• Visual Dictionaries
  • The Macmillan Visual Dictionary by Jean-Claude Corbeil
  • Merriam-Webster’s Visual Dictionary by Merriam-Webster
  • What’s What: A Visual Glossary of the Physical World by Reginald Bragonier Jr.
  • Ultimate Visual Dictionary, DK Publishing
• Guides to Symbolism
  • An Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Traditional Symbols by J. C. Cooper
  • Dictionary of Symbolism: Cultural Icons and the Meanings Behind Them by Hans Biedermann
  • 1,001 Symbols: An Illustrated Guide to Imagery and Its Meaning by Jack Tresidder
  • The Penguin Dictionary of Symbols by Jean Chevalier
  • Reverse Symbolism Dictionary: Symbols Listed by Subject by Steven Olderr
• Guides to Hierarchies
  • The Order of Things: How Everything in the World Is Organized into Hierarchies, Structures, and Pecking Orders by Barbara Ann Kipfer
• Reverse Dictionaries
  • Flip Dictionary by Barbara Ann Kipfer
  • The Describer’s Dictionary: A Treasury of Terms & Literary Quotations by David Grambs

via [http://www.dailywritingtips.com/4-types-of-reference-books-you-didn%E2%80%99t-know-you-need/]