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Research Guides Page
I Browsing reference materials:
Browse through reference books relevant to your topic. The Atlas of North American Exploration [RR G1106. S12 G6] and Ofxord Atlas of Exploration [RR fG1036. S12A87] are good places to start. Also, see Encyclopedia of Exploration [RR G200 .H69], The Christopher Columbus Encyclopedia 2v.[RR E111 .C7], Literature of Travel and Exploration : An Encyclopedia 3v.[RR G465 L565], and Encyclopedia of Travel Literature [RR G465 .B765].
II Searching in subsciption databases:
The on-line database of Early
American Imprints, Series I provides electronic access to a variety of
American publications from 1639 to 1800, including travel literature, captivity
narratives, and diaries.
III Searching on the Internet:
Use the resources on the Internet. The best possible site to explore is American Journeys: Eywitness Accounts of Early American Exploration and Settlement, which contains over "18,000 pages of eyewitness accounts of North American exploration, from the sagas of Vikings in Canada in AD1000 to the diaries of mountain men in the Rockies 800 years later."
IV Searching the catalog:
Use Bridge to locate materials owned at St. Olaf and Carleton libraries. Two useful series to consider are March of America Facsimile Series, (a reprint series of original editions of early English accounts of travel to the New World encompassing 103 volumes), and Original Narratives of Early American History. A TITLE search on Bridge under the series title will display individual works in the series.
Try KEYWORD or SUBJECT searches. Combine terms in KEYWORD searches to focus your search (e.g. "Columbus and diar*") Use asterisk (*) to truncate words to retrieve various endings: e.g. diar* will retrieve diary, diaries, diario, etc. Some relevant subjects to explore:
Use this list of non-fiction accounts in chronological order. To look up specific titles available at St. Olaf and Carleton libaries, do an AUTHOR search on the following:
Columbus, Christopher.
Casas, Bartolomé de las, 1474-1566.
Verrazzano, Giovanni da, 1485-1528.
Núñez Cabeza de Vaca, Alvar, 16th cent.
Marco, da Nizza, ca. 1495-1558.
Cartier, Jacques, 1491-1557.
Hakluyt, Richard, 1552?-1616.
Soto, Hernando de, ca. 1500-1542.
Castañeda de Nájera, Pedro de, 16th cent.|
Laudonnière, René Goulaine de.
Hariot, Thomas, 1560-1621.
Brereton, John, 1572-ca. 1619.
Champlain, Samuel de, 1567-1635.
Smith, John, 1580-1631.
Josselyn, John, fl. 1630-1675.
Donck, Adriaen van der, 1620-1655.
Marquette, Jacques, 1637-1675.
Hennepin, Louis, 17th cent.
Lahontan, Louis Armand de Lom d'Arce, baron de, 1666-1715?
Lawson, John, 1674-1711.
Joutel, Henri, 1640?-1735.
La Salle, Robert Cavelier, sieur de, 1643-1687.
Adair, James, ca. 1709-1783.
Pope, John.
Heckewelder, John Gottlieb Ernestus, 1743-1823.
Steller, Georg Wilhelm, 1709-1746.
Kalm, Pehr, 1716-1779.
Carver, Jonathan, 1710-1780.
Bartram, William, 1739-1823.
Cook, James, 1728-1779.
Hamilton, Alexander, 1712-1756.
Palóu, Francisco, 1723-1789.
Mackenzie, Alexander, Sir, 1763-1820.
Collot, Georges-Henri-Victor, 1750-1805.
Lewis, Meriwether, 1774-1809.
Pike, Zebulon Montgomery, 1779-1813.
Clark, William, 1770-1838.
James, Edwin, 1797-1861.
Marston, Morrell, 1785-1831.
Duhaut-Cilly, Auguste Bernard, 1790-1849.
Catlin, George, 1796-1872.
Remember that the catalog searches for books and periodicals, but not chapters within books or articles within periodicals. To locate relevant articles, try:
America:
History & Life
An index to approximately 2,800 journals, plus dissertations and books in North
American History. Indexes literature published from 1964 to the present.
Academic
Search Premier
A multidisciplinary database with access to over 8040 scholarly and popular
publications, many in full-text. Covers 1975 to present.
JSTOR
An index to and full text of select, academic journals. Multidisciplinary; includes
history.
How do I find works of early American fiction?
I Browsing:
Browsing through bibliographies will reveal authors and their works. Authoritative titles include Early American Fiction: A Reference Guide [PS375 .P25], Early American Fiction 1774-1830 [PS375 .W44], and Southern Fiction Prior to 1860 [PS377 .J65]. Also, consult critical studies of early fiction, such as Petter's The Early American Novel [PS375 .P4], considered the most definitive source, and Loshe's The Early American Novel 1789-1830 [PS375 .L6].
II Searching the catalog:
Try an AUTHOR search on Bridge from this chronological list of early American novelists to look up specific titles available at St. Olaf and Carleton libraries.
Williams, William, 1717-1791.
Morton, Sarah Wentworth, 1759-1846.
Digges, Thomas Attwood, 1742-1821.
Hitchcock, Enos, 1745-1803.
Brackenridge, H. H. (Hugh Henry), 1748-1816.
Bleecker, Ann Eliza, 1752-1783.
Imlay, Gilbert, 1754?-1828?
Rowson, Mrs., 1762-1824.
Brown, William Hill, 1765-1793.
Butler, James, 1755?-1842.
Murray, Judith Sargent, 1751-1820.
Tyler, Royall, 1757-1826.
Foster, Hannah Webster, 1759-1840.
Brown, Charles Brockden, 1771-1810.
Tenney, Tabitha, 1762-1837.
Mitchell, I. (Isaac), ca. 1759-1812.
Mann, Herman, 1771-1833.
Rush, Rebecca, b. 1779.
Neal, John, 1793-1876.
Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851.
Sedgwick, Catharine Maria, 1789-1867.
M'Henry, James, 1785-1845.
Paulding, James Kirke, 1778-1860.
Child, Lydia Maria Francis, 1802-1880.
Flint, Timothy, 1780-1840.
Royall, Anne Newport, 1769-1854.
Brainard, John G. C. (John Gardiner Calkins), 1796-1828.
Hawthorne, Nathaniel, 1804-1864.
Simms, William Gilmore, 1806-1870.
Brainard, John G. C. (John Gardiner Calkins), 1796-1828.
To find literary criticism on a particular author, add "criticism and interpretation" to your subject search (e.g. "Brown, Charles Brockden, 1771-1810 -- Criticism And Interpretation"). To locate biographical information, add the term "biography" (e.g. "Brown, Charles Brockden, 1771-1810 -- Biography").
For more bio-critical sources, look up your author in the Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index [RR PN451 .C632 2004]
To locate relevant articles on literary criticism and interpretation, try:
MLA
International Bibliography
The major index to literature journals. Also covers dissertations, proceedings,
and articles in books. Subjects include literature, folklore, languages, and
linguistics. Covers 1963-present.
III Searching the Internet:
Publicly available electronic collection of early American fiction can be found at the Electronic Text Library sponsored by the Univeristy of Virginia Library.
A good site for further links to other Internet sources is Literary Resources-American, maintained by the English Department at Rutgers University.