This course is an introduction to the related tasks of locating and studying primary materials—usually manuscripts or printed documents—that are the foundations of the scholarly enterprise. Knowing how to find such materials and how to ask good questions about them can lead to genuine discoveries: discovery of previously unknown materials or the discovery of new significance about materials already known. This course also offers practical preparation for planning and funding an archival research trip, and for studying a literary work’s textual and contextually relevant histories. This course will expand the research skills for graduate students studying primary materials from any historical period, and it is designed both for those who already have a particular project in mind and for those who hope to have one in the near future.

Tasks to be covered include: using printed and online resources to locate primary materials, both the original documents and usable reproductions; using special collections in libraries and archives; studying books as physical objects; scholarly editing; and conducting historically grounded, contextual research.

Assignments will include a review of a scholarly edition, an essay on a "textual problem," and a fully developed travel grant application that should serve as a model for an actual application in the near future.

Some of the readings will be articles chosen by the students. Others include:

Richard D. Altick and John J. Fenstermaker, The Art of Literary Research, 4th edition (Norton, 1992 or 1993) (out of print but easily found online using sources such as BookFinder.com)

William Proctor Williams and Craig S. Abbott, An Introduction to Bibliographical and Textual Studies, 4th edition (MLA, 2009)

James L. Harner, Literary Research Guide: An Annotated Listing of Reference Sources in English Literary Studies (MLA) (the 5th edition was the last to be printed and its contents can be accessed using the freely available online edition; purchasing this book is optional but highly recommended)