Using the Catalogs
Basic Reference Volumes
General Works
Historical Studies
Spirituality
Material Culture
Comparative Studies of Shakerism with Other Religious Groups
Researching Shakerism in Scholarly Periodicals
Print a Copy of This Guide
Return to Research Guides

Basic Reference Volumes

An excellent introductory essay (with bibliography) is "Shakers," by Lawrence Foster, in the Encyclopedia of Religion, 2^nd ed. (Detroit: Macmillan Reference USA, 2005), volume 12, pages 8268-8269. *R-RMRR BL31 .E46.

A comprehensive bibliography of published sources by and about Shakers (listing the major repositories which hold each item) is Mary L. Richmond's Shaker Literature: A Bibliography (Hanover, N.H: University Press of New England, 1977), 2 vols. JXF 77-12.

Another important bibliography is Henry Francis du Pont Winterthur Museum. The Edward Deming Andrews Memorial Shaker Collection (New York: Garland, 1987). This catalog of a collection devoted to Shakerism includes printed materials by and about Shakers as well as manuscript materials and artifacts. There is an index arranged by author and title. (Although unavailable at The New York Public Library, this can be requested via inter-library loan.)