RESEARCHING THE FRENCH REVOLUTION IN THE M.S.U. LIBRARIES

Consulting Reference is in the basement, west wing
Reference is on first floor, east wing

USING THE ONLINE CATALOG BY SUBJECT-- France--history--revolution, 1789-1799 is the main heading to use. There is a tremendous amount of material here. Add - - after 1799 and add further sub-headings. These are listed in the Library of Congress List of Subject Headings, red volumes on a bookcase near the first floor Reference Desk.

GUIDES TO RESEARCH

The American Historical Association's Guide to Historical Literature. Edited by Mary Beth Norton. NY, OUP, 1995.
20 .A55 1995 v. 1 Main and Consulting Ref.

See pp. 815-870, which cover the history of France from 1450-

Osburn, Charles B. Research and Reference Guide to French Studies. Metuchen, N.J., Scarecrow Press, 1981.
Z 2175 .A2 O8 1981 Consulting Ref.

Esp. #1842, and #1972-1996.

France, a Companion to French Studies. Edited by D.G. Charlton. London, Methuen, 1983.
DC 33 .F666 1983 Consulting Ref.

Esp. Pp. 65-ca. 149. Bib.essay format with references at ends of chapters.

ENCYCLOPEDIAS AND DICTIONARIES

Marion, Marcel. Dictionnaire des Institutions de la France aux XVII et XVIII Siecles. Paris, A. and J. Picard, 1984. Rep. Of earlier ed.
DC 35 .M3 1984 Main

in French.

Raymond, Gino. Historical Dictionary of France. Lanham, MD, Scarecrow, 1998.
DC 35 .R39 1998 Reference

the most basic of sources.

Historical Dictionary of the French Revolution, 1789-1799. Edited by Samuel F. Scott and Barry Rothaus. London, Aldwych Press, 1985.
DC 147 . H57 1984 v. 1-2 Reference

topics, persons, cross refs, bib. Refs at ends of articles

Historical Dictionary of Napoleonic France, 1799-1815. Edited by Owen Connelly. Westport, Conn., Greenwood Press, 1985.
DC 201 .H673 1985 Reference

Similar to above work

Critical Dictionary of the French Revolution. Edited by Francois Furet and Mona Ozouf. London, Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, 1989.
DC 148 .D5313 1989 Reference

Sections on events, actors (people and groups involved), institutions (assemblies, committees, clubs, etc.) ideas, historians and commentators (those who have written and interpreted the Revolution). Further reading references and related topics under each article.

Jones, Colin. The Longman Companion to the French Revolution. London, Longman, 1988.
DC 148 .J57 1988 Reference

Political chronology, framework of government, the executive, structure of the terror, international relations and war, politics, administration, justice and finance, religion and ideas, society and the economy, biographies, glossary, the revolutionary calendar, select bibliography.

Paxton, John. Companion to the French Revolution. NY, Facts on File, c1988.
DC 147 .P38 1988 Reference

Dictionary arrangement. Very short entries, sans bibliographic references.

Ross, Steven T. Historical Dictionary of the Wars of the French Revolution. Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press, 1998.
DC 147 .R7 1998 Reference

Chronology of significant military and diplomatic events, 1792-1802. Dictionary arr. of entries. Bibliographic essay. Bibliography, with heavy emphasis on the war side of things.

Robert, Paul. Le Grand Robert de la Langue Francaise, Dictionnaire Alphabetique et Analogique de la Langue Francaise. Paris, le Robert, c1986.
PC 2625 .R552 v. 1-9 1986 Reference

BOOK LENGTH BIBLIOGRAPHIES

Bibliographie de la Revolution Francaise, 1940-1988. Sous la direction de Alfred Fierro. Paris, References, 1989.
DC 141 .B48 1989 v. 1-2 Consulting Ref.

in French, and emphasizing French language sources. Covers archives and their contents, politics, institutions, economics and society, religion, cultural life, local history, biography and correspondence, the Counter-Revolution, the Revolution as seen by outsiders, and the War in various locations.

Caldwell, Ronald J. The Era of the French Revolution, a Bibliography of the History of Western Civilization, 1789-1799. NY, Garland, 1985.
DC 148 f.C34 1985 v. 1-2 Consulting Ref.

Volume l: General history of the Revolutionary era. The French Revolution, 1789-1799. Background. Political history. Clubs. The Colonies. Constitutions. Counter-Revolution. Culture. Economics. French foreign policy. Law and administration. Religion. Volume 2: Local history of the French Revolution. National history of Europe at this time. National history of the Americas at this time, including Central America. Unannotated entries in a variety of languages.

