Ask The Puma Research Guides: Bartleby the Scrivener: A Story of Wall Street

Bartleby the Scrivener:  A Story of Wall Street

The short story “Bartleby the Scrivener,” by Herman Melville, is set in New York City in the 1840’s.  It concerns a Wall Street lawyer who has challenges in dealing with Bartleby, his unproductive clerk, or scrivener.  A major theme of this story is the sad fate of society’s nonconformists.

Call Numbers for Browsing the Shelves

• PN6120.2
• PS2382-PS2388

Circulating Books

•  Bloom, Harold (ed.). Herman Melville. 1999.

                      Call Number: PS2387 .H4 1999

• Bloom, Harold (ed.). Herman Melville’s Billy Budd, Benito Cereno, and Bartleby the Scrivener. 1996. 

                     Call Number: PS2387 .H44 1996

• Cahir, Linda C. Solitude and Society in the Works of Herman Melville and Edith Wharton. 1999.

                    Call Number: PS2388 .P6 C34 1999

• Hardwick, Elizabeth. Herman Melville. 2000.

                   Call Number: PS2386 .H34 2000

•  Levine S. Robert.  The new Cambridge companion to Herman Melville.2014

                     Call Number: PS2387.N45 2014

• Melville, Herman. Tales, Poems, and Other Writings. 2001.

                   Call Number: PS2382 .B79 2001

• Newman, Lea B. V. A Reader’s Guide to the Short Stories of Herman Melville. 1986.

                 Call Number: PS2387 .N5 1986

LINCCWeb online catalog – Search Terms

• Bartleby the Scrivener (Keywords Anywhere)
• Melville, Herman (Keywords Anywhere)
• Melville, Herman – Criticism and Interpretation (Keywords Anywhere)

Reference Materials

• Critical Survey of Short Fiction – Call Number: REF PN3321 .C7 2001

o   Vol. 4, pg. 1666-1669

• Nineteenth Century Literature Criticism – Call Number: REF PN761 .N5

o   Vol. 3, pg. 331, 354, 362, 368, 380-383

o   Vol. 49, pg. 375-430

•  Short Story Criticism – Call Number: REF PN3321 .S5

o   Vol. 1, pg. 293-331

o   Vol. 17, pg. 326-392

•  Short Stories for Students – Call Number: REF PN3330 .S386

o   Vol. 3, pg. 43-62

Research Databases

To access Valencia’s research databases, open your Atlas account, select ‘Search the Library’, then select ‘Databases A-Z’.

• Academic Search Complete
• Literature Resources from Gale

This Research Guide is designed to help users find information on a particular topic within the Valencia College East Campus Library.  This is not a comprehensive list of resources and other resources may be available at other libraries.  Please check LINCCWeb, Valencia East’s online catalog, to verify the availability of circulating books within the library.  Feel free to ask a librarian for help if you need further assistance.

Revised November 21, 2021