My intention is to eventually list (and / or provide downloadable links, in the case of non-copyrighted material) to as many known works on the Celts, ancient and modern, and related matters, as possible. I have read many of the works cited in the course of 50-plus years. Others were recommended to me by people whose judgement I value. They vary from popularized introductions to serious scholarly texts.
I have avoided quasi-mystical interpretations of Celtic culture, as many are flawed from a standpoint of accuracy. While I don't believe this is the "Alpha-Omega" of things Celtic, I believe it is a disservice not to give readers the most reliable information possible. Likewise, I avoid metaphysical or religious works per se, except where they tie into known historical contexts.
Not all these works or their conclusions are guaranteed 100% accurate - probably an impossibility, especially given the breadth and nature of the subject. Some will disagree with other equally respectable works, as is the nature of scholarship. Some are dated and superseded by later research and knowledge, which is exploding at this point. However, even the dated ones may have things of interest. For example, I have included the impressive work of Henri Hubert, even though his research and writing were carried out prior to WW II.
The list is broken into sections, commencing with Classical Mediterranean sources, followed by works from more recent times. There are sections listed by countries or regions with Celtic connections, and periodicals.
I would value any assistance to move this project forward and hopefully to carry it on past my time. This is a huge undertaking, as you can imagine, and not currently financed or assisted except for the generosity of a very few kind folk who have donated what they could to help fund the project. Sadly, this has not amounted to even one month's costs over the course of the time this has been on line. Likewise, I am always seeking committed people with a background and / or interest who would like to assist with the project. There is much to do, and at my end of the pipeline, little time to do it.
CLASSICAL BIBLIOGRAPHY
(Wherever known, I've listed the specific book, volume, and section dealing with the Celts, and a translation version. If you have further information, you can help this project by sending me any additions or corrections.)
Appian, Illyrica, Vol. IV.
Athanaeus
Caesar, Caius Julius, De Bello Gallico, translated by S. A. Handford, Penguin, 1951.
Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica.
Festus, Rufus Avienus, Ora Maritima and Epitome, XLIII.
Pliny, Historiae Naturae, IV, 27.
Hecataeus
Herodotus, Historiae
Livy, Historiae, translated by Aubrey de Selincourt, Penguin, 1951.
Lucan, Pharsalia.
Lucian of Samostrata
Pausanias, Guide to Greece, Vol. I Trans. Peter Levi, Penguin, 1971.
Plutarch, Lives, (Marius).
Polybius, Historiae trans. W. R. Paton, Howard Univ. Press, 1922.
Pomponius Mela, (?) , III, 5.
Poseidonius, Ethnography, (reconstructed by Tierney – see Periodicals below.)
Pytheas of Massilia, Voyages.
Strabo, Geographica, VII, 2.
Tacitus, P. Cornelius, Historiae, translated by Kenneth Wellesley, Penguin, 1976, also, Tacitus on Britain (Agricola) and Germania, Trans. by Harold Mattingly, Penguin, 1967, and Annals of Imperial Rome
Vergil, Aeneid, Book VIII.
Vopiscus, Thimeriaris, XIV, Amelianus, XLIII, 4, 5. XIV, 30 XIV, & Agricola.
THE CELTS
Art of the Celts, Lloyd and Jenifer Laing, Thames and Hudson, London 1992 ISBN 0-500-20256-7
Celtic Art: From Its Beginnings to the Book of Kells, Ruth and Vincent Megaw, Thames & Hudson, 2001, ISBN 0-500-28265-X
Celtic & Anglo-Saxon Painting, Nordenfolk, C., NY Braziller
Celtic Britain, Laing, L., Hunter Publications, 1984
Celtic Civilization, Markale, J.
Celtic Heritage, Rhys, A. & B.
Celtic Miscellany, Jackson, K. H., Penguin
Celtic Myths and Legends, Squire, C., Gramercy, 1994
Celtic Mythology, Maccana, P., London, Hamlyn, 1970
Celtic World, Green, Miranda, Routledge, 1995
The Celts, Chadwick, Norah, Penguin, 1978
The Celts, Eluere, Christian, Harry N Abrams, 1993
The Celts, Herm, Gerhard, St. Martin's Press, 1975
The Celts, Kruta, V. Thames and Hudson, 1993
The Celts, Powell, T.G.E., NY, Praeger, 1969
The Celts, Raftery, J., Mercier Press, 1967
The Celts, Emergence of Man, Time/Life Books
The Druids, Piggott, S., Penguin
Everyday Life of the Pagan Celts, Ross, A., London, Batsford, 1970
Heroes of the Dawn: Celtic Myth (Myth and Mankind), Time-Life Books, 1998
History of the Celtic People, Hubert, H, Bracken Books, London, 1993
The Celtic World, Cunliffe, B., McGraw Hill, 1979 - IMO, one of the all-time best works on the subject.
