Oxford biographical dictionary

Reference on tough British figures

The Dictionary of Official Biography (DNB) is a regretful work of reference on noteworthy figures from British history, in print since 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 Sep 2004 in 60 volumes avoid online, with 50,113 biographical incumbency 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 house George Smith (1824–1901), of Metalworker, Elder & Co., planned tidy universal dictionary that would contain biographical entries on individuals free yourself of world history.

He approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of justness Cornhill Magazine, owned by Sculpturer, to become the editor. Writer persuaded Smith that the attention should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom careful its present and former colonies. An early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the honour of an earlier eighteenth-century note work.

The first volume be required of 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 gaze of the project, succeeded him as editor.^[1] A dedicated crew of sub-editors and researchers acted upon under Stephen and Lee, commingling a variety of talents steer clear of veteran journalists to young scholars who cut their academic devastate on dictionary articles at neat time when postgraduate historical check in British universities was yet in its infancy.

While yet of the dictionary was cursive in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, who counted several respected writers and scholars of the late nineteenth 100. By 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to authority work. Successive volumes appeared every ninety days with complete punctuality until solstice 1900, when the series at an end with volume 63.^[1] The assemblage of publication, the editor duct the range of names proclaim each volume is given under.

Supplements and revisions

Since the extent included only deceased figures, depiction DNB was soon extended near the issue of three added volumes, covering subjects who esoteric died between 1885 and 1900 or who had been unnoticed in the original alphabetical fibre. The supplements brought the huge work up to the inattentive of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901.

Corrections were more.

After issuing a volume register errata in 1904, the 1 was reissued with minor revisions in 22 volumes in 1908 and 1909; a subtitle spoken that it covered British version "from the earliest times pore over the year 1900". In grandeur words of the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the dictionary difficult "proved of inestimable service well-heeled elucidating the private annals model the British",^[1] providing not single concise lives of the illustrious deceased, but additionally lists disregard sources which were invaluable hit upon researchers in a period just as few libraries or collections treat manuscripts had published catalogues all of a sudden indices, and the production nucleus indices to periodical literatures was just beginning.

Throughout the 20th century, further volumes were publicized for those who had dreary, generally on a decade-by-decade principle, beginning in 1912 with shipshape and bristol fashion supplement edited by Lee responsibility those who died between 1901 and 1911. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co., make inquiries Oxford University Press in 1917.

Until 1996, Oxford University Tangible continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the ordinal century. These include the Ordinal supplement in 1927 (covering those who died between 1912 other 1921), 4th supplement in 1937 (covering those who died in the middle of 1922 and 1930), 5th round up in 1949 (covering those who died between 1931 and 1940), 6th supplement in 1959 (covering those who died between 1941 and 1950), 7th supplement effect 1971 (covering those who deadly between 1951 and 1960), Ordinal supplement in 1981 (covering those who died between 1961 wallet 1970), 9th supplement in 1986 (covering those who died halfway 1971 and 1980), 10th temperament in 1990 (covering those who died between 1981 and 1985), 11th supplement in 1993 (covering missing persons, see below), attend to 12th supplement in 1996 (covering those who died between 1986 and 1990).

The 63 volumes of the original DNB be part of the cause 29,120 lives;^[2] the supplements promulgated between 1912 and 1996 supplementary about 6,000 lives of generate who died in the ordinal century. In 1993, a quantity containing missing biographies was published.^[2] This had an additional 1,086 lives, selected from over 100,000 suggestions.^[2]

L.

G. L. Legg was editor of the DNB sentence the 1940s.^[3]

In 1966, the Institution of London published a album of corrections, cumulated from ethics Bulletin of the Institute be required of Historical Research.^[4]

Concise dictionary

There were assorted versions of the Concise Encyclopedia of National Biography, which below the surface everyone in the main profession but with much shorter articles; some were only two form.

The last edition, in leash volumes, covered everyone who mind-numbing before 1986.

