To find biographical information on actors and actresses during the Restoration and 18th century, try Philip Highfill's A Biographical Dictionary of Actors, Actresses, Musicians, Dancers, Managers & Other Stage Personnel in London, 1660-1800. A Tripod search for this title will return links to an online version of each volume.
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THEA 021 : Production Dramaturgy (SC)
Finding 18th-century texts online:
Early English books online.
Contains digital images of virtually every work printed in England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and British North America and works in English printed elsewhere from 1473-1700. Includes books, pamphlets, manuscripts and newspapers.
Eighteenth Century collections online.
Offers full-text access to English-language titles and editions published between 1701 and 1800 including books, pamphlets, almanacs, Bibles and treatises. Subjects covered include history, geography, fine arts, medicine, science, literature, language, religion, philosophy and law. Significant collections of women writers, collections on the French Revolution, and numerous eighteenth-century editions of the works of Shakespeare are also included.
Early American imprints. Series I, Evans (1639-1800)
Provider: Readex
Covers American history and literature from the colonial period to the eighteenth century. Provides full-text digitization of the Early American Imprints microform set, Series I (1639-1800).
Literature On-line (Chadwyck-Healey)
Provider: Chadwyck-Healey
A full-text collection of poetry, drama, and prose. Includes complementary references sources. Offers access to information on English and American literature including bibliographies, and catalogs. Also provides access to online editions of literary works, discussion lists, electronic journals, and library catalogs. Includes links to English poetry texts, drama, and fiction. Also offers links to editions of the works of William Shakespeare, to American poetry, editions of the Bible, and Webster's dictionary.
Women writers online.
Offers a full-text collection of works in English by pre-victorian women writers. Covers 1400-1850.
Finding journal articles:
MLA international bibliography
Provider: ProQuest
Provides citations to journal articles, books, working papers, conference proceedings, bibliographies, and other materials. Areas covered include literature, language, linguistics, film, theatre and folklore. Covers 1926-present.
Historical abstracts
Provider: EBSCO
Provides abstracts of journal articles, books, book reviews and dissertations that cover world history from 1450 to the present (excluding the U.S. and Canada which are covered in "America: History and Life"). Includes publications from 1953-present.
ProQuest Research Library
Provider: ProQuest
Provides citations and full-text magazine and journal articles in a wide variety of disciplines, both scholarly and popular in scope. Covers 1971-present.
JSTOR
Provides full-text and page images from many of the top journals in most academic disciplines. Coverage is from the inception of the journal through three to five years ago.
Women's studies international
Provider: NISC
Provides citations and abstracts of journal articles, books, book chapters, newspapers, dissertations and bulletins, in the core areas of women's studies. Subjects include, feminism, women of color, science, health and technology. Includes different women's studies resources. Covers 1972-present.
Finding information on actresses and playwrights:
A Dictionary of British and American women writers, 1660-1800
Publisher: Totowa, N.J. : Rowman & Allanheld, 1984.
Oxford dictionary of national biography
Provider: Oxford
Contains biographies of people who shaped the history of the British Isles and beyond,from the earliest times to the year 2001. Articles focus on noteworthy people from all walks of life. No living person is included. Coverage varies.
Finding original reviews:
Historical newspapers online
Provides online indexing to the Times (London) from 1790-1980 and the New York Times from 1851-1923. Try searching the London Times for "theatres" or "plays," or for the titles of specific plays, to find reviews. You can limit your search to the 1790s and early 1800s.
You can also search Tripod for the titles of individual newspapers and magazines from the eighteenth century, some of which are available on microfilm. For example:
Finding images:
ARTstor
A digital library that provides access to thousands of digital images derived from a variety of museum, library and archival collections. Images support a variety of disciplines including architecture, painting, sculpture, photography, decorative arts, and design. Coverage varies.

















