Guides: Italian Studies: Reference Sources

Research Guides, Handbooks and Bibliographies

Bull, Martin J. Contemporary Italy: A Research Guide. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996.
Location: [Van Pelt DG577 .B786 1996]
Focuses on history and the social sciences, providing information on important collections and published sources.

Baroni, Guido, and Mario Puppo. Manuale critico-bibliografico per lo studio della letteratura italiana. 5th ed. Turin: SEI, 2002. Location: [Van Pelt Z2354.C8 B37 2002] The first four parts survey scholarship on literary topics and periods with appended bibliographies. The last part covers individual authors with essays and bibliographies.
Bibliografia generale della lingua e della letteratura italiana (BiGLI). Roma: Salerno, 1991- . Location: [Van Pelt PC1001 .B535; latest five years in Referemce]. Annual index to articles and book studies in Italian literature. Though some years behind, it fills in the gaps of the MLA with more extensive coverage of Italian-language sources.
Guida allo studio della letteratura italiana. Pasquini, Emilio, ed. nuova ed. Bologna: Il Mulino, 1997. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ4013 .G85 1997]
The Oxford Companion to Italian Literature. Hainsworth, Peter, and David Robey eds. Oxford; New York: Oxford UP, 2002. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ4006 .O84 2002]

Zaccaria, Giuseppe, and Cristina Benussi. Per studiare la letteratura italiana. Nuova ed. Milan: B. Mondadori, c2002. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ4013 .Z33 2002] An introduction to the study of literature with a consideration of literary forms, criticism, theory, and history. There is a 1999 edition in the stacks.

Grammar, Usage and Style

McIntosh, Colin.The Oxford Italian Grammar and Verbs. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2002. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC1112 .M25 2002]
Dardano, Maurizio.La nuova grammatica della lingua italiana. Bologna: Zanichelli, 1997. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC1105 .D37 1997]
Lurati, Ottavio.Dizionario dei modi di dire. Milano: Garzanti, c2001. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC1460 .L87 2001]
Pittàno, Giuseppe.Cos si dice (e si scrive): dizionario grammaticale e degli usi della lingua. Bologna : Zanichelli, 1993. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC1435 .P56 1993]

Subject Dictionaries and Encyclopedias

There are a great number of dictionaries, encyclopedias and histories devoted to Italian culture, history, literature, philosophy, and civilization. These are a few examples. More can be found browsing the related call number ranges (primarily DG and PQ) in the Van Pelt Reference stacks, as well as in the main stacks. For further help, contact the reference librarian.

A Concise Encyclopaedia of the Italian Renaissance. J.R. Hale, ed. New York: Oxford UP, 1981. Location: [Fine Arts Studio COllection DG445 .C66]
Cucchi, Maurizio.Dizionario della poesia italiana. Milano: Mondadori, 1983. Location: [Van Pelt Library PQ4057 .C83 1983]
Dictionary of Italian Literature. Peter Bondanella and Julia Conway Bondanella, eds. Rev. ed. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1996. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PQ 4006 .D45 1996] Signed articles by scholars on concepts, movements, and individual figures.
Dictionary of Modern Italian History. Frank J. Coppa, ed. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, c1985. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference DG545 .D53 1985]
Dizionario critico della letteratura italiana. Vittore Branca, dir., et al. 2a. ed. Torino: Unione tipografico editrice torinese, 1986. 4 v. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ4057 .D59 1986] Relatively lengthy, signed articles on both literary concepts and authors, with substantial bibliographies.
Enciclopedia dantesca. Rome: Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1970- . 6 v. Location: [Van Pelt PQ4333 .E5]
Encyclopedia of Contemporary Italian Culture. Gino Moliterno ed. London ; New York: Routledge, 2000. Location: [University Museum Library Reference and Van Pelt Library Reference DG450 .E53 2000]
The Feminist Encyclopedia of Italian Literature. Rinaldina Russell, ed. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Press, 1997. Location: [ Van Pelt Library Reference PQ4063 .F45 1997]
Letteratura italiana. Antonio Asor Rosa, ed. Torino: Einaudi, 1982-1986 6 v. Location: [Van Pelt Library PQ4037 .L457 1982] Focuses on the social and cultural background, as well as Italian literature.
Letteratura italiana: dizionario delle opere. Ed. Alberto Asor Rosa. Turin: Einaudi, 1999-2000. 2 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference PQ4037 .L462 1999]
The New Century Italian Renaissance Encyclopedia. Catherine B. Avery ed. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts [1972] Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference DG537.8.A1 N48]
Medieval Italy: An Encyclopedia. Christopher Kleinhenz, ed. New York : Routledge, 2004. 2 v. Location: [Van Pelt Library Reference DG443 .M43 2004]

Online Subject Encyclopedias

The Cambridge History of Italian Literature
The Cambridge Companion to Modern Italian Culture
The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Novel
Italian Film
The Cambridge Companion to the Italian Renaissance
Historical Dictionary of Modern Italy
Encyclopedia of the Middle Ages
edited by André Vauchez ; translated by Adrian Walford.
Oxford University Press, c2001.
more...less...
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.
Oxford Dictionary of the Renaissance
Encyclopedia of the Enlightenment
edited by Alan Charles Kors. Oxford University Press, 2002.
more...less...
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.
Johns Hopkins Guide to Literary Theory & Criticism

Encyclopedias and Dictionaries

Italian Studies Dictionaries & Thesauri
Battaglia, Salvatore. Grande dizionario della lingua italiana. Torino: Unione tipografico-editrice torinese, 1961- . 21 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference and Rare Bk & Ms Library Lea Collection PC1625 .B3]
De Maruo, Tullio. Grande dizionario italiano dell’uso. 7 vols. + 1 CD-ROM. Torino : UTET, 1999-2000. Location: [Van Pelt Reference PC1625 .D37 1999; CD-ROM Shelved At Van Pelt Library Reference Moelis CD Area]
Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (English-Italian)
Pocket Oxford Italian Dictionary (Italian-English)
Opera del Vocabolario Italiano The database contains 1581 vernacular texts (19.1+ million words, 447,675 unique forms, 165 MB of textual data) the majority of which are dated prior to 1375, the year of Boccaccio's death. The verse and prose works include early masters of Italian literature like Dante, Petrarch, and Boccaccio, as well as lesser-known and obscure texts by poets, merchants, and medieval chroniclers. The OVI database was created to aid in the compilation of an historical dictionary of the Italian language, the Tesoro della lingua italiana delle origini.
Italian Studies Encyclopedias & Subject Dictionaries
Enciclopedia. Ruggiero Romano, dir. Torino: G. Einaudi, 1977-. 16 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference AE35 .E45 1977]
Lessico Universale Italiano. Roma: G. Einaudi, Istituto della Enciclopedia italiana, 1968-1998. 28 vols. Location: [Van Pelt Reference AE35 .L43 1968]

E-Book Companions

Cambridge History of Italian Literature