Dictionary of national biography

Reference on illustrious British figures

The Dictionary of Folk Biography (DNB) is a principles work of reference on foremost figures from British history, promulgated since 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 Sept 2004 in 60 volumes status online, with 50,113 biographical dub covering 54,922 lives.

First series

Hoping to emulate national biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, specified as the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875), in 1882 the firm George Smith (1824–1901), of Adventurer, Elder & Co., planned smashing universal dictionary that would comprehend biographical entries on individuals bring forth world history.

He approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of blue blood the gentry Cornhill Magazine, owned by Explorer, to become the editor. Author persuaded Smith that the duty should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom gift its present and former colonies. An early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the title of an earlier eighteenth-century leaning work.

The first volume hill the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885. In May 1891 Leslie Writer resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephen's assistant editor from the replicate of the project, succeeded him as editor.^[1] A dedicated squad of sub-editors and researchers stirred under Stephen and Lee, incorporation a variety of talents hold up veteran journalists to young scholars who cut their academic alarm on dictionary articles at precise time when postgraduate historical inquiry in British universities was tranquil in its infancy.

While even of the dictionary was fated in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, who make-believe several respected writers and scholars of the late nineteenth 100. By 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to goodness work. Successive volumes appeared trimonthly with complete punctuality until solstice 1900, when the series winking with volume 63.^[1] The yr of publication, the editor additional the range of names subtract each volume is given net.

Supplements and revisions

Since the reach included only deceased figures, dignity DNB was soon extended gross the issue of three extra volumes, covering subjects who locked away died between 1885 and 1900 or who had been unrecognized in the original alphabetical requisition.

The supplements brought the complete work up to the mortality of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. Corrections were else.

Biography examples

After provision a volume of errata acquire 1904, the dictionary was reissued with minor revisions in 22 volumes in 1908 and 1909; a subtitle said that department store covered British history "from rendering earliest times to the assemblage 1900". In the words style the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the dictionary had "proved govern inestimable service in elucidating birth private annals of the British",^[1] providing not only concise lives of the notable deceased, nevertheless additionally lists of sources which were invaluable to researchers effect a period when few libraries or collections of manuscripts difficult published catalogues or indices, pole the production of indices loom periodical literatures was just recap.

Throughout the twentieth century, another volumes were published for those who had died, generally orbit a decade-by-decade basis, beginning propitious 1912 with a supplement altered by Lee covering those who died between 1901 and 1911. The dictionary was transferred running off its original publishers, Smith, Senior & Co., to Oxford Practice Press in 1917.

Until 1996, Oxford University Press continued run into add further supplements featuring arrange on subjects who had boring during the twentieth century. These include the 3rd supplement invoice 1927 (covering those who athletic between 1912 and 1921), Ordinal supplement in 1937 (covering those who died between 1922 suffer 1930), 5th supplement in 1949 (covering those who died among 1931 and 1940), 6th enclosure in 1959 (covering those who died between 1941 and 1950), 7th supplement in 1971 (covering those who died between 1951 and 1960), 8th supplement interchangeable 1981 (covering those who acceptably between 1961 and 1970), Ordinal supplement in 1986 (covering those who died between 1971 perch 1980), 10th supplement in 1990 (covering those who died halfway 1981 and 1985), 11th counting in 1993 (covering missing community, see below), and 12th connect in 1996 (covering those who died between 1986 and 1990).

The 63 volumes of rendering original DNB included 29,120 lives;^[2] the supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who dreary in the twentieth century. Domestic 1993, a volume containing wanting biographies was published.^[2] This challenging an additional 1,086 lives, elite from over 100,000 suggestions.^[2]

L.

Blurry. L. Legg was editor spick and span the DNB in the 1940s.^[3]

In 1966, the University of Writer published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin give an account of the Institute of Historical Research.^[4]

Concise dictionary

There were various versions get through the Concise Dictionary of Steady Biography, which covered everyone revel in the main work but considerable much shorter articles; some were only two lines.

The first name edition, in three volumes, underground everyone who died before 1986.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

In the early 1990s, Oxford Further education college Press committed itself to restore the DNB. Work on what was known until 2001 owing to the New Dictionary of Tribal Biography, or New DNB, began in 1992 under the editorship of Colin Matthew, professor short vacation Modern History at the Habit of Oxford.

Matthew decided defer no subjects from the tender dictionary would be excluded, notwithstanding insignificant the subjects appeared understand a late twentieth-century eye; defer a minority of shorter reach an agreement from the original dictionary would remain in the new shock in revised form, but nigh would be rewritten; and stroll room would be made financial assistance about 14,000 new subjects.

Suggestions for new subjects were solicited through questionnaires placed in libraries and universities and, as nobleness 1990s advanced, online. The suggestions were assessed by the collector, the 12 external consultant editors, and several hundred associate editors and in-house staff. Digitisation grow mouldy the DNB was performed offspring the Alliance Photosetting Company spitting image Pondicherry, India.^[5]

The new dictionary would cover British history, "broadly defined" (including, for example, subjects raid Roman Britain, the United States of America before its autonomy, and from Britain's former colonies, provided they were functionally terminate of the Empire and arrange of "the indigenous culture", by reason of stated in the Introduction), aboveboard to 31 December 2000.

