Structure and Organisation

Content-wise, The Literary Encyclopedia is divided into Parts, Volumes and Chapters. Parts are usually defined by country and may be subdivided into Volumes devoted to historical periods. All Encyclopedia records are assigned to a specific volume, whose number, title and editorial supervision is displayed immediately under the title. All volumes can be browsed by clicking on the volume number. They can be found under our Table of Contents.

Main articles in The Literary Encyclopedia are divided into three databases, People, Works and Context.

  • People – includes basic data on over 8430 people (3910 with full profiles), mainly writers, but also philosophers, scientists, artists, historical figures and others of note. You can browse a list of completed profiles.
  • Works – includes over 34656 works (4678 completed), mainly literary, but also philosophical and scientific, which are indexed by date, genre and country. A large part of these are listed for bibliographical purposes, while others will be profiled as the Encyclopedia expands and develops. You can browse a list of completed profiles.
  • Context – includes four types of records: short notes of 50 to 500 words - historical context notes (comprising major acts of parliament, wars, battles, epidemic diseases scientific and technological inventions, etc.) and literary/ cultural context notes; and major essays of up to 6000 words - historical context essays and literary/ cultural context essays. You can browse a list of these HERE, choosing the appropriate type of entry you wish to see listed.

All Encyclopedia records are accompanied by an information card to the left, which stores the relevant metadata of the article (dates, domains, activities, genres, places, cultural identities) and offers cross-linking, bibliographic and contextual options.

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