What Life Was Like: Among Druids and High Kings : Celtic Ireland AD 400-1200, Time-Life Books
Celtic Countries / Regions
Alba (Scotland)
The Highland Clans, Moncrieffe, I. & Hicks, D., Bramhall House
Culloden, Prebble, John, Penguin
Glencoe, Prebble, John, Penguin
The Highland Clearances Prebble, John, Penguin
The Lion in the North, Prebble, John, Penguin
Mutiny, Prebble, John, Penguin
Montrose, Buchan, John, London, Hodder & Stoughton, 1949
The Setts of the Scottish Tartans, Stewart, D. C., Shepheard & Walwyn
Breiz (Brittany)
Bardach Breiz
Cymru (Wales)
Mabinogion, trans. Patrick Ford, UCLA Press
Eire (Ireland)
Ancient Ireland, Macalister, R.A.S., Arno Press, NY, 1978
Cuchullain of Muirthemne, Lady Gregory. (Also see Tain Bo Cuailgne, below)
Course of Irish History, Moody & Martin, NY, Weybright & Talley, 1967
Fundamental Irish History, Murray, E. J., NY, Vantage Press, 1974
Gods & Fighting Men, Lady Gregory, Colin Smythe, 1970
History of Ireland, Gill & Macmillan, 1972
How the Irish Saved Civilization (Hinges of History), Cahill, T., Anchor, 1996 Language: English ISBN-10: 0385418493 ISBN-13: 978-0385418492
Ireland in Pre-Celtic Times, Macalister, R.A.S., Blom, 1970
The Irish World, deBreffny, B. (ed.) Abrams, NY,1977
Jacobite Ireland, Simms, J. G., U. of Toronto, 1969
Old Irish & Highland Dress, McClintock, H.E.
Short History of Ireland, Beckett, J.C., London, Hutchinson, 1967
Tain Bo Cuailgne - (Cattle Raid of Cooley) trans. Thomas Kinsella (also see Cuchullain, above)
Kernau (Cornwall)
Galicia
THE CELTS - PERIODICALS & PUBLICATIONS
The Celts: Europe's Founders, National Geographic, May, 1977
The Celtic Ethnography of Poseidonius; Translations of the Texts of Athanaeus, Diodorus Siculus, Strabo, Caesar, Tierney, Brian, Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy, 60, 1960
The Linguistic and Historical Value of the Irish Law Tracts, Binchy, D. A., Proceedings of the British Academy, XXIX, (1943) 195-227.
MUSIC AND POETRY
Several of the following are available for download here.
The Irish and Highland Harp, Armstrong, Robert Bruce, Edinburgh: David Douglass, 1904.
Irish Folk Music and Dances, Breathanach, Breandan, Cork & Dublin, Mercrier Press, 1977.
Ancient Irish Music, Bunting, Edward, Dublin: W. Power & Co., 1796 (also editions in 1809, 1840).
"An Historical Enquiry respecting the Performance on the Harp in the Highlands of Scotland" Gunn, John, 1807
Irish Minstrels and Musicians, O'Neill, Francis, Chicago: Regan Printing House, 1913
Irish Folk Music, A fascinating Hobby, O'Neill, Francis
(A modern reprint of Captain O' Neill's works were made in the 1970s by Barry O'Neill, but they are now hard to find.)
General Collection of Irish Music, Petrie, George, London: Boosey and Co., 1903.
An Introduction to Gaelic Poetry, Thompson, Derek, London: Victor Gollancz, 1977.
THE INDO-EUROPEANS
"Oriental Jones: A biography of Sir William Jones, 1746-1794" Cannon, Garland H., Bombay: Asia Pub. House Indian Council for Cultural Relations, 1964.
"The letters of Sir William Jones" Jones, William, Sir; Cannon, Garland H. (Ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. 1970, ISBN 0-1981-2404-X.
"Sir William Jones: A bibliography of primary and secondary sources" Cannon, Garland H. Amsterdam: Benjamins, 1979 ISBN 9-0272-0998-7.
"Objects of enquiry: Life, contributions and influence of Sir William Jones" Cannon, Garland H.; & Brine, Kevin, New York University Press, 1995, ISBN 0-8147-1517-6.
"Sir William Jones" Franklin, Michael J., Cardiff: University of Wales Press, 1995, ISBN 0-7083-1295-0.
"Sir William Jones: A study in eighteenth-century British attitudes to India" Mukherjee, S. N., London, Cambridge University Press, 1968. ISBN 0-5210-5777-9.
"World languages and human dispersals: a minimalist view" Renfrew, C. in: "Transition to Modernity: Essays on Power, Wealth and Belief", Hall, J. A., and Jarvie, I. C. (eds), 1992, pp. 11-68, Cambridge University Press.
Two textbooks of historical linguistics also contain brief discussions of Renfrew's ideas:
"Historical Linguistics", Trask, R. L. Arnold 1996, (pp. 360-361, 399-400).
"Language History, Language Change and Language Relationship", Hock, H. H. and Joseph, D. J., Mouton de Gruyter, 1996, (p. 526).
"In Search of the Indo-Europeans: Language, Archaeology and Myth", Mallory, J. P. Thames & Hudson, 1989.
"The Tarim Mummies: Ancient China and the Mystery of the Earliest Peoples from the West" Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H., London: Thames and Hudson, 2000 ISBN: 0-5000-5101-1
THE INDO-EUROPEANS - PERIODICALS & PUBLICATIONS
"Archaeology, genetics and linguistic diversity" Renfrew, Colin, 1992, Man 27: 445-478.
"Language families as evidence of human dispersals" Renfrew, Colin in: "The Origin and Past of Modern Humans as Viewed from DNA" Sidney Brenner and Kazuro Hanihara (eds), Singapore: World Scientific, 1995, pp. 285-306,
"The Ethnic Identity of the Mummies Found in the Tarim Basin" Mallory, J. P. and Mair, Victor H., Asian Ethnicity, Volume 5, Number 1, February 2004, Pages: 121 - 128
Miscellenaeous
The Bhagavad Gita, Mascaro, J., Penguin Books, 1963
Diamond, Jared (2005). "Guns, Germs, and Steel" W.W. Norton and Co., NY ISBN 0-393-06131-0
