Encyclopedias

  • Encyclopedia Britannica (Britannica is also listed in the "Topic Overview" section, but because it is a reference source, it is also mentioned here.)

  • There is an entry about Jane Austen in the first volume of the Micropedia (look for "Austen").  There are sections about her life, novels, an assessment, and a bibliography of books. The will provide a solid overview.

Subject Encyclopedias

  • All Things Austen: An Encyclopedia of Austen's World

  • By: Kirstin Olsen

  • Location: Main Library, non-fiction section

  • Call Number: 823.7

  • This is a two volume set about England and the culture during Austen's time. There are over 150 entries arranged alphabetically by subject. There are entries about food, education, games, clothing, dishes, the barouche, and more. It is very comprehensive.

  • Oxford Companion to English Literature, 6th edition

  • Editor: Margaret Drabble

  • Location: St. Matthews, reference section

  • Call Number: 820.3

  • This is a classic English literature source. The short entries in the book are arranged alphabetically by topic (author, titles, literary terms, etc.). There are entries for Austen, her novels, and some of her characters. There are some names and terms preceded by an asterisk (*). This means that there are separate entries for those names and terms. This book is a great source for short (yet comprehensive) overviews on Austen and her novels.

Dictionaries

  • Where Queen Elizabeth Slept & What the Butler Saw : A Treasury of Historical Terms from the Sixteenth Century to the Present

  • By: David Durant

  • Location: St. Matthews, in the nonfiction section

  • Call Number: 422

  • Durant's dictionary of English terms can be a nice companion book to Austen's novels. They book provides definitions and explanations of many unfamiliar British terms. It's also useful for learning about historic English culture. For example, there are general entries for beds, the Magna Carta, the post office, etc.

  • What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew: From Fox Hunting to Whist: the Facts and Daily Life in Nineteenth-century England

  • By: Daniel Pool

  • Locations: Bon Air, Crescent Hill, Middletown, and Southwest branches, in the nonfiction section

  • Call Number: 820.9

  • This book has two parts. The first consists of chapters about various aspects of English life in the 19th century, and the second part is an extensive glossary. The chapters are about topics like money, women's clothing, servants, tea, etc. The glossary is very similar to Durant's book above. There is a wide variety of terms, some of which can be found in Austen's novels.

Directories

  • The library does not have any relevant directories for this topic. Directories usually list organizations, publications, foundations, schools, people, etc. However, the library does have many other great reference sources.

Handbooks and Manuals

  • The Bedside, Bathtub & Armchair Companion to Jane Austen

  • By: Carol J. Adams

  • Location: Main Library, in the non-fiction section.

  • Call Number: 823.7

  • Adams' book is an all-in-one guide to Jane Austen. There are chapters about her life, novels, early works, characters, theories about the books, places where Austen lived, movies, etc. There are also interviews, quizzes, and games.

Biographical Sources

  • Chambers Biographical Dictionary

  • Editor: Melanie Parry

  • Location: St. Matthews, in the reference section.

  • Call Number: R 920.02

  • This book is arranged alphabetically by subject's last name, and it has a short entry about Jane Austen. Information includes where she lived and her books. Also included is a short paragraph about the focus of modern research, which is about her unfinished novel, Sandition, and early works.

Geographical Sources

  • Jane Austen's England

  • By: Maggie Lane

  • Location: St. Matthews, in the non-fiction section.

  • Call Number: 823.7

  • Lane's book describes the settings and scenes in which the novels take place and in which Jane Austen lived. There are many maps (including an overview map of southern England) and rich illustrations that bring to life Austen's England. Each chapter is about a different area - Bath, London, Northhamptonshire, Kent, etc.

  • National Geographic Atlas of the World

  • Location: St. Matthews, in the non-fiction section.

  • Call Number: 912 (it's on a bottom shelf with oversized books)

  • This atlas has a large (two page) map of the United Kingdom. It's useful for finding various towns and places from the books and Austen's life. There's an index in the back of the book that will provide the coordinates (for the grid on the map) for the various locations.  The maps mentioned in the Jane Austen's England book above are good if you want maps of individual towns and cities as they were in England's time. This is a good source for an overview of England.