Biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures. More than 420 volumes and 164,000 pages. An invaluable source for tracing the development of authors' catalogs and the evolution of their reputation.
Literature, Books, and Reading
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Palace eBooks, Audio, and Video Streaming & Downloadable Media New!
Palace is an all-in-one reading app that pulls titles from multiple Boston Public Library platforms into one place, including library-exclusive content from Amazon Publishing and Audible. The Palace app gives you access to new and diverse titles beyond the usual bestsellers, helping you find the widest range of digital content and better manage holds and wait times
Get the free Palace Project app from your Android or iOS mobile device's app store. Locate "Boston Public Library" and log in with your BPL card number and PIN/password.
Literature, Books, and Reading
Alternative Press Index IV. International Newspapers Magazines & Journals New!
Alternative Press Index is a database of journal, newspaper, and magazine articles from hundreds of international alternative, radical, and left periodicals. Topics include anarchism, ecology, democracy, feminism, organized labor, LGTBQ+, indigenous people, and emerging social movements. Covers 1991--present. Not full-text.
British Literary Manuscripts Online (1120-1900) eBooks
Reproductions of manuscripts, letters, and diaries, handwritten drafts of poems, plays, novels, and other literary works, and similar materials. Catalog records can be searched, but the manuscripts themselves are not full-text searchable.
British Theatre, Music, and Literature: High and Popular Culture eBooks
Primary sources relating to the arts in the 18th and 19th centuries, including playbills, scripts, operas, scores, letters, manuscripts, meeting minutes, and financial records.
English Short Title Catalogue
Intends to list every book and periodical printed in Britain or any of its dependencies, or in English anywhere else in the world, from 1473-1800. Identifies libraries with known copies of each title and provides references to reproductions on microfilm and in other formats. Hosted by the British Library.
Gale Academic OneFile IV. International Newspapers Magazines & Journals
Full-text journal and magazine articles and citations covering the sciences, technology, medicine, social sciences, the arts, theology, literature, and other subjects. Coverage:1901-present; most full-text coverage after 1980.
Gale eBooks eBooks Encyclopedias
Encyclopedias and other specialized reference sources covering the arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences, including medicine, business, law, and more.
Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography
Biographical and critical essays on the lives, works, and careers of the world's most influential literary figures. More than 420 volumes and 164,000 pages. An invaluable source for tracing the development of authors' catalogs and the evolution of their reputation.
Gale OneFile: Communications and Mass Media Magazines & Journals
Search millions of articles covering all aspects of communications, including advertising, public relations, and more.
Gale OneFile: Pop Culture Studies Magazines & Journals
Access scholarly journals and magazines that both analyze and contribute to popular culture.
Gale OneFile: Popular Magazines Magazines & Journals
Access the most searched magazines across Gale OneFile focusing on current events, sports, science, and health issues.
Gale Power Search Audio Directories Images Indexes IV. International Newspapers Magazines & Journals Newspapers Video
Cross-search Gale OneFile, Gale In Context, and Gale eBooks. Subjects include: agriculture, biography, business, communications and mass media, criminal justice, culinary arts, diversity studies, economics and theory, environmental studies and policy, fine arts, gardening and horticulture, gender studies, global issues, health and medicine, high school edition, home improvement, hospitality and tourism, information science, insurance and liability, leadership and management, military and intelligence, news, nursing and allied health, opposing viewpoints, physical therapy and sports medicine, pop culture studies, popular magazines, psychology, religion and philosophy, science, U.S. history, war and terrorism, and world history.
Gale Power Search – Publication Search Audio Directories eBooks Images Indexes IV. International Newspapers Magazines & Journals Newspapers Video
Cross-search all Gale databases to which BPL subscribes. Subjects include: agriculture, biography, business, communications and mass media, criminal justice, culinary arts, diversity studies, economics and theory, environmental studies and policy, fine arts, gardening and horticulture, gender studies, global issues, health and medicine, high school edition, home improvement, hospitality and tourism, information science, insurance and liability, leadership and management, military and intelligence, news, nursing and allied health, opposing viewpoints, physical therapy and sports medicine, pop culture studies, popular magazines, psychology, religion and philosophy, science, U.S. history, war and terrorism, and world history.
