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Guide Sections

Reference Sources

When researching a new topic it is often necessary to get an overview, explanations of unfamiliar terms, or brief factual information. The print and electronic resources listed below include selected reference materials (dictionaries, encyclopaedias, handbooks, guides, and standards) for the field of Early Modern History. To find additional reference materials, check UNB WorldCat (the library catalogue) or our Reference Materials database.

Key Resources

  • Encyclopedia of European social history from 1350 to 2000 [HIL-REF HN373 .E63 2001 vols. 1-6]

    "Covering the period from the beginning of the Renaissance to the present, this encyclopedia consists of 209 signed articles and nearly 300 biographical entries. The set is thoroughly indexed, amply illustrated, and a joy to read. Graduate students will find it useful as an introduction to historiography while advanced high school students will enjoy the articles on historical topics."--"Outstanding Reference Sources," American Libraries, May 2001. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

  • Cambridge histories online
    This resource, part of Cambridge Core, contains the online versions of over 270 Cambridge Histories publications in the following 15 areas: American History, British History, Economic History, General History, History of Science, History of the Book, Language and Linguistics, Literary Studies, Music, Philosophy, Political and Social Theory, Regional History, Religious Studies, Theatre Studies and Performing Arts, and Warfare. For a complete listing of titles in each area, please refer to the publisher's site, at: https://www.cambridge.org/core/what-we-publish/collections/cambridge-histories
  • Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online
    Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online "is a vast new online library giving instant access to the most authoritative and up-to-date scholarship across the humanities and social sciences. With more than 350 reference volumes to be published in Blackwell Reference Online by the end of 2008, it is the largest academic reference collection available online and includes the critically-acclaimed Blackwell Companions and Handbooks, major reference works such as the Blackwell Encyclopedia of Management and the Companion to Syntax, and a whole host of other valuable reference materials such as dictionaries, encyclopedias and concise companions."

Additional Resources

  • Chronology of world history [HIL-REF D11 .M39 1999 vols. 1-4]

    This four volume set, which includes 70,000 events compiled by 27 contributing editors, constitutes the most complete and current chronology of world history ever created.

  • Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment
    Covering the "long" Enlightenment, from the rise of Descartes' disciples in 1670 to the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1815, these 700 articles by leading scholars range from discussions of mercantilism and democracy to the battlefield to the dissemination of ideas in salons and coffeehouses. Breaking conventional geographical boundaries, coverage includes not only Western Europe but also North America, Brazil, and Iberian, Russian, Jewish, and Eastern European cultures.
    Collection limited to subscribed 5-user access
  • Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance, The
    This dictionary provides rich detail on all aspects of the Renaissance in 14th to 17th century Europe. It includes comprehensive coverage of the art, literature, science, culture, philosophy, religion, economics, history, and conflict of the period. The text explores the influence that this intense intellectual and cultural revival continues to have on modern thought and society. Nearly half the entries are biographical, covering artists, thinkers, statesman, and reformers. A table of European ruling houses and a table showing the dates when cities and countries changed from the Julian to the Gregorian calendar are also included.
    Collection limited to subscribed 5-user access
  • New dictionary of the history of ideas [HIL-REF, HWK-REF CB9 .N49 2005]

    The earlier work was published at a time when interdisciplinarity was a new trend; and the new work continues this emphasis, as stated in the preface, by "its focus on the most influential multidisciplinary practices, such as 'Mysticism,' 'Mathematics,' and 'Reading,' which have ancient origins, and 'Representation: Mental Representation' and 'Bioethics,' which are creations of our own times." The approximately 600 articles are signed, include references and cross-references, and are arranged chronologically. Access is facilitated by a theme-oriented Reader's Guide (in each volume) and a substantial index, which occupies about half of volume six.

     

  • Oxford English dictionary (OED)
    "This unique and powerful resource offers unprecedented access to the definitive record of the meaning, history and evolution of more than 600,000 words over the last 1,500 years."A complete text of the 2nd. ed. of the Oxford English dictionary with quarterly updates, including revisions not available in any other form.
    Subscribed multi-user unlimited access
  • The Cambridge Economic History of Europe (The Cambridge Economic History of Europe; Vol.5)
    This title is part of the Cambridge Histories Online e-book collection.
    Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • The Cambridge Economic History of Europe from the Decline of the Roman Empire (Vol.4)
    This title is part of the Cambridge Histories Online e-book collection.
    Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • The Cambridge History of Eighteenth-Century Political Thought (The Cambridge History of Political Thought)
    Written by a distinguished team of international contributors, this text provides a comprehensive overview of the development of western political thought during the European enlightenment.
    Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • The Cambridge History of Seventeenth-Century Music (The Cambridge History of Music)
    While this history does not depart entirely from the traditional study of musical works and their composers, there is a strong emphasis on the institutions, cultures & politics of the age, together with an interrogation of the ways in which music related to contemporary arts, sciences & beliefs.
    Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)
    Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is an illustrated/fulltext reference tool providing 55,000 specially-written signed biographies of the men and women who shaped all aspects of the British past from the earliest times to the end of the year 2000. It is the product of research instituted at the University of Oxford and funded by the British Academy and by Oxford University Press. It is the achievement of 10,000 contributors and advisers staff in Oxford. The Oxford DNB aims to provide full, accurate, concise, and readable articles on noteworthy people in all walks of life. No living person is included: the Dictionary's articles are confined to people who died before 31 December 2000.
  • The Oxford history of the British Empire [HIL-REF DA16 .O95 1998 vols. 1-5]

