The core of the electronic thesis comprises a descriptive bibliography of John Masefield (1878-1967) including books and pamphlets entirely by Masefield, collections of letters, books edited or with contributions by the author, and anthologies. Contributions to periodicals are considered, in addition to entirely new areas within Masefield bibliography: privately printed poetry cards, translations, broadcasts and recordings. An extensive section also considers manuscripts and letters. The thesis is constructed in HyperText Markup Language (HTML) and demonstrates several computer applications within the discipline of bibliography. The paper-based introduction supplies a publishing context by presenting a narrative history of Masefield's publishing career, in which author-publisher relations are examined. The issue of self re-invention is addressed with new evidence about the author's suppression of published work and statements which reveal his intentions. This concludes that Masefield was unable to suppress certain work, failed to respond to the publishing climate and inadequate self-perception may have damaged his reputation. An investigation of Masefield's literary agent, C.F. Cazenove, demonstrates a successful commercial relationship during the infancy of literary agencies; however, an examination of private publications and presses also shows Masefield's interest in non-commercial publishing. There is also a consideration of the writer accepting publishing advice from Shaw and Hardy. A new chronology of works in the period before 1911 has been produced through an assimilation of bibliographical and manuscript research. The second part of the introduction, after assessing previous Masefield bibliographies, considers the electronic aspect of the thesis, discussing several issues concerning computer applications within bibliography. In addition to addressing aspects of bibliographical methodology, it states that the project is only viable in an electronic form if the comprehensiveness and applications of the thesis are not to be lost.