The Editor’s Essay Review

The Editor’s Essay Review There has been some notable pioneer work done in the past forty years years in western literary history and bibliography. One of the earliest of these studies was J. Frank Dobie’s GUIDE TO LIFE AND LITERATURE OF THE SOUTHWEST which began as a brief mimeographed handout for his students at the University of Texas. SOUTHW EST HERITAGE: A LITERARY HISTORY W ITH BIBLIOGRAPHY by Mabel Major, et al., which has been through several revisions during the past three decades is soon to be issued in a new edition. Franklin D. Walker’s A LITERARY HISTORY OF SOUTH­ ERN CALIFORNIA and SAN FRANCISCO’S LITERARY FRONTIER are the most important studies of literature on the West Coast, and the latter has recently been revised in an excellent cloth format by the University of Washington Press. As I have mentioned before, Ramon F. Adams SIX GUNS AND SADDLE LEATHER, revised and greatly enlarged, now gives authorita­ tive assessmet of 2491 western books on outlaws—and much more. Finally, I must mention Oscar O. Winther’s most comprehensive and useful bibliography detailing in subject categories the periodical literature of the West from 18111957 in 652 pages. In addition to maintaining current bibliography—as we are doing in WESTERN AMERICAN LITERATURE—two important areas of research need to be pursued: the compiling of bibliography of bibliographies of West­ ern literature and studies contributing toward a literary history of the West. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF BIBLIOGRAPHIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE. By Charles H. Nilon. (New York: R. R. Bowker Company, 1970. xi + 483 pages, index, n.p.) Professor Nilon of the University of Colorado has drawn upon countless specialized book and pamphlet bibliographies dealing with individual authors, regions, and a wide array of subjects as well as on the bibliographies provided in numerous periodicals, American and European. He has used a computer in the selection, sorting, storage, and retrieval of this vast amount of bibli­ ographical data. He has organized the book into four sections. The first deals with basic American bibliographies and union catalogs. Part two presents works on American authors from the seventeenth century to the present. Part three is concerned with four genres: literary history and criticism, drama, fiction, and poetry. Part four is called ancillary, and a number of its thirty 272 Western American Literature sections are particularly relevant to the student of western literature, especially 8. Folklore, Legend, Myth; 11. Humor, Satire; 12. Indian Language, Literature; 23. Regionalism; 24. Regions; 25. States; and 30. Travels. There are, however, some notable limitations to this study. Nilon draws upon only about 125 journals; whereas, Leary in his 1970 revision of ARTICLES on AMERICAN LITERATURE, 1950-1967, lists some 750 source journals. It is interesting to note that Nilon has listed no references to Wallace Stegner though there were two published, in COLLEGE ENGLISH and AMERICAN QUARTERLY, two of his source journals. There was also a reference to Stegner in CANADIAN LITERATURE which I suspect is more relevant to western literature than some journals Nilon used. But the ironic and astonish­ ing thing is that Nilon makes no reference to WESTERN AMERICAN L IT ­ ERATURE which had published twenty-two issues, including numerous bibli­ ographies before his volume was published. BIBLIOGRAPHICAL GUIDE TO THE STUDY OF THE LITERATURE OF THE U.S.A. By Clarence Gohdes. (Durham, N. C.: Duke University Press, 1970, third edition, revised and enlarged, x + 134 pages, $5.00.) ARTICLES ON AMERICAN LITERATURE 1950-1967. Compiled by Lewis Leary with the assistance of Carolyn Bartholet and Catharine Roth. (Durham, N. C.: Duke University Press, 1970. xxi + 751 pages, $20.00.) The preeminence of Duke University Press in the publication of American literary scholarship is evidenced by the publication of these two volumes. For thirteen years the Gohdes volume has been a major handbook for librarians, teachers, and graduate students. This third edition has been updated with new titles and obsolete ones eliminated. Particularly of interest to students of western literature is section 30: “Selected Studies of Regional Literature,” which is significantly enlarged over the 1963 edition. WESTERN AMERICAN LITERATURE is listed though inaccurately and somewhat inadequately: our bibliographies and announcements of research are published annually in...