Research in Bibliography, Textual Studies & Book History: Researching the History of a Book

Researching a particular book

When researching a particular book, it will help to take a step back and think about the genre of the book and/or place it in the timeline of publication history.

Start with the item itself...is it a critical edition or is there an introduction or notes?
- Critical editions, notes, and introductory texts are often goldmines for finding information about a publication's history.
Look for a copy of your chosen book at UW Libraries.
Browse the book stacks near your book to find more items. Scan the tables of contents and the indexes for the book title, publisher, etc.
Find a biography.
Research the publisher.
Find book reviews.

See below for tips on finding biographies, publisher information, and book reviews.

Find a biography

Find a biography using Wikipedia, UW Libraries Search, or Gale Literature Resource Center. Biographers often include circumstances around the publication of the book.

Gale Literature Resource Center This link opens in a new window
- This link opens in a new window
Includes comprehensive articles about your author.
Using advanced search, search by "Person - By or About" - enter your author's name. Limit content type to "Biographies".
Do a second search by "Name of work" and enter the title.

UW Libraries Search
Search your author's name and the keyword: biography.
- For example: Alexandre Dumas AND biography
You'll need to narrow the results from here using the limiters on the left. Limit to print books and/or ebooks.

OR you can go to Advanced Search, and then from the drop down, choose subject, and enter the author's name.

*Take note of the library location and call number. Go and get the book from the stacks. Browse the section for more biographies while you are there.
Look in the index for references to the book you are researching.
Wikipedia or Google
Wikipedia also has editions in many languages, e.g. French Wikipedia.

-Search for your author.
-Browse the article, looking for information about your selected book.
-Be sure to scroll down to the sources that the article cites.
-Look up any promising sources in UW Libraries Search to find them.

Or, via Google. You may find a good site about your author and their work on the Web. Find out what sources they are using to get their information and then search UW Libraries Search for the sources.

Research the publisher

You might find a book or article about the person and/or the publishing house that edited the book. Look them up in UW Libraries Search, and do a Google search as well.

UW Libraries Search - Advanced Search

Search for the publisher (or editor)'s personal name if you have it.
If you search by publishing house, make sure you specify the publisher as a subject, using the Advanced Search. (Click "any field" and choose "subject")

Wikipedia may also contain good information about the publisher:

Look for the source list, and search for these sources in UW Libraries Search to verify the information.

Find book reviews

Book reviews can give you ideas on how a book was received at the time of publications. You can find book reviews in newspapers, magazines, literary journals, on the web, and by using book review indexes. We have a guide to help you find them on the Libraries website.

Book reviews research guide

Use the resources for Current Book Reviews if your book was published more recently.
Otherwise use the guidance under "Locating Reviews of Older Books".
Review the tips for finding book reviews and things to keep in mind.