Reference Tools for Classical Studies

This guide is intended to be a starting point for research in Classical Studies. It is in no way comprehensive. It attempts to provide access to key print and electronic reference tools. For links to additional web resources such as e-journals, comprehensive web sites, and source collections on the web, see Selected Web Resources: Classical Studies. For related web sites, see the Religious Studies, Archaeology, and Philosophy Penn Library web sites.

Franklin, Penn's online catalog, lists over 95% of the library's collections. The card catalog in Van Pelt Reference lists materials, such as pre-1968 journals and some older series and analytic titles, not yet included in Franklin.

While new works are listed in Franklin, New Books Plus allows users to search most books and journals added to the Penn Library in the last few months.

Keyword Searches
Use a keyword search to combine terms or to identify subject headings.

euripides AND (women OR femin? OR female? OR gender OR sex)

agora AND(excavation? OR antiquities OR archaeol?)

"dark age?" AND greece

homer AND odyss?

cleisthen? OR kleisthen?

thesmophor?

(ancient OR classical) AND (greece OR greek) AND skey maps

(ancient OR greek) AND philosophy AND skey bibliography

cicero AND(loeb OR penguin)

Subject Heading Searches

• Use Library of Congress subject headings when doing a subject search. A four-volume set at the Van Pelt Reference Desk lists these headings. Any person, entity, organization, or government entity can also be searched as a subject.

  acropolis athens, greece	homer
  medicine, greek and roman	mythology, classical
  civilization, mycenaean	mycenae
  greece history peloponnesian war	erotic art, rome
  greece religion	vases, black-figured

• To search subject headings in Franklin, omit dashes between subheadings. For more information, consult Subject Searching in Franklin.
  
  

Call Number Searching
Use these call numbers to browse either Franklin or the Stacks:

PA (Latin/Greek language and literature)

DE (ancient Mediterranean world)

DF1 - DF289 (Ancient Greece)

DG11 - DG365 (Ancient Rome)

RLIN/Eureka Bibliographic File - Research Libraries Group Catalog
A bibliographic catalog of over 30 million books, serials, archives and manuscripts, musical scores, visual materials, maps, and data files held in over 100 large research libraries and current cataloging of the Library of Congress and the British Library. Since the catalog is so large, the best method for searching is to use known items such as authors, titles, or Library of Congress subject headings.

WorldCat Another large, 30+ million union catalog that includes the holdings of many university, college, and public libraries. Several Philadelphia-area libraries are included in WorldCat.

Use both of these catalogs to identify materials that Penn does not own and request them through Interlibrary Loan or Borrow Direct.

Library Catalogs Worldwide
A web page with links to the Bibliotheque Nationale and several German institutional or union catalogs.

DYABOLA [CD-ROM]: Sachkatalog des Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts. 1992- .

Contains electronic subject catalogs of publications on the history of art and the ancient world. It includes the subject catalogs of the German Archaeological Institute in Rome, the Bibliography of Iberian Archaeology from the German Archaeological Institute in Madrid, and the Archaeology of Roman Provinces from RGK Frankfurt.

Continues the Archäologische Bibliographie (1932-1993). University Museum CC27 .A7242

[University Museum Library Desk CC27 .A72422]

Bibliotheca Teubneriana Latina curante CETEDOC [compact disc]. Stuttgart ; Leipzig : B.G. Teubner ; Turnhout : Brepols Publishers, 1999.

From Preface: Includes all ancient Latin texts from the earliest times to the second century, as well as a certain number of the major witnesses from later times, such as Ausonius and Macrobius. Florilegia and some grammatical texts are the only texts from what is properly called antiquity that do not figure in the present BTL-1. For each individual text, the most recent or the best edition published by Teubner is used. Software allows search strategies based on an analysis of word forms or combinations of word forms.

