ABSTRACT
The tentative beginnings of the task of gathering refer ences about homosexual behavior ("sodomy") lie in the 17th and 18th centuries, when savants-generally forensic physicians, legal scholars, and theologians-began to record such writings as they were able to discover. The 19th century saw two major advances: the creation of erotic bibliographies (comprising what were sometimes termed "curiosa") by collectors and booksellers; and the compiling of systematic lists of references by homosexuals themselves (e.g. Meienreis and Ulrichs). Much has been accomplished in the present century, so that bibliog raphical control in the sphere of homosexuality is cur rently regarded as well developed by librarians at the Kinsey Institute, who enjoy a panoramic command of the fields of sex research. Yet problems persist. There is a tendency, found particularly but not exclusively among American scholars, to concentrate on work in one language group, so that one’s vision of the universe of researchgeographical and temporal-is narrowed. Moreover, there is no current annual survey of progress in gay and lesbian studies. Only recently, in fact, have some of the major current subject bibliographies, such as Art Index and MLA Bibliography, introduced homosexuality as a category. En tries in some existing retrospective bibliographies are marred by misprints and incomplete references, faults which may to some extent be excused because of the rarity of many publications, which were often published semiclandestinely. In addition to the general bibliographies cited below, more specialized ones will be found through out this work under the appropriate subject categories.
