Guides: French Studies: Reference Sources

Research Guides, Handbooks and Bibliographies

The New Oxford Companion to Literature in French, Peter France, ed. Oxford; New York: Clarendon Press; Oxford UP, 1995. Location: [Van Pelt Reference Desk PQ41 .N48 1995]
Osburn, Charles B. Research and Reference Guide to French Studies. 2nd ed. Scarecrow Press, 1981. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2071 .O82 1981]
Northcutt, Wayne. The Regions of France: A Reference Guide to History and Culture. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. Location: [Van Pelt Reference DC33.7 .N63 1996]
Bassan, Fernande, Donald C. Spinelli and Howard A. Sullivan. French Language and Literature: An Annotated Bibliography. New York: Garland, 1989. Location: [Van Pelt Reference Desk PC2071 .B39 1989]

Grammar, Usage and Style

Alpheratz. Grammaire du français inclusif: littérature, philologie, linguistique. Châteauroux, France: Vent solars, [2018]. Location: [Van Pelt Library P120 .S48 A47 2018]
Practicing French Grammar
Batchelor, R. E. (Ronald Ernest), and M. Offord. Using French: A Guide to Contemporary Usage. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2000. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2460 .B37 2000]
Batchelor, R. E. (Ronald Ernest), and M. Chebli-Saadi. A Reference Grammar of French. Cambridge; New York: Cambridge UP, 2011. Location: [Van Pelt Library PC2111 .B35793 2011]
Dictionnaire du bon usage au service du sens et de la nuance. Pascal-Raphaël Ambrogi, ed. Paris: Honoré Champion, 2015. Location: [Van Pelt Library PC2460 .A63 2015]
Dubois, Jean, et al.Grand dictionnaire étymologique & historique du français. Paris : Larousse, c2005.

Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2580 .D82 2005]
Girodet, Jean. Pièges et difficultés de la langue française. Paris : Bordas, 2007. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2460 . G57 2007]
Grevisse, Maurice. Le bon usage: grammaire française. 13e ed. Paris : Duculot, 1993. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2112 .G84 1993]
Offord, M. H. A Student Grammar of French. Cambridge, U.K.; New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2112 .O34 2006]
Wakely, Richard, and Henri Béjoint. French Usage. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press, 1996. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2460 .W35 1996]

Subject Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

There are a great number of dictionaries, encyclopedias and histories devoted to French culture, history, literature, philosophy, and civilization. These are a few examples. More can be found browsing the related call number ranges (primarily DC and PQ) in the Van Pelt Reference stacks, as well as in the main stacks. For further help, contact the reference librarian.
The Oxford dictionary of literary terms
The Columbia History of Twentieth-Century French Thought. Lawrence D. Kritzman, ed. New York: Columbia University Press, c2006. Location: [Van Pelt Reference DC33.7 .C575 2006]
Beaumarchais, Jean-Pierre de, Daniel Couty and Alain Rey. Dictionnaire des littératures de langue française. Paris: Bordas, c1994. 4 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ41 .B4 1994] Beaumarchais, Couty and Rey are responsible for a number of large reference works on French writers, literature, and literary works. Search them individually for a complete list of available titles.
Levi, Anthony.Guide to French Literature. Chicago: St James Press, 1992. 2 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ226 .L48 1992]
Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires du Québec. Sous la direction de Maurice Lemire; avec la collaboration de Jacques Blais, Nive Voisine et Jean du Berger. 2nd ed. Montréal: Fides, 1980- . 7+ vols. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ3917 .D5 1980]
Lettres françaises de Belgique: dictionnaire des oeuvres. Robert Frickx and Raymond Trousson. Paris: Duculot, 1988- . 4 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ3811 .Z5 1988]
Dictionnaire des oeuvres littéraires de langue française en Afrique au sud du Sahara. Sous la direction d'Ambroise Kom. 2 vols. Paris: Harmattan, 2001. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ3980 .A52 K65 2001]
Dictionnaire de l'Histoire de France. Sous la direction de Jean-Frangois Sirinelli; et le conseil éditorial de Daniel Couty. Paris: A.Colin ; Larousse, 1999. 2 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference DC35 .D54 1999]
Historical Dictionaries of French History. This Greenwood Press series covers French history from the Revolution, including political, military, social, economic, and art history: Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution 1789-1799. [Van Pelt Reference DC147 .H57 1984] Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815. [Van Pelt Reference DC201 .H673 1985] Historical Dictionary of France from the 1815 Restoration to the Second Empire. [Van Pelt Reference DC256 .H57 1987] Historical Dictionary of the French Second Empire 1852-1870. [Van Pelt Reference DC276 .H57 1985] Historical Dictionary of the Third French Republic, 1870-1940. [Van Pelt Reference DC337 .H57 1986] Historical Dictionary of World War II France: The Occupation, Vichy, and the Resistance, 1938-1946. [Van Pelt Reference DC 397 .H58 1998] Historical Dictionary of the French Fourth and Fifth Republics, 1946-1991. [Van Pelt Reference DC401. H57 1992]
Dictionnaire du Grand Siècle. Frangois Bluche, ed. Paris: Fayard, 1990. Location: [Van Pelt Reference DC128 .D55 1990] A 1600+ page dictionary of the era of Louis XVI, spanning seventeenth and eighteenth century France.
Dictionnaire de la France du XIXe siècle. Sous la direction de Nadine Vivier, Noëlle Dauphin ... [et al.] Paris : Hachette, 2002. Location: [Van Pelt Reference DC251 .D538 2002]
Boussinot, Roger.L'encyclopédie du cinema. [Paris]: Bordas, c1995. 2 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Library PN1993.45 .B6 1995]
Dictionnaire du cinéma populaire français: des origines à nos jours. Sous la direction de Christian-Marc Bosséno et Yannick Dehée. Paris: Nouveau monde, 2004. 809 p. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PN1993.5.F8 .D53 2004]

