Luminarium is a very beautiful and well‐crafted Web site which has won many awards. It is a non‐profit “labor of love” site created by Anniina Jokinen for students of English literature. The site uses a combination of classic art masterpiece paintings and music from the particular eras to make it an experience to enjoy. There are currently three main areas of coverage: Medieval Literature, Renaissance Literature, and Seventeenth Century Literature.
From the main menu, a click on Medieval Literature takes you to the index of the Anthology of Middle English Literature (1350‐1485). Here you find a list of authors such as Chaucer, Sir Thomas Malory, Julian of Norwich, and others. Other categories on the list include Medieval Plays, Medieval Lyrics, Essays and Articles, and Additional Sources.
A click on Geoffrey Chaucer will take you to a Chaucer menu of:
Quotes;
The Life of Geoffrey Chaucer;
The Works of Geoffrey Chaucer;
Additional Sources;
Essays on Chaucer;
Chaucer in the Bookstore.
On entering this page, music of the era plays. The music is nice, but there is no option to turn it off, except by turning down the volume or using the stop button in the browser. When you jump to another link and return to the same page several times, the music plays again and can become annoying after a while. Quotes and Life of Chaucer link to appropriate pages of information. The Works of Chaucer connects to a listing of works with links to full‐text sources ‐ some in Middle English and some in Modern English. Additional Sources goes to biographies, listservs, bibliographies, etc. Chaucer in the Bookstore takes you to a listing of books and then to amazon.com for actual ordering.
Clicking on the Renaissance icon goes to a menu of sixteenth Century Renaissance English Literature (1485‐1603) with a list of over 20 authors, including several women. Also on this page is a link to Renaissance Resources, which has background information consisting of historical, economical, and political information of the era. Many new resources have been added, including information on Renaissance art, theatre, dance, costume, food, drink, science, medicine, etc. Essays and articles are included; and there is a special section on the plague, and on English royalty.
The third era covers Seventeenth Century English Literature ‐ Early Seventeenth Century (1603‐1660). This page has a list of early seventeenth century authors, essays and articles, and additional resources. The additional resources in this era include history and politics, music and theatre, art and architecture, and miscellaneous sources.
Luminarium is a good basic resource for English literature in the areas covered. Many resources that might be hard to find are here in one place. The site is scholarly and uses the Norton Anthology of English Literature, 6th edition for authority consultation. Submissions of articles are welcome in the Essays and Articles section in each era; and student essays are included. Luminarium is recommended for students and faculty of English literature, and should be enjoyed by all.