    The first two volumes of this five-volume history of the British Empire establish a very high standard of scholarship. Over three dozen scholars examine both major and minor aspects of the modern imperial experience. The chronological focus develops from the 16th century, when Ireland was the starting point of the empire, to the end of the 18th, when the 13 American Colonies were lost. The essays form an interlocking analysis of the origins of empire from an intellectual, military, economic, and technological perspective. There is some overlap; for example, several essays discuss the role of naval power, but each author approaches the topic with a different focus, such as technology in N.A.M. Rogers's essay and politics in John Appleby's. The various chapters, therefore, reinforce the overall picture instead of being redundant. Separate chapters in the first volume analyze the origins and implementation of the British imperial expansion, or contraction, in each region and then continue in the second volume, as do discussions of new subjects, such as the colonization of Australia. The interrelationship between the mother country and the Colonies also receives continued emphasis. Jonathan Israel's chapter, in Volume 1, on the continental perspective of British empire building helps place events in an even broader context. There is a short bibliography after each chapter. Three following volumes will see the empire through to its 20th-century decline. Recommended for all libraries.Frederic Krome, Jacob Rader Marcus Ctr. of the American Jewish Archives, Cincinnati Copyright 1998 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

  • A Companion to Stuart Britain
    This title is part of the Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online e-book collection available through the Wiley Online Library.
    Permitted Use | Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • A Companion to Tudor Britain
    This title is part of the Wiley/Blackwell Reference Online e-book collection available through the Wiley Online Library.
    Permitted Use | Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • Oxford Bibliographies Online
    "Oxford Bibliographies Online (OBO) is an entirely new research tool for the social sciences and humanities. A scholar-curated library of discipline-based subject modules, OBO is designed to help busy researchers find reliable sources of information in half the time by directing them to exactly the right chapter, book, website, archive, or data set they need for their research."
    Purchased multi-user unlimited access
  • Encyclopedia of the Atlantic world, 1400-1900 : Europe, Africa, and the Americas in an age of exploration, trade, and empires

    Until recently, the age of exploration and empire building was researched and taught within imperial and national boundaries. The histories of Europe, Africa, North America, and South America were told largely as independent stories, with the development of individual places within each continent further separated from each other. The indigenous populations of places colonized by Europeans fit into the history even more uneasily, often mentioned only in passing.

    Encyclopedia of the Atlantic World, 1400–1900 synthesizes a generation of historical scholarship on the events on four continents, providing readers an invaluable introduction to the major people, places, events, movements, objects, concepts, and commodities of the Atlantic world as it developed during a key period in history when the world first started to shrink. The entries discuss specific topics with an eye toward showing how individual items, people, and events were connected to the larger Atlantic world. This accessibly written reference book brings together topics usually treated separately and discretely, alleviating the need for extra legwork when researching, and it draws from the latest research to make a vast body of scholarship about seemingly far-flung places available to readers new to the field.

