History of Russia
Bell's major work was his annotated edition of the "English Poets" (24 vols., 1854–1857; new ed., 29 vols., 1866), the works of each poet being prefaced by a memoir. For Lardner's, "Cabinet Cyclopaedia" he wrote "History of Russia" (3 vols., 1836–1838) and "Lives of English Poets" (2 vols., 1839).