The editions used in this product are those from the Latin texts of the Bibliotheca Scriptorum Graecorum et Romanorum Teubneriana series.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Moelis CD Area PA6118 .B53 1999]

Loeb Classical Library

Currently published by Harvard University Press

Available at Penn in the Classical Studies Seminar Room and in the Van Pelt Library stacks.

Searchable by series title or by keyword, e.g.,: loeb and aeschylus

The Perseus Digital Library - Gregory Crane, Tufts University

Contains many primary and secondary sources for the study of ancient Greece and Rome.

Scriptorum Classicorum Bibliotheca Oxoniensis.

Published by Oxford since 1984.

Searchable by series title as well as keyword, e.g.,: "scriptorum classicorum" and seneca

Thesaurus Linguae Graecae

A project which has digitized most Greek literary texts from Homer to the fall of Byzantium in 1453.

Fulltext searchable as well as by TLG canon number.

In addition to authorization through the Penn Library Proxy, users must also create a TLG username and password to gain access.

See the much more detailed list of print and electronic primary source collections at Bibliotheca Classica Selecta.

Checklist of editions of Greek and Latin papyri, ostraca and tablets. John F. Oates, ed. 4th ed. Atlanta, Ga. : Scholars Press, 1992.

The primary purpose of this checklist is to provide for scholars and librarians a ready bibliography of all monographic volumes, both current and out-of-print, of Greek and Latin texts on papyrus, parchment, ostraca or wood tablets.

[Van Pelt Library PA3301 .C487 1992]

The online version represents the most recent volume.

Diotima: Materials for the Study of Women and Gender in the Ancient World

Excellent site for Women's Studies, particularly good for finding bibliographies, online essays, and primary source material.

Guide de l'épigraphiste : bibliographie choisie des épigraphies antiques et médiévales. 2e id. augm. Paris : Presses de l'Ecole normale supirieure, 1989.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks CN120 .G85 1989]

Jenkins, Fred W. Classical studies : a guide to the reference literature. Englewood, Colo. : Libraries Unlimited, 1996.

Lists and annotates standard reference tools including core periodicals, review journals, and internet resources.

[Van Pelt Reference PA91 .J46 1996; Van Pelt]

Poucet, Jacques. Aux sources de l'Antiquité gréo-romane: guide bibliographique 5. ed., rev. et augm. Bruxelles : Artel, 1997.

Very good guide to use as an introduction to classical studies. Provides an overview of the literary, epigraphical, papyrological, archaeological, and numismatic source materials. The second section lists reference books; the third is a bibliography of the major literature in specific fields. The Table of Contents is in the back of the book. In French.

See also the associated bibliography on the Bibliotheca Classica Selecta web site.

[Van Pelt Reference DE59 .P68 1997]

Gwinup, Thomas. Greek and Roman authors; a checklist of criticism. 2nd ed. Metuchen, NJ: Scarecrow, 1982.

Lists books and periodical articles on 70 classical authors. Includes only English language items. Covers materials written up through the 1970s.

[Van Pelt Reference PA3001 .G93 1982]

Halton, Thomas P. and Stella O'Leary. Classical scholarship: an annotated bibliography. White Plains, N.Y.: Kraus International, 1986.

[Van Pelt Reference: DE 59 .H34 1986]

Hopwood, Keith (comp.) Ancient Greece and Rome: a bibliographical guide. Manchester: Manchester University Press, 1995.

Bibliographic citations to more than 8,000 books and articles on all aspects of ancient history, c. 950 BC to AD 565, arranged through a broad chronological and thematic classification. Includes an author index.

[Van Pelt Reference: DE 86 .H67 1995]

Whitaker, Graham. A bibliographical guide to classical studies. Hildesheim : New York : Olms-Weidmann, 1997- .

See a review at Bryn Mawr Classical Review

[Van Pelt Reference: DE59 .W455 1997 (vol. 1-3)]

For databases on the web, see the Classical Studies Database Menu. Additional print and CD-ROM databases are listed below.