HathiTrust Digital Library eBooks Magazines & Journals
Digitized books, government publications, and other documents from the collections of an international community of research libraries. All material is indexed and searchable, but access to full reproductions is limited to material not under copyright.
Internet Archive Audio eBooks Video
Digitized texts, audio, video, software, and archived web pages, including books, manuscripts, and other written documents from the Boston Public Library.
JSTOR Magazines & Journals
Full-text articles from hundreds of scholarly journals from the mid-19th century to the early 21st century covering a wide range of subjects, including complete runs of many historical journals. The most recent 3-5 years of current journals are not available in full-text.
Latino Literature: Poetry, Drama, and Fiction eBooks
Poetry, short fiction, novels, and more than 450 plays by U.S. writers of Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, Dominican, Central American, and South American heritage, including previously unpublished and rare materials.
Listener Historical Archive (1929-1991), The Magazines & Journals
Weekly transcripts of BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) radio and television programs, representing the only record of many early broadcasts and including coverage of contemporary events as well as intellectual, literary, and musical topics.
LOTE4Kids eBooks, Audio, and Video Streaming & Downloadable Media New!
New Oxford Shakespeare
The New Oxford Shakespeare presents an entirely new consideration of all of Shakespeare's works, edited from first principles from the base-texts themselves, and drawing on the latest textual and theatrical scholarship.
North American Indian Drama eBooks
244 plays by 48 North American Indian playwrights, accompanied by searchable information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. More than half of the plays are previously unpublished.
North American Women’s Drama eBooks
1,517 plays by 330 North American women playwrights, accompanied by searchable information on related productions, theaters, production companies, and more. Includes selected playbills, production photographs, and other ephemera. Over 30% of the plays are previously unpublished.
OmniFile Full Text Select Magazines & Journals
Full-text journal articles in the sciences, social sciences, and humanities, including ethnic studies, women’s studies, history, and more. Coverage: 1972-present.
Open Library eBooks
Over 100,000 eBooks available for borrowing and reading in-browser or on mobile devices using Adobe Digital Editions. Creation of a free account is required for borrowing.
OverDrive eBooks and Audiobooks (Libby app) Audio eBooks Streaming & Downloadable Media
Thousands of digital titles available for download directly to your computer or mobile device. Download the Libby app on your device or use the app in-browser at https://libbyapp.com/
Palace eBooks, Audio, and Video Streaming & Downloadable Media New!
Palace is an all-in-one reading app that pulls titles from multiple Boston Public Library platforms into one place, including library-exclusive content from Amazon Publishing and Audible. The Palace app gives you access to new and diverse titles beyond the usual bestsellers, helping you find the widest range of digital content and better manage holds and wait times
Get the free Palace Project app from your Android or iOS mobile device's app store. Locate "Boston Public Library" and log in with your BPL card number and PIN/password.
Literary Criticism
Gale Literature
Includes full-text literary criticism articles, reference books, and biographical information including:
- Gale eBooks
- Gale Literature Criticism
- Gale Literature: Dictionary of Literary Biography
- Gale Literature: Something About the Author
Gale Literature Criticism
Full-text literary criticism articles covering works from the ancient world to the present, including poetry, short stories, drama, and children’s literature.
Literature Periodical Indexes
Index to English Literary Periodicals (1691-1888) Indexes
Indexes 233 titles in the English Literary Periodicals microfilm set, available from the Research Services Department. A variety of other subjects are also covered, including life in British America and the American Revolution.
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts Indexes
Indexes over 600 journals, books, reports, and proceedings covering librarianship, cataloging and classification, information retrieval, information management, and more. Also includes over 400,000 full-text items. Coverage: 1866-present.
Readers’ Guide Retrospective (1890-1982) Indexes
Indexes articles, book reviews, poems, and short stories from general-interest U.S. periodicals, including Time, Newsweek, and Ladies’ Home Journal.
Reading Suggestions
NoveList Plus
Fiction and nonfiction reading recommendations for adults, including reviews, articles, reading lists, and more.