Doyle, William. The French Revolution, a Bibliography of Works in English. London, the Historical Association, 1988.
Z 2178 .D69 1988 Consulting Ref.

Short, unannotated entries, in English, from English language sources.

PERIODICAL INDEX AND SERIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY

Historical Abstracts, on the WWW. Go to Library home page, choose electronic resources, choose databases, choose databases beginning with "D." Using "French Revolution" as the a subject term produces a tremendous number of hits. Best to combine this with a place or another keyword. Click on the magnifying glass icon to see the possible key terms for each possible search field.

Bibliographie Annuelle de l'Histoire de France du Cinquieme Siecle a 1958. Paris, CNR Editions, 1958-.
Z 2176 .B5 Consulting Ref.

Annual bibliography of unannotated references to works in French history. See the chapter for Histoire Politique, which has a sub-section called La Revolution Francaise. Maybe Histoire de la France Outre-mer will also be helpful. References will be primarily to French language sources.

WWW SITES

ARTFL Project, University of Chicago, on the M.S.U. Libraries' Electronic Resources Page
http://er.lib.msu.edu/item.cfm?item=000213

American and French Research on the Treasury of the French Language. Online texts. Useful if you know the author or title of the book or document you wish to read or search in online. A paid service to which MSU Libraries subscribes. Find it via the MSU Libraries' Home page, click on Electronic Resources, then under "American and French...."

France During the French Revolution and Under Napoleon Bonaparte, an Annotated Chronology of Civil and Military Events
http://www.txdirect.net/users/rrichard/napoleo1.htm

French Culture: HAPAX: French Resources on the Web
http://hapax.be.sbc.edu/

The French Revolution...Learning Resources Index
http://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/History/teaching/french-rev/

The French Revolution 1789-93
http://www.woodberry.org/acad/hist/FRWEB/index.htm

with much artwork from the period

The French Revolution Authors and Texts
http://history.hanover.edu/modern/frenchrv.htm

has copies of significant documents

French Revolution Home Page
http://members.aol.com/agentmess/frenchrev/

Project Gutenberg
http://promo.net/pg/

allows one to download Thomas Carlyle's The French Revolution, a History and read it. This was one of the earliest interpretations of it.

Internet Modern History Sourcebook French Revolution
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/modsbook13.html

Links on the French Revolution
http://userwww.port.ac.uk/andressd/frlinks.htm

Tennessee Bob's Famous French Links
http://www.utm.edu/departments/french/french.html

Voice of the Shuttle
http://vos.ucsb.edu/index-netscape.asp

Click on France.

PRIMARY RESOURCES IN PRINT FORM OR MICROFORMAT

Special Collections has "The French Monarchy Collection." This is material about the monarchy of France from the 10th c. to Napoleon, and from the Restoration of the Bourbons after the Napoleonic Wars into the 19th c. There is much material about Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette and those on the side of royalty and against the revolutionaries. There is no printed guide to the Collection. Access is via author, title, and subject in the online catalog. Try confining your search to the location Special Collections and then search for topics relative to France, persons, etc.

In the online catalog you will find primary resources by following these sub, sub-headings:

France--history--revolution 1789-1799--archival resources
France--history--revolution 1789-1799--correspondence
France--history--revolution 1789-1799--pamphlets
France--history--revolution 1789-1799--periodicals
France--history--revolution 1789-1799--personal narratives
France--history--revolution 1789-1799--sources

To say that we have a great deal of possible material is an understatement. It may be difficult to wade through so many possibilities. Work with your professor on your topic and sources. We are just pointing out the wealth of possibilities here.

We have a networked CD source, the ESTC, English Short-Title Catalogue, available via the Libraries' Electronic Resources page. This bibliography, the English Short-Title Catalogue, contains bibliographic references to monographic materials written and published either in English or in English-speaking places in any language from 1475-1800 about any topic. This provides reel numbers to the 18th Century Microfilm set (set #17435), among others, which we own. So, here you can find primary sources on film which discuss the revolutionary situation as it developed in France towards the end of the 18th century. There are 249 entries in a search for "France" and "revolution," for example, as keywords in the titles of books. While not all of these will be represented in the film set, many will be.

Agnes Widder, Humanities Bibliographer
widder@msu.edu
Revised June 3, 2002