    Features

    • Provides readers with authoritative information on the people, places, events, and commodities at the heart of Atlantic history
    • Demonstrates the interconnections among people, places, and events from different regions, overcoming the tendency to see history as limited by national boundaries
    • Offers balanced coverage of the field of Atlantic history, with entries addressing a variety of geographies and periods to provide a panoramic view
    • Portrays familiar historical topics in a new light by emphasizing their international context
  • Oxford handbook of the Atlantic world, c.1450-c.1850 [HIL-REF D210 .O94 2011]
    The essays in this volume provide a comprehensive overview of Atlantic history from c.1450 to c.1850, offering a wide-ranging and authoritative account of the movement of people, plants, pathogens, products, and cultural practices-to mention some of the key agents{u2014}around and within the Atlantic basin. As a result of these movements, new peoples, economies, societies, polities, and cultures arose in the lands.
  • Princeton companion to Atlantic history [HIL-REF D210 .P936 2015]
    "Between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries, the connections among Africa, the Americas, and Europe transformed world history--through maritime exploration, commercial engagements, human migrations and settlements, political realignments and upheavals, cultural exchanges, and more. This book, the first encyclopedic reference work on Atlantic history, takes an integrated, multicontinental approach that emphasizes the dynamics of change and the perspectives and motivations of the peoples who made it happen. The entries--all specially commissioned for this volume from an international team of leading scholars--synthesize the latest scholarship on central themes, including economics, migration, politics, war, technologies and science, the physical environment, and culture. Part one features five major essays that trace the changes distinctive to each chronological phase of Atlantic history. Part two includes more than 125 entries on key topics, from the seemingly familiar viewed in unfamiliar and provocative ways (the Seven Years' War, trading companies) to less conventional subjects (family networks, canon law, utopias)."--Publisher's description.
  • European Views of the Americas: 1493 to 1750 (EBSCO)
    This bibliographic database is a valuable index for libraries, scholars and individuals interested in European works that relate to the Americas. EBSCO Publishing, in cooperation with the John Carter Brown Library, has created this resource from European Americana: A Chronological Guide to Works Printed In Europe Relating to The Americas, 1493-1750, the authoritative bibliography that is well-known and respected by scholars worldwide. The database contains more than 32,000 entries and is a comprehensive guide to printed records about the Americas written in Europe before 1750. It covers the history of European exploration as well as portrayals of native American peoples. A wide range of subject areas are covered; from natural disasters to disease outbreaks and slavery. The original bibliography was co-developed by John Alden and Dennis Landis, Curator of European Books at The John Carter Brown Library. The John Carter Brown Library, founded in 1846 is a foremost repository of rare books and materials and is a center for advanced research in history and the humanities.
    Subscribed multi-user unlimited access | 1493-1750
  • Oxford Companion to World Exploration, The
    From Antarctica to the North Pole, The Oxford Companion to World Exploration offers information on all topics of exploration worldwide, including advances in navigation, the discovery of the New World, polar expeditions, and the space age. In addition to examining the lives and expeditions of heroic and influential explorers, the book covers navigational and marine sciences and ranges from ancient cultures through modern space exploration. With articles from leading scholars, this landmark set offers students, scholars, and amateurs a treasure of information on this dynamic field of study.
    Collection limited to subscribed 5-user access
  • Routledge history of sex and the body : 1500 to the present [HIL-REF HQ12 .R69 2013]

    "The Routledge History of Sex and the Body provides an overview of the main themes surrounding the history of sexuality from 1500 to the present day. The history of sex and the body is an expanding field in which vibrant debate on, for instance, the history of homosexuality, is developing. This book examines the current scholarship and looks towards future directions across the field. The volume is divided into fourteen thematic chapters, which are split into two chronological sections 1500 - 1750 and 1750 to present day. Focusing on the history of sexuality and the body in the West but also interactions with a broader globe, these thematic chapters survey the major areas of debate and discussion. Covering themes such as science, identity, the gaze, courtship, reproduction, sexual violence and the importance of race, the volume offers a comprehensive view of the history of sex and the body. The book concludes with an afterword in which the reader is invited to consider some of the 'tensions, problems and areas deserving further scrutiny'. Including contributors renowned in their field of expertise, this ground-breaking collection is essential reading for all those interested in the history of sexuality and the body"--Publisher's website.

  • Women and gender in the early modern world: critical concepts in women's history [HIL-REF HQ1150 .W6425 2016 ]
  • Biographical encyclopedia of early modern Englishwomen: exemplary lives and memorable acts, 1500-1650 [HIL-REF CT3320 .B56 2017]
    • Women England Biography Encyclopedias.

    • Women England History Renaissance, 1450-1600 Biography Encyclopedias.

    • Women England History 17th century Biography Encyclopedias.

    • Women.

    • Women Renaissance.

    • Frau

    • England.

  • Companion to heresy inquisitions, A [HIL-REF BT1319 .C64 2019]

    The spiritual foundations of Christian heresy inquisitions / Christine Caldwell Ames -- Precursors to religious inquisitions: anti-heretical efforts to 1184 / Michael Frassetto -- The Fourth Lateran Ordo of Inquisition adapted to the prosecution of heresy / Henry Ansgar Kelly -- The church's institutional response to heresy in the 13th century / L.J. Sackville -- Heresy inquisitions in the later Middle Ages / Robin Vose -- The Spanish Inquisition and the Converso challenge (c. 1480-1525): a question of race, religion or socio-political ascendancy? / Helen Rawlings -- The metamorphosis of the Spanish Inquisition, 1520-1648 / Werner Thomas -- The rise of the modem Inquisition in Portugal and Brazil, and the transformation of Jews and new Christians into heretics / Lúcia Helena Costigan -- The takeover of the Roman Inquisition / Elena Bonora -- Politics, diplomacy and religious dissent. The activity of the Inquisition in early modern Venice / Federico Barbierato.

Last modified on May 3, 2024 15:03