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c18 Bibliographies On-Line:
Guidelines for Contributors

General Editor: Jack Lynch, Dept. of English, Rutgers University -- Newark, 360 M. L. King Blvd., Newark, NJ 07102, U.S.A.
(biblio@c18.org)

This series of annotated enumerative bibliographies is intended to guide scholars to the essential editions, biographies, and works of criticism on major and minor eighteenth-century figures. Each bibliography should include all of the following that apply:

Bibliographies

If there are extensive or comprehensive bibliographies of an author's works, whether descriptive or enumerative, list these first.

Editions

The goal is a guide to editions currently used, not a descriptive bibliography of all early editions. Coverage of primary texts should be complete whenever possible, referring to modern scholarly editions (when they exist) or to early editions, but in complicated cases -- such as Defoe, whose canon is large, doubtful, and unserved by a uniform edition -- they can be more selective. Begin with uniform scholarly editions, perhaps listing individual volumes. Editions of individual works that have some merit lacking in the collected edition can be noted. Annotations might refer to controversial editorial decisions.

Where there are multiple or competing editions, the most important (which will usually but not always be the most recent) should be listed first. Only works of some current interest should be listed; editions entirely superseded can safely be omitted, but older editions should be noted when they have some advantage over more recent ones.

Only the most important or interesting teaching and reading editions should be mentioned.

Biographies

As with editions, list biographies in order of decreasing importance, beginning with the standard life and listing any others of note. There's no need to list standard sources such as the DNB except when the entry is of particular note.

Criticism

Begin with reference works such as author-specific encyclopedias or chronologies, then list journals devoted entirely or mostly to the figure in question, then major collections, anthologies, and Festschriften.

Individual works of scholarship -- monographs or articles -- can be grouped according to whatever organizing principle the contributor thinks most useful, although by topic first and by chronology second seems an obvious default choice.

The degree of coverage will depend on the subject: major figures such as Voltaire, Johnson, and Goethe will necessarily be treated much more selectively than Jane Barker or the Baron d'Holbach. No bibliography is expected to be comprehensive, but it should indicate the seminal works a newcomer should be expected to know. In the case of controversial works the contributor considers of dubious value, err on the side of inclusion, but indicate reservations in the annotations.

Annotations should be brief, indicating both the works' claim on a scholar's attention and any serious limitations they may have. They can afford to be opinionated. Annotations should usually be in the language of the author under discussion, although there might be exceptions.

Electronic Resources

This should be a very selective guide, listing only those electronic resources (on the Web or on CD-ROM) that make a serious demand on the attention of a scholar.

Presentation

All citations should follow The Chicago Manual of Style, 14th ed. The general editor will be responsible for formatting and encoding the bibliographies.

Updates

One of the advantages of on-line bibliographies is that they can be kept current. Contributors can of course supplement or revise the bibliographies at any time, but they should be examined at least yearly. The general editor therefore will contact the contributors once a year, E-mailing the current bibliography and asking whether any updates are warranted. Such updates should therefore require minimal effort from the contributors.

Each bibliography will include a "mailto" link, allowing readers to suggest new items for inclusion. Unless otherwise requested, such mail will be sent not to the individual contributors but to the general editor, who will abstract the suggestions and forward them to the contributors at his discretion.

 
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