Home > Research Guides > French 224: Théâtre et politique: Corneille, Molière, Racine

5. Subject Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

All Literary Periods

Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des écrivains de langue française. Paris Larousse, 2001.
Widener: RR 3168.25

Longer articles on prominent authors include chronologies (Vie et Oeuvre) and bibliographies of Oeuvres [and] Etudes. Short bibliographies accompany most signed articles; illustrated. This title is an abridged version of an earlier work, which contains chronologies and longer bibliographies:
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de. Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. Nouv. éd. mise à jour et enrichie. Paris: Bordas, 1987.
Widener: RR 3168.20

Dictionnaire des lettres françaises. Paris: A. Fayard, 1951-
Widener: RR 3168. 2 Library has: v. 1-5 in 7.

Vol. 3 covers the seventeenth century. Articles on authors cover "La Vie," "L’Oeuvre," "Bibliographie." Includes articles on subjects such as honnête homme, l'Académie française, etc.

Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle / sous la direction de François Bluche. Paris : Fayard, c1990.
Widener: WID-LC DC33.4 .D54 1990x

Articles on economic, literary, cultural and political terms, personages. Covers the period 1589-1715. Accmpanied by groupings of entries under rubrics such as Administration, Beaux-arts, Belles-lettres, Cour de France, Sociéte,Vie quotidienne et santé and others.

The feminist encyclopedia of French literature / Eva Martin Sartori, editor-in-chief. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1999.
Widener: RR 3169.4

Covers all periods and includes articles on literary, historical, political and sociological topics, including literary genres, movements, institutions and events. Short bibliographies follow each entry and a general bibliography appears at the end of the volume, along with a chronology of writers.

French women writers: a bio-bibliographical source book / edited by Eva Martin Sartori and Dorothy Wynne Zimmerman. New York: Greenwood Press, 1991.
Widener: RR 3169.2
Schlesinger: Ref. 840 S287f

Covers the twelfth through the late twentieth century and includes articles on the life and works of European women and others who have written in French and identified themselves with French culture and intellectual life. Entries include major themes, a survey of criticism and bibliographies of primary and secondary works. Includes La Fayette, Scudéry, M. de Sévigné and others.

Levi, Anthony. Guide to French Literature. Beginnings to 1789. Detroit: St. James Press, 1994.
Widener: RR 3161.4
and
Levi, Anthony. Guide to French Literature. 1789 to present. Detroit: St. James Press, 1992.
Widener: RR 3161.5

Long survey articles on authors including Life, Works, Publications by genre, Biographical and critical studies and Bibliography. Useful chronology at beginning of volume. Major authors, such as Corneille, Molière and Montaigne are included as well as articles on topics such as the Querelle des anciens et modernes.

Osburn, Charles B. Research and reference guide to French studies. 2nd ed. Metuchen, N.J.: Scarecrow Press, 1981.
Widener: RR 3162. 17

A good introductory source that includes reference tools, concordances, dictionaries, iconographies, filmographies, encyclopedias, surveys of scholarship. The section on the seventeenth century includes sources on themes and styles, influences, background, individuals and works.

Seventeenth Century

Battesti, Jean-Pierre. Tout Racine. Paris: Larousse, 1999.
Widener: WID-LC PQ 1903 .B38 1999

Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle / sous la direction de François Bluche. Paris: Fayard, 1990.
Widener: WID-LC  DC33.4 .D54 1990x

Articles on economic, literary, cultural and political terms, personages. Coveres the period 1589-1715. Accompanied by groupings of entries under rubrics such as Administration, Beaux-arts, Belles-lettres, Cour de France, Sociéte,Vie quotidienne et santé and others.

Génin, F. (François), 1803-1856. Lexique comparé de la langue de Molière et des écrivains du XVIIe siècle, suivi d'une lettre à m. A. F. Didot, sur quelques points de philologie française, par F. Génin. Paris, Firmin Didot frères, 1846.
Widener: Mol 570.5
Widener: Harvard Depository Mol 570.5

The Molière encyclopedia / edited by James F. Gaines. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 2002.
Widener: WID-LC PQ1851 .M57 2002

Thématique de Molière: six études suivies d'un inventaire des thèmes de son théâtre / sous la direction de Jacques Truchet, avec la collaboration de J.-P. Collinet ... [et al.]. Paris: Société d'édition d'enseignement supérieur, 1985.
Widener: WID-LC PQ1860 .T48 1985