Gazetteer of the Novel

[purpletigron]

Because All Knowledge is Contained in Livejournal ...

Does anyone know of such thing as a 'gazetteer of novels'? By which, I mean an encyclopaedia of authors and titles, with a short summary of the themes, topics and scope of each.

I'm particularly interested in this instance in novels written in the British Isles from c. 1815 to c. 1850. I'm not entirely how to form a Web search, so haven't turned up much yet ...

Update: Sounds like I was trying to be too specific!

Comments

[http://users.livejournal.com/la_marquise_de_/]

There is a huge reference series called something like Authors in Print or Authors and Books or similar which you'll find in major reference libraries and some university libraries. It covers a huge date range and has many, many volumes. Sorry not to have the exact title to hand (I can tell you precisely where to find it in the reading room of the Cambridge Univ. Library, but I imagine that's not helpful).

[nwhyte]

I think Margaret Drabble's Oxford Companion to English Literature may be close to what you are looking for.

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

I know a lot of books that do that by genre, usually with "guide to" in the title or billed as annotated bibliographies--gothic, horror & supernatural, best sellers. None about general literature, though.