Subject Guide
Background Information and Bibliographies
Review articles and reference articles written by scholars in economic history are valuable tools to quickly get a sense of what questions have already been asked by researchers as well as open questions of interest for further exploration. It is a great way to explore topic ideas, flesh out your contextual understanding, and identify potential sources to use for your own paper.
These works are not generally considered original research, so these are more springboards than works you would cite in your paper. There are exceptions to this rule, however, which you can discuss with your professor or a librarian.
The New Palgrave Dictionary of Economics. 3rd Ed.ISBN: 1349951897Publication Date: 2018Far more than just an alphabetical collection of definitions, this standard reference source in Economics has entries on concepts and individuals, provides pithy overviews along with bibliographies of important literature on each entry.
The Oxford Encyclopedia of Economic History by Call Number: CC Ref HC15 .O94 and OnlineISBN: 0195105079Availability and more information from Catalyst...
The entries in this encyclopedia provide excellent background and overview information as well as help in framing a particular concept within the field of economic history. Relatively lengthy bibliographies are included at the end of each entry.
Routledge Handbook of Modern Economic History by ISBN: 1283972719Publication Date: 2013"The Routledge Handbook of Modern Economic History aims to introduce readers to important approaches and findings of economic historians who study the modern world. Its short chapters reflect the most up-to-date research and are written by well-known economic historians who are authorities on their subjects."
An Economist’s Guide to Economic History by ISBN: 3319965689Publication Date: 2018From the Palgrave Studies in Economic History, this overview reference source has chapters on both methods and approaches to economic history as well as topics.
- Oxford Handbooks Reviews on Economic HistoryOxford Handbooks Online contain research reviews written and edited by scholars in the field. Reviews are a great way to find influential scholarship over time.
- Oxford Bibliography of Medieval Economic HistoryOxford Bibliographies provide accessible annotated bibliographies of research on broad topics. Written by scholars in the field, organized by sub-topic, and a great way to identify specialized journals or data sources.
- Oxford Bibliography of Economy and Consumption
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A bibliography of Atlantic economic history from 1500 to 1800. 
Encyclopedia of European Social History from 1350 to 2000 by Call Number: Ref HN373 .E63 2001 v.1 - 6Less targeted specifically to economic history, this broader series contains helpful essays with highly vetted bibliographies providing a helpful entry into the literature.
- Credo Reference This link opens in a new window
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Search here for topics, names, events, types of research. A great scholarly alternative to Wikipedia. For example, search "price revolution" britain. You'll find an article, "Inflation of Prices 16th and 17th Centuries" in the _Reader's Guide to British History_.
Handbook of Cliometrics by ISBN: 3642404057Publication Date: 2016From the abstract: "The articles in the handbook authored by the leading scholars in the fields, stress the usefulness of cliometrics for economists, historians and social scientists in general. The Handbook offers a comprehensive coverage of topics with each article providing an overview of the contributions of cliometrics to a particular topic."
Country and Topical Encyclopedias
Browse the reference shelves from DA through DJK for bibliographies focused on countries or topics. Within these specialized sources one can find bibliographies relevant to economic history. A few examples of what you can find there include:
- Encyclopedia of the Victorian Era
Reference DA 550 .E527 2004 v. 1-4 - Encyclopedia of Romanticism: Culture in Britain, 1780's - 1830's
Reference DA 529 .E53 1992 - Britain in the Hanoverian Age, 1714-1837: An Encyclopedia
Reference DA 480 .B75 1997
Selected Web Resources
- Economic History (EH.Net)Aimed at scholars in economic history, this site contains bibiographies, an Encyclopedia of Economic and Business History, abstracts of research, various databases and web links. It is supported by various associations such as Economic History Association, the Economic History Society, and the History of Economics Society.
- The WWW Virtual Library - Economic and Business History - EuropeThis collection of selected information on the web is maintained by the Netherlands Economic History Archive. See also the page on Labour History.
- JEL/EconLit Subject DescriptorsThis list of JEL descriptors, which is a bit easier to read than the thesaurus in EconLit, is used by the EconLit database as well as most databases of working papers and indexes on the web. Try searching Google by your appropriate classification.
- McMaster University - Archive for the History of Economic ThoughtFull text texts: "This archive is an attempt to collect in one place a large number of significant texts in the history of economic thought. I have tried to cast my nets as wide as possible including representative texts of all of the major thinkers and schools of thought; and most of the sub-fields of economics." quoted from site.
- Victorian Economics (on Victorian Web)Various articles on economics in Victorian Britain.
