Editor's comment: the below notes reflect research conducted through June, 1993. The version in the Winter 1996 issue of The Southern Quarterly will reflect statistics through 1995.
For a literature review of the major Percy criticism up until recent, see Crowley, Donald J. (1989, below) in his "Introduction," especially pp. 6-34. Also, see Kramer, Victor A. et al (1983, below) pp. 61-65. Alternatively, the reader can consult the book American Literary Scholarship, An Annual, edited by David J. Nordloh and published by Duke University Press. Available volumes presently cover the years 1963 to 1991 with Percy making his first appearance in the 1967 Annual (pp. 201-2).
As for book-length critical works available, the total for the period 1972-93 (excluding bibliographies and biographies) currently stands at 26, in addition to 3 works published by foreign presses. Hobson (1988) only lists 14 book-length works in her section "Extended Works, books." See below for a complete listing of these.
Compilation of this bibliography involved a catalog search of no less than 35 major university library systems, including the three primary Percy research centers of UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Mississippi, and Louisiana State University. Other library holdings that are particularly strong include, in the South, the University of Alabama, Auburn, the University of Texas, Tulane, Vanderbilt, and the University of Virginia. UC-Berkeley, Cornell, Harvard, the University of Michigan, and the University of Toronto are also strong.
The following are brief annotations of the available major bibliographies as organized by year:
(1986) Wright, Stuart T. Walker Percy, A Bibliography, 1930-1984: Based on the Collection of the Compiler, including Books, Pamphlets, Magazines, Journals, Newspapers, etc.
Wright provides a chronological descriptive bibliography of Percy writings dating from May, 1930 to October, 1984. It is organized according to five headings: Separate Publications; First Appearance Contributions to Books; First Appearance Contributions to Periodicals; Interviews and Published Comments; and Miscellaneous. An index is included. Special features include several offprint and domestic paperback items in Section A and a complete chronological listing of Percy's early writings 1930-1954 in Section C.
(1988) Hobson, Linda Whitney. Walker Percy: A Comprehensive Descriptive Bibliography.
Hobson provides the most comprehensive available bibliography, which is organized into two halves.
Part A offers a descriptive bibliography of Percy's writings [from ca. 1954] to April, 1987 (pp. 3-70). After treating his separate cover works, she divides the remainder of Percy's writings into four groups: Reviews and review essays; Articles, introductions, essays, excerpts; Interviews, speeches, panels; and Records, tapes, miscellaneous. Each is chronologically arranged. Of special note are the photographs of Percy's first edition books appearing in the beginning section and the listing there of the published foreign editions.
Part B covers the secondary resources to at least Autumn, 1987 (pp. 71-115) and is divided into three main headings: Extended works (books, bibliographies, dissertations and theses); Periodical articles and reviews, biographical material, chapters in books; and Reviews and articles in newspapers and magazines. Each is organized alphabetically by author. Special features include selected reviews of the major critical studies works and the division of resource materials (reviews and essays) by the Percy novel or non-fiction work to which they pertain. There is, however, no comprehensive index as in Kramer et al.
(1991) "Walker Percy Papers" #4294, Southern Historical Collection, Manuscripts Department, Library of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, NC.
The following summary is listed by Tim West et al, compilers: Notes, outlines, source material, partial and complete drafts, setting copies and proofs of writings of novelist and essayist Walker Percy. Most of these papers are notes and draft material relating to Percy's novels. The Moviegoer (1961), The Last Gentleman (1966), Love in the Ruins (1971), Lancelot (1977), and The Second Coming (1980); his two non-fiction works, The Message in the Bottle (1975), and Lost in the Cosmos (1983); and two unpublished works, a novel, "The Gramercy Winner,"and a non-fiction work, "Symbol and Existence: A Study in Meaning." [About 255 items].
(1993) Mills, Henry P. "An Essential Walker Percy Bibliography to 1993.
In light of the work achieved by all prior bibliographies, I have sought to attain the following goals: 1) Update all major resources to 1993, in particular the available book-length works (both domestic and foreign), dedicated journal issues (which can be considered as major resources), and memorials; 2) Provide a chronological listing of Percy's writings on language; and 3) Offer a brief chronological listing of the major Percy essays on fiction separate from all his periodical literature. All, I hope, will provide the most direct and current bibliography on Percy in addition to a more manageable, useful breakdown of resource categories for the reasearcher interested in the available Percy materials.