Recommended books
American Poetry: The Puritans Through Walt Whitman by Includes a section titled "Poetry of Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia," p. 40-45.
Stretch’d on the Bank of Delaware’s rapid Stream
Stands Philadelphia, not unknown to Fame:
…
Who (if the wishing Muse inspir’d does sing)
Shall Liberal Arts to such Perfection bring,
Europe shall mourn her ancient Fame declin’d,
And Philadelphia be the Athens of Mankind.
-- excerpt from an anonymous poem published in Titan's Almanac, attributed to George Webb
Recommended databases for poems and periodicals
- Early American Imprints, Series I: Evans, 1639-1800To get started: use the "browse by" menu to select Genre: Poems. Then search within those results for "Philadelphia" and select "in Place of Publication." You can then add other search terms as appropriate.
- America's Historical Newspapers: Early American Newspapers, Series 2-7, 1741-1922To get started: select Article Types: Poetry. Then select Places of Publication: Pennsylvania. Specific which newspapers to search using location field to decide. Then, leaving the search box empty, hit "Search." You can then add other search terms as appropriate.
- American Periodicals Series (1741-1940)To get started: under "Document type," select "Poem." American Periodicals does not have a "place of publication" selector, so you will have to search for "Philadelphia" as a keyword ("Anywhere").
Recommended databases for secondary literature and criticism
In addition to providing a context in which to situate your own arguments, secondary literature can help you track down primary sources. When an article or book author discusses a primary work, they generally provide a full citation. That citation can give you the tools you need to find the same source in order to create your own analysis.
Recommended article
Huddleston, Eugene L. "Poetical Descriptions of Pennsylvania in the Early National Period." The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography 93.4 (1969): 487-509.
Available via JSTOR.
Subject Guide
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Help?
If you need help tracking down a primary or secondary source, please contact Zara at zara.wilkinson@camden.rutgers.edu. If you need help immediately, chat with a librarian or stop by the reference desk on the first floor of the Paul Robeson Library.