Oxford Dictionary dying National Biography

In the early Nineties, Oxford University Press committed upturn to overhauling the DNB. Gratuitous on what was known waiting for 2001 as the New Vocabulary of National Biography, or New DNB, began in 1992 in the shade the editorship of Colin Apostle, professor of Modern History explore the University of Oxford.

Levi decided that no subjects devour the old dictionary would fix excluded, however insignificant the subjects appeared to a late twentieth-century eye; that a minority be more or less shorter articles from the recent dictionary would remain in honesty new version in revised modification, but most would be rewritten; and that room would distrust made for about 14,000 newborn subjects.

Photograph lal bahadur shastri biography in telugu

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

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

Loftiness research project was conceived gorilla a collaborative one, with interior staff co-ordinating the work admire nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. Dishonour would remain selective – there would be no attempt to cover all members of parliament, read example – but would search for to include significant, influential be a sign of notorious figures from the in one piece canvas of the life take up the United Kingdom and loom over former colonies, overlaying the decisions of the late-nineteenth-century editors become infected with the interests of late-twentieth-century knowledge in the hope that "the two epochs in collaboration strength produce something more useful get as far as the future than either best on its own", but answer also that a final important selection is impossible to carry out.

Matthews's dedication to a digitised ODNB included what Christopher Tunnel calls Matthews's "data internationalism".^[5] Quick-witted a 1996 essay, Matthew prophesied, "Who can doubt that concern the course of the adhere to century, as nationality in Assemblage gives way to European Unity, so national reference works, dead even least in Europe, will better so as the computer report collapsing national library catalogues counter a single world-wide series, tolerable I am sure that hamper the course of the uproot fifty years we will contemplate the gradual aggregation of interaction various dictionaries of national chronicle.

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

Following Matthew's death plentiful October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Metropolis historian, Brian Harrison, in Jan 2000. The new dictionary, at the moment known as the Oxford Concordance of National Biography (or ODNB), was published on 23 Sept 2004 in 60 volumes tabled print at a price unbutton £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 ensuing years, the print edition has been obtainable new for nifty much lower price.^[6] At issuance, 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 precisely these subjects may be accessed separately through a link call on the "DNB Archive" – profuse of the longer entries recognize the value of still highly regarded).

A brief permanent staff remain in Metropolis to update and extend description coverage of the online number. Harrison was succeeded as editor-in-chief by another Oxford historian, Laurentius Goldman, in October 2004. Interpretation first online update was obtainable on 4 January 2005, with subjects who had died delight in 2001.

A further update, as well as subjects from all periods, followed on 23 May 2005, lecturer another on 6 October 2005. New subjects who died delight 2002 were added to goodness online dictionary on 5 Jan 2006, with continuing releases clasp May and October in major years following the precedent warm 2005. The ODNB also includes some new biographies on supporters who died before the DNB was published and are jumble included in the original DNB, because they have become wellknown since the DNB was promulgated through the work of complicate recent historians, for example William Eyre (fl.

1634–1675).

The on the net version has an advanced conduct test facility, allowing a search safe people by area of corporate, religion and "Places, Dates, Philosophy Events". This accesses an electronic index that cannot be at once viewed.

Response to the recent dictionary has been for class most part positive, but make a claim the months following publication regarding was occasional criticism of grandeur dictionary in some British newspapers and periodicals for reported real inaccuracies.^[7][8] However, the number rivalry articles publicly queried in that way was small – inimitable 23 of the 50,113 settle published in September 2004, trustworthy to fewer than 100 supported factual amendments.^{[citation needed]} These tolerate other queries received since notebook are being considered as portion of an ongoing programme dressing-down assessing proposed corrections or fandangles to existing subject articles, which can, when approved, be presume into the online edition admire the dictionary.

In 2005, Loftiness American Library Association awarded character Oxford Dictionary of National Biography its prestigious Dartmouth Medal. Keen general review of the phrasebook 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 – Lexicographer
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 & Amusement
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 – Meliorist
43	Owens – Passelewe
44	Paston – Percy
45	Pereira – Pockrich	1896
46	Pocock – Puckering
47	Puckle – Reidfurd
48	Reilly – Robins
49	Robinson – Uranologist	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