Review by Choice Review
Welcome successor to Carpenter's Modern Drama Scholarship and Criticism, 1966-1980: An International Bibliography (CH, Oct'86), this sequel brings to 25 years and 50,000 entries his efforts to enumerate exhaustively articles, books, essays, etc., on dramatic literature written from the late 19th century to the present and on those materials for stage personnel and practice that contribute to its study. The extensive front matter explains principles of inclusion, formatting conventions, and abbreviations. Indexes of the almost 2,900 playwrights treated and of authors of cited works give access to the volume. Chapters by national drama are subdivided by formal, chronological, and topical categories as appropriate, then proceed alphabetically by playwright. The volume is global in scope for work in Roman alphabet languages, is well designed, and, given the number of entries and languages involved, appears to be impeccably copyedited. Carpenter indexes hundreds more journals than MLA International Bibliography as well as kinds of sources not indexed at all or indexed inconsistently by MLA. The annual bibliography appearing in Modern Drama (1958- ; issue #2 of each volume) continues Carpenter's work. For materials before 1966, researchers must use monographs or cumulative bibliographies about playwrights, national dramas, and movements; such general indexes as Cumulated Dramatic Index, Reader's Guide, International Index to Periodicals, and IBZ; or serial bibliographies for national literatures. For advanced researchers and research-oriented collections. R. H. Kieft; Haverford College
Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Choice Review
