COLLECTIONS:

Special Collections

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Collection Preservation

Research Collections:
Romance Languages and Literatures Collection

Collection Overview
The collection supports the teaching, study, and research of French, Spanish and Italian literatures by students and faculty in the Department of Romance Languages and Literatures and the university. Since the inception of their order, Jesuits have written numerous works in the romance languages about philosophy and classical literature. The libraries at Boston College, a Jesuit university, have a number of these works which expand the resources available for study and research.The collection of contemporary French, Spanish and Italian literature and its criticism is strong. This includes  Francophone, Maghreb, Spanish, Spanish American and Italian literatures. The library acquires works and critical editions by and about major writers; such as Dante, Calvino, Pirandello, Cervantes, Borges and Rousseau.  Upon faculty request, every effort is made to acquire new or critical  editions of a work.  The library collects all genres including novels, short stories, plays, essays and poetry. It also collects French, Spanish and Italian films in video cassette and laser disc formats.  Secondary works on all aspects of French, Francophone, Spanish, Spanish American and Italian literature including literary theory and criticism, culture and language are acquired. The collection policy stresses the acquisition of material that reflects current literary trends such as  modernism, post-modernism, realism, literary influences of gender and feminism. Reference material is acquired extensively. The collection supports the teaching of cultural histories of  Spain, Spanish-speaking countries in the Americas, Italy, France and French-speaking countries through an integration of texts and visual materials pertaining to social, political and cultural experience.

Shari Taylor Grove
Romance Languages and Literatures Bibliographer
1-617-552-4481
E-Mail: grove@bc.edu

Selected Resources

In the O'Neill Library:

• Collected works and critical editions of Voltaire, Dario, Montaigne, Rabelais, Cervantes, Dante, Leopardi, Piradello, Borges, Sartre, Valéry, Mallarmé and other French, Francophone, Spanish, Spanish American, Italian writers.  Also: Bibliotheque de la Pleiade, editions of major French works, and  Biblioteca Ayacucho, critical editions for Spanish American works.

• Important microform sets:

  • Escritoras Españolas

  • Hispanic Culture Series before 1601.  A Guide to Hispanic Culture Series on Microfilm.

  • Spanish Drama of the Golden Age

  • Hispanic Medieval Society and Hispanic Seminary of Medieval Studies

  • French Books before 1601

• Important sets: Letteratura Italiana Novecento, Jesuit Relations and Allied Documents,

• Extensive holdings in journal literature, many journals from the first volume through the current issue.

• Reference works:

  • Paris. Bibliotheque Nationale. Catalogue general des livres imprimes

  • Tesoro de la lengua castellana o española según la impresión de 1611 by S. Covarrubias Horozco

  • Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des metiers (Diderdot)

  • Encyclopaedia Universalis

  • Encyclopídia Universalis

  • French XX Bibliography. Provençal Supplement

  • Bibliography of Old Spanish Texts

  • A Reference Index to Twelve Thousand Spanish American Authors: A Guide to the Literature of Spanish America

  • Manuel bibliographique de la littérature française du Moyen Age

  • Bibliographie des chansons de geste

• National bibliographies on CD-ROM: Bibliografia Española, Bibliographie Nationale Française.

• Full text databases on CD-ROM: Hispanic Seminary of  Medieval Studies CD-ROM series, PhiloBiblon.

On the Web (Restricted to the BC Community):

• Subject index to research in language and literature: MLA Bibliography.

• General indexes:

  • Arts & Humanities Citation Index (Web of Science)

  • Expanded Academic Index ASAP (InfoTrac)

  • FRANCIS Bulletin Signalétique

  • HAPI Hispanic American Periodicals Index

  • PCI Periodicals Contents Index

• Full text databases: ARTFL Project for American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language, University of Chicago; Major Authors Online: Miguel de Cervantes, Tesoro de la Lengua Castellana, O Española.

• Full text news in French, Italian, Spanish: Lexis Nexis Academic Universe.

• Full text electronic journals on romance languages and literatures may be found at the following e-journal gateways: JSTOR and Project Muse.

• Other databases in the humanities: Subject Indexes to Online Databases: Humanities.  This web page also has links to databases outside the humanities.

Research Guides
More information about available resources can be found in the following resources guides: Research Guide: Romance Languages and Literatures, French Literature, Spanish and Latin American Literature.

Interdisciplinary Elements of Subject Area
The subject areas of this collection are frequently related to different fields such as history (social history, popular culture), philosophy, fine arts, speech and communication, drama and theater, sociology,  psychology, political science, economics and education.

Formats and Types of Materials
Formats collected include print, electronic, microform, and audiovisual. Types of materials include monographs, serials, and reference works including major indexes, abstracts, catalogs, bibliographies, yearbooks, dictionaries, encyclopedias, research guides, and directories.  The library collects and provides access to research level monographs, serials in print, electronic or microform format.  Reference sources (dictionaries, indexes and abstracts, book catalogs, bibliographies) in print or electronic formats are purchased extensively.  The library makes every effort to provide access to reference sources in whatever format and the latest technology.  Proceedings of symposia and international congresses are collected broadly.  Proceedings, conference papers and dissertations are purchased selectively, only upon request, and when a need is clearly demonstrated.  For the most part, the library does not acquire textbooks as required texts for courses.  However, in the case of those textbooks which are valuable as reference and research works, the library acquires these selectively upon request.  The library acquires films in video or laser disc format to support the curriculum. Audiovisual materials for language acquisition and practice of  French, Italian and Spanish language are housed in the Language Laboratory in Lyons Hall  313.  This collection is the responsibility of the Director. Consult Catalogue of Resources for its holdings.

Languages
French, Spanish, Italian and English are the primary languages of the collection.  However, important works relating to French, Spanish and Italian literatures in other languages are purchased. At faculty request, the library is building a collection in Provençal, and Medieval Italian and Spanish works as they are reprinted and made available.  Major works of French, Spanish and Italian literature are purchased in translation by the English bibliographer.

Geographic Areas (Subject Approach)
The collection is not limited to a particular geographic area; rather it includes material from beyond European borders, e.g., Latin American, African, and Asian sources. The Boston College Catalog states "Although Romance culture has by tradition been traced to a European source, the offerings of the department also take into account the presence of Hispanophone, and Francophone cultures in the Caribbean, South and Central America, Africa and Asia."  Québécois literature is collected to support the curriculum.

Time Periods (Subject Approach)
The primary emphasis of the collection is on twentieth century materials, with purchases of significant earlier works made whenever possible as the budget permits. Current acquisitions focus on current research and publications. Retrospective purchasing to fill in gaps and changes in the curriculum is an ongoing process. The historical development of the collection reflects a strong Jesuit tradition with the strength of the earlier works in the French collection.

Date of Publication
Emphasis is on acquiring current materials published after 1960. Selective retrospective purchasing will be carried out and may involve reprints, electronic or microform rather than the original format. Current imprints are emphasized. Modern editions of classics as well as reprints of significant works are also emphasized.

Subject Areas Collected by Library of Congress Classification Number
BCAT, the online catalog, can be searched by LC classification number to get a better idea of what specific titles the romance languages and literatures collection contains.  For example, the command c=PQ1.  will produce the beginning of a list of works on French literature.  This list can be browsed by pressing the F8 key or typing f and pressing the Enter/Return key.