collection is divided into seven units each with a separate title, series, and reel index (PS374.D5 D5, v. 1-7).

[Dime novels from the rare book collections of the Library of Congress]. -- Washington : Library of Congress Photoduplication Service, 1976- . -- <82> microfilm reels ; 35 mm. Microfilm 38930-39072 <MicRR>

Library of Congress microfilm of selected titles from thirty Beadle and Adams series in its collections complements the commercially prepared edition noted above.

GUIDE: MicRR Guide No. 14 lists novels filmed by series title, with numerical checklists for each series. For access by title use The House of Beadle and Adams, Z1231.F4 J69.

Early American imprints, 1639-1800. -- New York : Readex Film Products, [1984]- . -- < > microfiches : ill. ; 11 x 15 cm. Microfiche 85/431 <MicRR>

The microprint edition of titles listed in Charles Evans's American Bibliography plus more than 10,000 additional items.

GUIDE: National Index of American Imprints through 1800: The Short-Title Evans, Z1215.S495 (2 vols.) is a combined index to all the items in the collection, arranged alphabetically by main entry.

Early American imprints, 2nd series : Shaw-Shoemaker bibliography, 1801-1819. -- New York : Readex Microprint Co., 1964-1982. -- ca. 50,000 microopaques : ill. ; 16 x 23 cm. Microfiche 90/7049 (Z) <MicRR>

Based on Ralph Shaw and Richard Shoemaker's American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819 (Z1215.S48), this collection chronologically continues Early American Imprints, 1639-1800 described above.

GUIDE: American Bibliography: A Preliminary Checklist for 1801-1819 (Z1215.S48)

Early American periodicals index to 1850. -- New York : Readex Microprint Corp., [195-]. -- 1,074 microopaques : 23 x 16 cm. Microopaque 84/8 <MicRR>

An incomplete index, prepared as a WPA project, to fiction, book reviews, poetry, and prose published in 350 American periodicals from 1730 to 1850. Most of the periodicals are available in the American Periodical Series (see above).

GUIDE: No guide.

Library of American civilization. -- Chicago : Library Resources, 1971-1972. -- 12,474 microfiches : ill. ; 8 x 13 cm. + catalogs (4 v.) Microfiche 1008 <MicRR>

A varied collection of materials relating to non-native American life and literature from the arrival of Europeans in the fifteenth century to the beginning of World War I. Fiction, poetry, biography, and autobiography are among the sorts of writings included. Access to the collection is by subject, title, and author.

GUIDE: Microbook Library of American Civilization, Author Catalog, Bibliographic Index, Subject Catalog, and/or Title Catalog, Z1236.L45, gives imprint information as well as an LAC entry number by which the microfiche is retrieved.

Nineteenth century American literature. -- Louisville, Ky. : Lost Cause Press, [195-]. -- < > microopaques ; 8 x 13 cm. Microopaque 84/4000-84/4500 <MicRR>

This microprint collection of several hundred nineteenth- century American books contains a number of hard to find literary works. Access is by author.

GUIDE: MicRR Guide No. 45, Lost Cause Press Microcard Catalog 1962 lists books by author.

Three centuries of drama : American and English, 1500-1800 / edited by Henry W. Wells. -- New York : Readex Microprint Corp., 1956- . -- 5,500 microopaques ; 23 x 16 cm. Microopaque 84/2 <MicRR>

The approximately 4,500 American plays included are from the period 1831-1900.

GUIDE: Don L. Hixon and Don A. Hennessee's Nineteenth- Century American Drama: A Finding Guide (PS632.H57) provides access by author, title, subject, and series. It also includes an appendix which "arranges all plays containing such characters into categories which reflect racial and ethnic origin" with the aim of allowing scholars access to nineteenth-century attitudes toward various ethnic groups.

Washington
Library of Congress, 1994