Encyclopedias & Companions

tourism.jpgThe library has a wide variety of encyclopedias and companions, both online and in print, with informative and helpful articles on travel and travel writing throughout history. Here is a list of selected titles to get you started. Feel free to ask for further suggestions.

Gale eBooks
Search multiple encyclopedias simultaneously. GVRL includes the New Dictionary of the History of Ideas, the Encyclopedia of European Social History, and many other works. A self-paced interactive tutorial is available for those new to this resource.

Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing
Coverage of a wide range of travel-related subjects from literature surveys to travel destinations and topical treatments. Includes an essay on "Travel Writing and its Theory" by Mary B. Campbell and an exhaustive Further Reading list. A detailed chronology lists important events and travel writers.

Literature of Travel & Exploration
Travel writing from classical antiquity to the present. Articles explore individual writers, countries and regions, methods of transportation, types of journey, and genres and themes.

New Dictionary of the History of Ideas
See the essay on "Travel from Europe and the Middle East" by James Helfers. His bibliography lists primary as well as secondary sources.

Encyclopedia of Greece and the Hellenic Tradition
See essay on Travel in volume two.

Encyclopedia of Medieval Pilgrimage
Introductory essays about the role of travel in medieval religious life from 300-1500 A.D.

Encyclopedia of the Renaissance
See the essay on "Travel and Travel Literature" in volume 6. The bibliography lists primary and secondary sources.

Encyclopedia of European Social History
See the essay on "Travel and Tourism" by Stephen Harp in volume 5. Great bibliography.

Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era
See the essays on "Travel and Tourism" and "The Grand Tour."

Encyclopedia of Women's Travel & Exploration

Cambridge Companion to American Travel Writing
American identity through the lens of travel writing from the pre-revolutionary period to the present.

Books

Falvey Library Catalog
There are many ways to find travel-related literature in the library. Browsing the travel literature collection on the third floor (G149-G550) is one way. Subject and keyword searches in the online catalog are another good approach. The list of subjects below is a good starting point to explore the library's print and online collections. Author searches for individual travelers, such as John Mandeville, are yet another approach.
Travel-related subjects:
"Voyages and travels"
"Description and travel"
"Guide books"
"Railroad travel"
"Summer resorts"
"Travel history"
Pilgrimage


WorldCat (FirstSearch)
Presents a combined catalog of the catalogs of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. WorldCat highlights publications available at Villanova University. Other items can be requested via an inter-library loan request form.

EZBorrow and Interlibrary Loan
Use EZBorrow or interlibrary loan to request resources not available in Falvey's collections.


Journal Articles

The library subscribes to a variety of online databases, that index peer-reviewed scholarly journals. Most of the library's online indexes cover specific geographic areas, time periods, or academic disciplines. Read the database description carefully in order to select the best resource for your project.

Historical Abstracts (EBSCO)
An annotated reference guide to the history of the world (excluding the United States and Canada) from 1450 to the present. Provides indexing of more than 2,300 academic historical journals in over 40 languages back to 1955 as well as book reviews and dissertations.
A Short Introduction to Historical Abstracts is a self-paced interactive tutorial for students new to this resource.

America: History and Life (EBSCO)
Indexes the literature covering the history and culture of the United States and Canada from prehistory to the present. Includes citations for journal and magazine articles, book reviews, and dissertations. Abstracts of journal articles are included together with selected full-text. Indexing goes back to 1964.

International Medieval Bibliography (Brepols)
The International Medieval Bibliography (IMB) is a current, comprehensive bibliography in the field of medieval history. It indexes articles in journals and monographs and includes references to book reviews.

JSTOR (ITHAKA)
A searchable and browsable archive of full-text core journals in the humanities, social sciences and mathematics. JSTOR does not include all of the library's journal content.

Primary Sources

Primary sources can be found in a wide variety of formats and resources. The library's catalog is a good starting point. Use keywords that describe primary sources such as correspondence, diaries or sources in conjunction with other keywords. You may also use WorldCat to identify primary sources which are not available locally and request these titles through interlibrary loan. The library's catalog includes records for and links to many digital primary sources.

Falvey Library Catalog (Books & Media)
Keyword and subject searches in the library's catalog are good starting points when first exploring a topic. Search results can be narrowed with facets such as topic, era, language or region. Facets are located on the right hand side of the results screen.

WorldCat (FirstSearch)
Presents a combined catalog of the catalogs of more than 10,000 libraries worldwide. WorldCat highlights publications available at Villanova University. Other items can be requested via an inter-library loan request form.

British Periodicals (ProQuest)
More than 160 journals spanning the late 17th through early 20th centuries, and covering a range of topics such as literature, philosophy, history, science, the fine arts and the social sciences.

New York Times: 1851- (ProQuest Historical Newspapers)
Complete coverage from 1851 to the present with the exception of the most current two years. Includes classified ads, comics and cartoons, photos, maps, graphics, etc., editorials and commentary.

Times (London) Digital Archive, 1785-2019 (Gale)
Complete archive up to 1985.

Readers' Guide Retrospective: 1890-1982 (EBSCO)
Provides indexing of more than 550 leading magazines.

American Periodicals (ProQuest)
Digital archive of American periodicals published between 1740 and 1900, including special interest and general magazines, literary and professional journals, children's and women's magazines, and many other historically-significant periodicals.

America's Historical Newspapers (Readex)
Includes full text of selected early American newspapers published between 1690 and 1922. Villanova University has access to series 1 through 5 and 7.

Nineteenth Century UK Periodicals (Gale)
Part of the collection focuses on travel and anthropology, economics, overseas missionary work and colonies. Complete runs of 91 magazines with topics ranging from the abolition of the slave trade within the British Empire in 1807 to the first Opium Wars (1839-42) and the “scramble for Africa” in the 1880s and 1890s.

Citation Management

Chicago Manual of Style Online
The 17th edition of the Manual is the most current. The online version includes a Citation Quick Guide with examples. The Library's website offers a short introduction and overview to the Notes and Bibliography System commonly used in the humanities.