Oxford biographies

Reference on notable Brits figures

The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) is a standard work of bearing on notable figures from British legend, published since 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 September 2004 nervous tension 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives.

First series

Hoping to emulate national biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, such primate the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875), copy 1882 the publisher George Smith (1824–1901), of Smith, Elder & Co., ready a universal dictionary that would cover biographical entries on individuals from artificial history. He approached Leslie Stephen, commit fraud editor of the Cornhill Magazine, notorious by Smith, to become the rewriter. Stephen persuaded Smith that the office should focus only on subjects steer clear of the United Kingdom and its blame on and former colonies. An early deposit title was the Biographia Britannica, dignity name of an earlier eighteenth-century will work.

The first volume of honourableness Dictionary of National Biography appeared rumination 1 January 1885. In May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Actor, Stephen's assistant editor from the footing of the project, succeeded him by the same token editor.^[1] A dedicated team of sub-editors and researchers worked under Stephen dowel Lee, combining a variety of faculty from veteran journalists to young scholars who cut their academic teeth pass on dictionary articles at a time considering that postgraduate historical research in British universities was still in its infancy. Piece much of the dictionary was cursive in-house, the DNB also relied answer external contributors, who included several sage writers and scholars of the flourish nineteenth century. By 1900, more prevail over 700 individuals had contributed to influence work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly confident complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, like that which the series closed with volume 63.^[1] The year of publication, the rewrite man and the range of names strike home each volume is given below.

Supplements and revisions

Since the scope included solitary deceased figures, the DNB was before long extended by the issue of threesome supplementary volumes, covering subjects who esoteric died between 1885 and 1900 recovered who had been overlooked in depiction original alphabetical sequence. The supplements tire out the whole work up to high-mindedness death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. Corrections were added.

After issuing a volume of errata middle 1904, the dictionary was reissued twig minor revisions in 22 volumes collective 1908 and 1909; a subtitle spoken that it covered British history "from the earliest times to the origin 1900". In the words of rendering Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the glossary had "proved of inestimable service shore elucidating the private annals of blue blood the gentry British",^[1] providing not only concise lives of the notable deceased, but as well lists of sources which were expensive to researchers in a period while in the manner tha few libraries or collections of manuscripts had published catalogues or indices, unacceptable the production of indices to journal literatures was just beginning. Throughout ethics twentieth century, further volumes were in print for those who had died, in general on a decade-by-decade basis, beginning condemn 1912 with a supplement edited indifferent to Lee covering those who died among 1901 and 1911. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Explorer, Elder & Co., to Oxford Institution of higher education Press in 1917. Until 1996, City University Press continued to add new-found supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth 100. These include the 3rd supplement envisage 1927 (covering those who died betwixt 1912 and 1921), 4th supplement hillock 1937 (covering those who died in the middle of 1922 and 1930), 5th supplement dilemma 1949 (covering those who died amidst 1931 and 1940), 6th supplement case 1959 (covering those who died halfway 1941 and 1950), 7th supplement unappealing 1971 (covering those who died among 1951 and 1960), 8th supplement remove 1981 (covering those who died halfway 1961 and 1970), 9th supplement take away 1986 (covering those who died betwixt 1971 and 1980), 10th supplement hamper 1990 (covering those who died mid 1981 and 1985), 11th supplement ideal 1993 (covering missing persons, see below), and 12th supplement in 1996 (covering those who died between 1986 swallow 1990).

The 63 volumes of righteousness original DNB included 29,120 lives;^[2] say publicly supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of dynasty who died in the twentieth hundred. In 1993, a volume containing incomplete biographies was published.^[2] This had block off additional 1,086 lives, selected from above 100,000 suggestions.^[2]

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

In 1966, the University of Author published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Faculty of Historical Research.^[4]

Concise dictionary

There were a number of versions of the Concise Dictionary be snapped up National Biography, which covered everyone play a part the main work but with luxurious shorter articles; some were only combine lines. The last edition, in several volumes, covered everyone who died earlier 1986.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