L'Annee Philologique: bibliographie critique et analytique de l'antiquité gréco-latine. 1924- . Annual.

Major ongoing bibliography for classical studies. Covers literature, language, art, philosophy, and social political and cultural history.

An online version covers v.67 (1996)-v.70(1999). (not available as of 9/19/02)

[Classics Seminar PA2 .A553]

Database of classical bibliography [CD-ROM]

Based on L'Annee Philologique, DCB contains citations of all known scholarly work published in any language anywhere in the world concerning the areas of ancient Greek and Latin language and linguistics, Greek and Roman history, literature, philosophy, art, archaeology, religion, mythology, music, science, early Christian texts, numismatics, papyrology and epigraphy, and concerning the time period from the second millennium B.C. to roughly 500-800 A.D. -- See Review in the Bryn Mawr Classical Review. Disc and manual.

Volume 1 based primarily upon: L'Année philologique, v. 47 (1976)-58 (1987)

[Van Pelt Reference Moelis CD Area: PA1 .D383]

Bryn Mawr Classical Review. 1990- .

Full-text book reviews.

Bulletin analytique d'histoire romaine. T. 1 (1962)-present. Annual.

Indexed by keyword, gods, people, modern authors, sources.

Available online since 2000 (although the references go back to the mid-80's).

[Van Pelt Library: most recent 5 years in Van Pelt Reference Stacks DG11 .B855

Fasti archaeologici: annual bulletin of classical archaeology. 1946-present. Annual.

Indexes books, catalogs, reports, and periodical articles about classical archaeology. Broad geographic-chronological categories, with geographic and material culture subdivisions. Exhaustive but incredibly slow in publication.

[Museum: GN 700 .I552]

Gnomon bibliographische Datenbank [CD-ROM]

Internationales Informationssystem fur die Klassische Altertumswissenschaft. English version Instruction Manual. Manual and disc. See also Gnomon Online for supplements to the database.

[Van Pelt Reference Moelis CD Area: PA3 .G61]

The Cambridge ancient history. 3rd ed. London, Cambridge University Press, 1970- (in progress).

[Van Pelt Library Classics Seminar D57 .C252 1970; also in Van Pelt Stacks, University Museum Library]

Broad survey articles.

Civilization of the ancient Mediterranean: Greece and Rome. 3 vols. New York: Scribners, 1988.

[Van Pelt Reference, Museum Reference: DE 59 .C55 1988]

Broad survey articles arranged topically. Substantive bibliographies are included, but this is not Paulys!

Daremberg, Charles, 1817-1872. Dictionnaire des antiquités grecques et romaines. Graz, Akademische Druck- u. Verlagsanstalt, 1969. 6v. in 10. Reprint of 1877-1919.

[Classics Seminar Room DE5 .D21 1969]

Grant, Michael. Greek and Latin authors, 800 B.C.-A.D. 1000. NY: H.W. Wilson, 1980.

Biographical dictionary on 376 authors. Inlcudes bibliographies of their works and selected criticism about them.

[Van Pelt Reference: PA 31 .G7]

Grimal, Pierre (A.R. Maxwell-Hyslop, trans.) The dictionary of classical mythology. Oxford: Blackwell, 1985.

Translated from the French. Includes genealogical tables and bibliographic references.

[Van Pelt Reference, Fine Arts Reference: BL 715 .G713 1986]

Howatson, M.C. Oxford companion to classical literature. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1989.

In addition to specific articles on people, places, etc., includes general articles on subject such as Agriculture, law, magic, etc.

[Van Pelt Reference: DE 5 .H3 1989]

Late antiquity : a guide to the postclassical world. Edited by G. W. Bowersock, Peter Brown, Oleg Grabar. Cambridge: Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1999.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks DE5 .L29 1999]

Lexicon iconographicum mythologiae classicae (LIMC). 8 vols. Zürich: Artemis, 1981-(in progress).