Online Subject Encyclopedias

Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment
edited by Alan Charles Kors. Oxford University Press, 2002.
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Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment [electronic resource] / edited by Alan Charles Kors. Oxford, UK ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2002.
Electronic Resource. 4 v. : ill.
Summary: Focuses on the entire range of philosophic and social changes engendered by the Enlightenment. The Encyclopedia extends the conventional geographical boundaries of the Enlightenment, covering not only France, England, Scotland, the Low Countries, Italy, English-speaking North America, the German states, and Hapsburg Austria but also Iberian, Ibero-American, Jewish, Russian, and Eastern European cultures. Designed and organized for ease of use, its special features include more than 700 signed articles; annotated bibliographies following each article to guide further study; an extensive system of cross-references; a synoptic outline of contents; a comprehensive topical index providing easy access to networks of related articles; and high quality illustrations, including photographs, line drawings, and maps.
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
edited by André Vauchez ; translated by Adrian Walford.
Oxford University Press, c2001.
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Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages [electronic resource] / edited by André Vauchez ; translated by Adrian Walford.
Oxford : Oxford University Press, c2001.
Electronic Resource. Text (HTML) and search engine.
Summary: Consists of articles on all aspects of the period from the fifth to the fifteenth century, exploring art, architecture, religion, law, science, language, philosophy, and theology, as well as cultural, religious, intellectual, social and political history. With a focus on focus on Europe and Christendom, the Encyclopedia also covers the rise of Islam and people of other cultures with whom Europeans came into contact.
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Le mini visuel: dictionnaire français-anglais
The Oxford business French dictionary (English-French ) (French-English)
Dictionnaire de l’Académie française
Dictionnaire de l'Académie française. Paris : Impr. nationale, c1992- . 9th ed. 2 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2620 .D455 1992]
Le grand Robert de la langue française
Robert, Paul. Le grand Robert de la langue française. 6 vols. Paris : Dictionnaires Le Robert, c2001. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2625 .R552 2001]
Trésor de la langue française; dictionnaire de la langue du XIXe et du XXe siècle (1789-1960) Paris : Impr. nationale, c1992- . 9th ed. 2 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC2620 .D455 1992]
Le petit Larousse illustré en couleurs, 2006 Paris: Larousse, 2005.Location: [Van Pelt AG25 .L25 2005]
Larousse Online French-English / English-French Dictionary
Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (English-French)
Pocket Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (French-English)
Dictionnaire de l'Academie francaise
Historical Dictionaries via The ARTFL Project:
- Dictionnaire Vivant de la Langue Francaise (to access, click link to ARTFL above)
- Dictionnaires d'autrefois (to access, click link to ARTFL above)
- Encyclopaedia universalis. Paris: Encyclopaedia universalis, c1993. 23 vols. Location: [Van Pelt AE25 .E3 1993]

E-Book Companions

The Cambridge Companion to Medieval French Literature
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The Cambridge companion to medieval French literature [electronic resource] / edited by Simon Gaunt, Sarah Kay.
Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2008.
Electronic Resource. xii, 275 p.
The Cambridge Companion to Modern French Culture
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The Cambridge companion to modern French culture [electronic resource] / edited by Nicholas Hewitt.
Publisher: Cambridge, UK ; New York, NY, USA : Cambridge University Press, 2003.
The Cambridge Companion to the French Novel
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The Cambridge companion to the French novel [electronic resource] : from 1800 to the present / edited by Timothy Unwin. Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 1997.
Electronic Resource. xxiii,281p.
The Cambridge Companion to French Literature
The Cambridge Companion to the French Enlightenment
The Cambridge Companion to the Literature of Paris
The Cambridge Companion to French Music
The Cambridge history of French thought
The Cambridge History of French Literature
The Oxford handbook of French politics
The Oxford handbook of the French Revolution
Oxford Bibliographies