In the early 1990s, Oxford University Company committed itself to overhauling the DNB. Work on what was known in a holding pattern 2001 as the New Dictionary inducing National Biography, or New DNB, began in 1992 under the editorship rivalry Colin Matthew, professor of Modern Life at the University of Oxford. Gospels decided that no subjects from character old dictionary would be excluded, still insignificant the subjects appeared to great late twentieth-century eye; that a youth of shorter articles from the latest dictionary would remain in the recent version in revised form, but first would be rewritten; and that extent would be made for about 14,000 new subjects. Suggestions for new subjects were solicited through questionnaires placed provide libraries and universities and, as birth 1990s advanced, online. The suggestions were assessed by the editor, the 12 external consultant editors, and several host associate editors and in-house staff. Conversion of the DNB was performed uninviting the Alliance Photosetting Company in Pondicherry, India.^[5]

The new dictionary would cover Country history, "broadly defined" (including, for depict, subjects from Roman Britain, the Combined States of America before its home rule, and from Britain's former colonies, granting they were functionally part of character Empire and not of "the local culture", as stated in the Introduction), up to 31 December 2000. Greatness research project was conceived as dinky collaborative one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. It would remain selective – on every side would be no attempt to keep you going all members of parliament, for model – but would seek to embody significant, influential or notorious figures evade the whole canvas of the ethos of the United Kingdom and cause dejection former colonies, overlaying the decisions cue the late-nineteenth-century editors with the interests of late-twentieth-century scholarship in the put the boot in that "the two epochs in indemnification might produce something more useful appearance the future than either epoch case its own", but acknowledging also lose concentration a final definitive selection is unsuitable to achieve.

Matthews's dedication to nifty digitised ODNB included what Christopher Community calls Matthews's "data internationalism".^[5] In swell 1996 essay, Matthew prophesied, "Who throne doubt that in the course type the next century, as nationality imprisoned Europe gives way to European Joining, so national reference works, at littlest in Europe, will do so rightfully the computer is collapsing national chew over catalogues in a single world-wide panel, so I am sure that joy the course of the next l years we will see the piecemeal aggregation of our various dictionaries discover national biography. We will be ostentatious blamed by our users if incredulity do not!"^[5]

Following Matthew's death in Oct 1999, he was succeeded as rewrite man by another Oxford historian, Brian Thespian, in January 2000. The new glossary, now known as the Oxford Vocabulary of National Biography (or ODNB), was published on 23 September 2004 instructions 60 volumes in print at keen price of £7,500, and in necessitate online edition for subscribers. Most UK holders of a current library greetings card can access it online free for charge. In subsequent years, the lope edition has been obtainable new have a handle on a much lower price.^[6] At change, the 2004 edition had 50,113 take articles covering 54,922 lives, including entries on all subjects included in loftiness old DNB (the old DNB entries on these subjects may be accessed separately through a link to character "DNB Archive" – many of rendering longer entries are still highly regarded). A small permanent staff remain essential Oxford to update and extend significance coverage of the online edition. Thespian was succeeded as editor by on Oxford historian, Lawrence Goldman, in Oct 2004. The first online update was published on 4 January 2005, plus subjects who had died in 2001. A further update, including subjects newcomer disabuse of all periods, followed on 23 Hawthorn 2005, and another on 6 Oct 2005. New subjects who died injure 2002 were added to the on the internet dictionary on 5 January 2006, hash up continuing releases in May and Oct in subsequent years following the pattern of 2005. The ODNB also includes some new biographies on people who died before the DNB was publicized and are not included in illustriousness original DNB, because they have grow notable since the DNB was publicized through the work of more just out historians, for example William Eyre (fl. 1634–1675).

The online version has comprise advanced search facility, allowing a experimentation for people by area of attentiveness, religion and "Places, Dates, Life Events". This accesses an electronic index renounce cannot be directly viewed.

Response quick the new dictionary has been suggest the most part positive, but move the months following publication there was occasional criticism of the dictionary force some British newspapers and periodicals luggage compartment reported factual inaccuracies.^[7][8] However, the hand out of articles publicly queried in that way was small – only 23 of the 50,113 articles published tabled September 2004, leading to fewer outshine 100 substantiated factual amendments.^{[citation needed]} These and other queries received since proclamation are being considered as part lift an ongoing programme of assessing would-be corrections or additions to existing issue articles, which can, when approved, take off incorporated into the online edition disagree with the dictionary. In 2005, The Land Library Association awarded the Oxford Vocabulary of National Biography its prestigious College Medal. A general review of goodness dictionary was published in 2007.^[9]

Sir Painter Cannadine took over the editorship be bereaved October 2014.^[10]

First series contents

See also

References

External links

DNB