Book: how to cite in Chicago Style – notes and bibliography (17th ed.)?

Create a spot-on reference in Chicago 18, 17 and 16

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General rules

To reference a book in a bibliography according to Chicago Style – notes and bibliography, 17th ed. (also commonly referred to as 'Chicago A'), use the following template:

Author. Title. Edition number. City: Publisher, year of publication.

For a book with editors and/or translators, use the following template:

Author. Title. Edited by Editor. Translated by Translator. Edition number. City: Publisher, year of publication.

Or, if the source has no authors:

Editor, ed. Title. Edition number. City: Publisher, year of publication.

Translator, trans. Title. Edition number. City: Publisher, year of publication.

In addition, your reference might include the information on the volume (if you are citing a multivolume edition or a part of it), date of original edition, series, author of the foreword, illustrator, and so on.

For a book published online, give the URL address at which the book can be accessed at the end of the reference. Indicate the date of access only if no information is available on the date of publication. If the latter is true, also put 'n.d.' (for no date) in place of the date of publication in the reference.

The template of full note is similar:

Author, Title, edited by Editor, edition number (City: Publisher, year), number of the cited page.

Template of short note:

Author, Title, number of the cited page.

For more information on how to cite authors, editors, translators, and other contributors, see this article.

Examples of references in a bibliography

Chomsky, Noam. Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought. 3rd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009.

Beowulf. New York: Pocket Books, 2005.

Copleston, Frederick. History of Philosophy. Vol. 2, Medieval Philosophy. London: Continuum, 2003. https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=KmhCGt9hKC8C.

Examples of notes

1. Noam Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics: A Chapter in the History of Rationalist Thought, 3rd ed. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009), 32.

2. Beowulf (New York: Pocket Books, 2005), 63.

3. Frederick Copleston, History of Philosophy, Vol. 2, Medieval Philosophy (London: Continuum, 2003), 122, https://books.google.com.ua/books?id=KmhCGt9hKC8C.

4. Chomsky, Cartesian Linguistics, 33.

5. Beowulf, 63.

6. Copleston, Medieval Philosophy, 123.