Exhaustive encyclopedia of Greek (post-Mycenaean), Etruscan, and Roman mythology as depicted in material culture. Articles in several languages, including English, with extensive citations to specific published objects. Publication in progress.

[Fine Arts Reference: N 7760 .L49]

Luce, T. James, ed. Ancient writers : Greece and Rome. 2v. New York : Scribner, c1982.

47 articles which cover the major classical authors. Each article has been written by a leading specialist.

[Van Pelt Reference PA3002 .A5 1982]

Oxford Classical Dictionary. 3rd ed. New York: Oxford University Press, 1996.

Scholarly mini-encyclopedia of people, events, places in the classical world. Signed articles. Some bibliography. References to classical sources.

[Van Pelt Reference Desk: DE5 .O9 1996; University Museum Reference; Special Collections Reference]

See 1949 and 1970 editions at same call number, various locations.

Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, neue Bearb.. 24 vols, 10 vol continuation, 15 vol supplement. Stuttgart: Metzler, 1894-1978.

[Van Pelt Classics: DE 5 .P33. Also, Museum: 913.36 .P283]

The standard encyclopedia for the whole field of classical studies. In German only.

See also the new edition: Der neue Pauly : Enzyklopädie der Antike. Stuttgart : J.B. Metzler, c1996- (in progress).

Van Pelt Library Classics Seminar DE5 .N48 1996

Princeton encyclopedia of classical sites. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1976.

"A one-volume source of information on sites that show remains from the Classical period", i.e., 750 BC to 6th century AD. Includes bibliographic citations. See the (incomplete) online version at the Perseus web site.

[Fine Arts Reference, Museum Desk: DE 59 .P7]

Wellington, Jean Susorney. Dictionary of bibliographic abbreviations found in the scholarship of classical studies and related disciplines. Westport, Conn. : Greenwood Press, 1983.

[Van Pelt Reference Desk PA99 .W44 1983]

A Greek-English lexicon, compiled by Henry George Liddell and Robert Scott. Revised and augmented throughout. Oxford: Clarendon, 1996.

Referred to as "Liddell and Scott", this is the standard Greek-to-English dictionary, 9th ed. (1940) with revised supplement (1996), for the Greek language to AD 600. Includes usage examples. Omits placenames. See the Persues Table of Contents page at Perseus for the link to the online version.

[Van Pelt Reference, Museum Reference: PA 445 .E5]

A Latin dictionary founded on Andrews' edition of Freund's dictionary. Rev., enl., and in great part rewritten by Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short. Oxford, Clarendon press, [1966].

Otherwise known as "Lewis and Short." See the Text Tools & Lexica page at Perseus for the online version.

Van Pelt Library Reference Desk PA2365.E6 A6 1966

Sophocles, E. A. (Evangelinus Apostolides), 1807-1883. Greek lexicon of the Roman and Byzantine periods (from B.C. 146 to A.D. 1100). 2v. New York, F. Ungar Pub. Co., [1957].

[Van Pelt Library Classics Seminar PA1125 .S7 1957]

Heyden, A.A.M. and Howard Hayes Scullard. Atlas of the classical world. London: Nelson, 1959.

[Van Pelt Reference, Museum Reference, Rosengarten Reference: DE 29 .H463]

Barrington atlas of the Greek and Roman world. Edited by Richard J.A. Talbert, in collaboration with Roger S. Bagnall. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University Press, 2000.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks G1033 .B32 2000]

The CD-ROM is the Map-by-Map Directory

Botti, Timothy J.HistoryGraphics.net presents : rise and fall of the Roman Republic : Roman maps series.

Maps illustrating the Roman Republic.

[Van Pelt Library Reference Stacks DG231 .B68 2000]

Penguin historical atlas of ancient Greece. New York: Penguin, 1995.

[Van Pelt Reference: G 1003 .M674 1995]

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