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Oxford Bibliographies by Richard Kopley (review)

In 1974, Dameron and Cauthen, in their Edgar Allan Poe: A Bibliography of Criticism (Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press) listed over 2,700 items written in English about Edgar Allan Poe and published during the range of 1827–1967. Even at that time, now nearly four decades ago, the list was not complete and scholars have been very busy publishing new items year after year. How can a student not look at such a ponderous mass of scholarship, arguably of highly variable quality and relevance, and feel anything other than overwhelmed? Where can one possibly start? How does one begin to wade through material that could easily consume a lifetime? Essentially attempting to address this issue, Richard Kopley has contributed a chapter on Edgar Allan Poe for the Oxford Bibliographies, part of an extensive online resource produced by the Oxford University Press. The general statement for the website defines its purpose as offering “exclusive, authoritative research guides. Combining the best features of an annotated bibliography and a high-level encyclopedia, this cutting-edge resource guides researchers to the best available scholarship across a wide variety of subjects.” The idea, of course, is not entirely revolutionary. Research guides of a similar character have been created in various forms and formats, some with a more targeted focus on a given aspect of Poe’s writings and others with a broader reach of Poe and his works as a general subject. Kopley’s current effort falls toward the more comprehensive end of this curve, and he has generally met the difficult task at hand with ample skill, knowledge, and judgment. The research guide for Poe begins with a one-paragraph introduction, summarizing significant points in Poe’s life, with such essential details as birth, death, marriage, and the dates of major publications, sprinkled with a few editorial insights. It is followed by fifteen main sections (Primary Texts, Reference Works, Biographies, Influence, etc.), some of which are divided into subsections (General Editions, Specific Editions, Teaching Editions, etc.). These sections primarily feature lists of scholarly studies and collections, each entry including a short annotation, with options to save, export, or e-mail the citation. (Saving a citation requires a “My OBO” account. Exporting is supported to EndNote,