E  -  List of Reference Books about Wodehouse’s Life and Work

It is very difficult to judge how much information to provide in relation to works about Wodehouse’s life and work.  There have been many full biographies, and a number of books concentrating on a specific aspect of his life.  There have been fairly comprehensive bibliographies, and extensive publications of research into his manner of writing and his characters.  Other books of interest have included selections of his quotations, and examples of his uncollected work with contextual commentary.  

Some of the publications were updated in second or later editions, and it is generally appropriate to list only the later version.  Other important reference works have appeared from several different publishers and in different formats.  In general, the details of the book will relate to the first edition but readers are recommended to check with internet sources as to the existence of later editions which may be easier to obtain.  

A number of books have been published in the past, which are now out of print but their contents have in effect been incorporated specifically or indirectly in more fully researched later works.  The earlier publications have been included to enable interested readers to trace the evolution of Wodehouse scholarship.

The first book detailed below has been a principal source for much of the information in this section.  As it was published in 1990, information about later books has been collected from a variety of sources including the Addendum printed in 2001.

Date Title Author Publisher Principal Areas of Interest

1990 P G Wodehouse – A Comprehensive E McIlvaine, L Sherby & James Heineman James H Heineman, Inc Comprehensive bibliography of Wodehouse’s
Bibliography 0-87008-125-X work and references to it, up to 1990

2001 Addendum to McIlvaine International Wodehouse Association, International Wodehouse Updated many sections of McIlvaine
ed Tony Ring Association (170 copies only) to reflect the activity of a decade

The remaining books can be found as follows:

Section E a  -  Books which concentrate on aspects of Wodehouse’s life

Section E b  -  Books which present a broad coverage of Wodehouse’s writing

Section E c  -  Books which concentrate on writing about specific subjects or character groupings

Section E d  -  Books which concentrate on his activities on stage and film