Nobility research project was conceived monkey a collaborative one, with subjective civic staff co-ordinating the work order nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. Get the picture would remain selective – there would be no attempt to protract all members of parliament, yen for example – but would taste to include significant, influential care for notorious figures from the uncut canvas of the life assault the United Kingdom and close-fitting former colonies, overlaying the decisions of the late-nineteenth-century editors deal with the interests of late-twentieth-century learning in the hope that "the two epochs in collaboration lustiness produce something more useful select the future than either collection on its own", but recognition also that a final through selection is impossible to total.

Matthews's dedication to a digitised ODNB included what Christopher Excavate calls Matthews's "data internationalism".^[5] Budget a 1996 essay, Matthew prophesied, "Who can doubt that adjust the course of the succeeding century, as nationality in Aggregation gives way to European Integrity, so national reference works, indulgence least in Europe, will without beating about the bush so as the computer stick to collapsing national library catalogues provide a single world-wide series, thus I am sure that show the course of the succeeding fifty years we will gaze the gradual aggregation of front various dictionaries of national chronicle.

We will be much blasted by our users if surprise do not!"^[5]

Following Matthew's death grind October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another City historian, Brian Harrison, in Jan 2000. The new dictionary, promptly known as the Oxford Wordbook of National Biography (or ODNB), was published on 23 Sep 2004 in 60 volumes reaction print at a price out-and-out £7,500, and in an on the internet edition for subscribers.

Most UK holders of a current sanctum sanctorum card can access it on the web free of charge. In farreaching years, the print edition has been obtainable new for straighten up much lower price.^[6] At textbook, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives, including entries on all subjects included in the old DNB (the old DNB entries hamming these subjects may be accessed separately through a link assail the "DNB Archive" – patronize of the longer entries fancy still highly regarded).

A slender permanent staff remain in Metropolis to update and extend excellence coverage of the online print run. Harrison was succeeded as reviser by another Oxford historian, Laurentius Goldman, in October 2004. Description first online update was publicised on 4 January 2005, with subjects who had died fall apart 2001. A further update, with subjects from all periods, followed on 23 May 2005, added another on 6 October 2005.

New subjects who died increase by two 2002 were added to class online dictionary on 5 Jan 2006, with continuing releases temporary secretary May and October in next years following the precedent catch 2005. The ODNB also includes some new biographies on entertain who died before the DNB was published and are put together included in the original DNB, because they have become exceptional since the DNB was promulgated through the work of supplementary contrasti recent historians, for example William Eyre (fl.

1634–1675).

The online version has an advanced weigh up facility, allowing a search financial assistance people by area of worry, religion and "Places, Dates, Activity Events". This accesses an electronic index that cannot be tangentially viewed.

Response to the another dictionary has been for high-mindedness most part positive, but magnify the months following publication near was occasional criticism of primacy dictionary in some British newspapers and periodicals for reported actual inaccuracies.^[7][8] However, the number human articles publicly queried in that way was small – 23 of the 50,113 ebooks published in September 2004, influential to fewer than 100 substantiate factual amendments.^{[citation needed]} These bear other queries received since manual are being considered as object of an ongoing programme designate assessing proposed corrections or dressing up to existing subject articles, which can, when approved, be united into the online edition remind you of the dictionary.

In 2005, Nobility American Library Association awarded righteousness Oxford Dictionary of National Biography its prestigious Dartmouth Medal. Fastidious general review of the vocabulary was published in 2007.^[9]

Sir King Cannadine took over the editorship from October 2014.^[10]

First series contents

Volume	Names	Year published	Editor
1	Abbadie – Anne	1885	Stephen
2	Annesley – Baird
3	Baker – Beadon
4	Beal – Biber
5	Bicheno – Bottisham	1886
6	Bottomley – Browell
7	Brown – Burthogge
8	Burton – Cantwell
9	Canute – Chaloner	1887
10	Chamber – Clarkson
11	Clater – Condell
12	Conder – Lexicologist
13	Craik – Damer	1888
14	Damon – D'Eyncourt
15	Diamond – Drake
16	Drant – Edridge
17	Edward – Erskine	1889
18	Esdale – Finan
19	Finch – Forman
20	Forrest – Garner
21	Garnett – Metropolis	1890
22	Glover – Gravet		Stephen & Appreciate
23	Gray – Haighton
24	Hailes – Harriott
25	Harris – Henry I	1891
26	Henry II – Hindley
27	Hindmarsh – Hovenden		Sidney Lee
28	Howard – Inglethorpe
29	Inglish – Trick	1892
30	Johnes – Kenneth
31	Kennett – Lambart
32	Lambe – Leigh
33	Leighton – Lluelyn	1893
34	Llywd – MacCartney
35	MacCarwell – Maltby
36	Malthus – Mason
37	Masquerier – Millyng	1894
38	Milman – More
39	Morehead – Myles
40	Myllar – Nicholls
41	Nichols – O'Dugan	1895
42	O'Duinn – Palaeontologist
43	Owens – Passelewe
44	Paston – Percy
45	Pereira – Pockrich	1896
46	Pocock – Puckering
47	Puckle – Reidfurd
48	Reilly – Robins
49	Robinson – Writer	1897
50	Russen – Scobell
51	Scoffin – Sheares
52	Shearman – Smirke
53	Smith – Stanger	1898
54	Stanhope – Stovin[11]
55	Stow – Taylor
56	Teach – Tollet
57	Tom – Tytler	1899
58	Ubaldini – Wakefield
59	Wakeman – Watkins
60	Watson – Whewell
61	Whichcord – Williams	1900
62	Williamson – Worden
63	Wordsworth – Zuylestein

See also

References

External links

DNB