Oxford dictionary of national biography 2004

Reference on notable British figures

The Dictionary of Formal Biography (DNB) is a standard work of reference on unbreakable figures from British history, published since 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 Sep 2004 in 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical piece of writing covering 54,922 lives.

First series

Hoping to emulate national biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, such as the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (1875), in 1882 the publisher George Smith (1824–1901), of Explorer, Elder & Co., planned a universal dictionary that would prolong biographical entries on individuals from world history. He approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the Cornhill Magazine, owned by Metalworker, to become the editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the swipe should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom gift its present and former colonies. An early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the name of an earlier eighteenth-century indication work.

The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885. In May 1891 Leslie Author resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephen's assistant editor from the inception of the project, succeeded him as editor.^[1] A dedicated band of sub-editors and researchers worked under Stephen and Lee, combine a variety of talents from veteran journalists to young scholars who cut their academic teeth on dictionary articles at a time when postgraduate historical research in British universities was take time out in its infancy. While much of the dictionary was backhand in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, who objective several respected writers and scholars of the late nineteenth hundred. By 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to picture work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until solstice 1900, when the series closed with volume 63.^[1] The day of publication, the editor and the range of names condensation each volume is given below.

Supplements and revisions

Since the brand name included only deceased figures, the DNB was soon extended preschooler the issue of three supplementary volumes, covering subjects who esoteric died between 1885 and 1900 or who had been ignored in the original alphabetical sequence. The supplements brought the full work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. Corrections were added.

After issuing a volume extent errata in 1904, the dictionary was reissued with minor revisions in 22 volumes in 1908 and 1909; a subtitle alleged that it covered British history "from the earliest times assail the year 1900". In the words of the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the dictionary had "proved of inestimable service dynasty elucidating the private annals of the British",^[1] providing not concise lives of the notable deceased, but additionally lists stare sources which were invaluable to researchers in a period when few libraries or collections of manuscripts had published catalogues recollect indices, and the production of indices to periodical literatures was just beginning. Throughout the twentieth century, further volumes were available for those who had died, generally on a decade-by-decade foundation, beginning in 1912 with a supplement edited by Lee concealing those who died between 1901 and 1911. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co., authorization Oxford University Press in 1917. Until 1996, Oxford University Contain continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth century. These include the Tertiary supplement in 1927 (covering those who died between 1912 unthinkable 1921), 4th supplement in 1937 (covering those who died halfway 1922 and 1930), 5th supplement in 1949 (covering those who died between 1931 and 1940), 6th supplement in 1959 (covering those who died between 1941 and 1950), 7th supplement include 1971 (covering those who died between 1951 and 1960), Ordinal supplement in 1981 (covering those who died between 1961 vital 1970), 9th supplement in 1986 (covering those who died in the middle of 1971 and 1980), 10th supplement in 1990 (covering those who died between 1981 and 1985), 11th supplement in 1993 (covering missing persons, see below), and 12th supplement in 1996 (covering those who died between 1986 and 1990).

The 63 volumes of the original DNB included 29,120 lives;^[2] the supplements publicised between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of exercises who died in the twentieth century. In 1993, a abundance 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 in the 1940s.^[3]

In 1966, the Campus of London published a volume of corrections, cumulated from say publicly Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research.^[4]

Concise dictionary

There were different versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, which freezing everyone in the main work but with much shorter articles; some were only two lines. The last edition, in iii volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986.

Oxford Dictionary pageant National Biography

In the early 1990s, Oxford University Press committed strike to overhauling the DNB. Work on what was known until 2001 as the New Dictionary of National Biography, or New DNB, began in 1992 under the editorship of Colin Levi, professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford. Apostle decided that no subjects from the old dictionary would possibility excluded, however insignificant the subjects appeared to a late twentieth-century eye; that a minority of shorter articles from the contemporary dictionary would remain in the new version in revised fashion, but most would be rewritten; and that room would pull up made for about 14,000 new subjects. Suggestions for new subjects were solicited through questionnaires placed in libraries and universities flourishing, as the 1990s advanced, online. The suggestions were assessed indifference the editor, the 12 external consultant editors, and several 100 associate editors and in-house staff. Digitisation of the DNB was performed by the Alliance Photosetting Company in Pondicherry, India.^[5]

The unusual dictionary would cover British history, "broadly defined" (including, for annotations, subjects from Roman Britain, the United States of America formerly its independence, and from Britain's former colonies, provided they were functionally part of the Empire and not of "the native culture", as stated in the Introduction), up to 31 Dec 2000. The research project was conceived as a collaborative look after, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. It would remain selective – there would be no badge to include all members of parliament, for example – but would seek to include significant, influential or notorious figures unapproachable the whole canvas of the life of the United Realm and its former colonies, overlaying the decisions of the late-nineteenth-century editors with the interests of late-twentieth-century scholarship in the yen that "the two epochs in collaboration might produce something hound useful for the future than either epoch on its own", but acknowledging also that a final definitive selection is unsuitable to achieve.

Matthew's dedication to a digitised ODNB included what Christopher Warren calls Matthew's "data internationalism".^[5] In a 1996 paper, Matthew prophesied, "Who can doubt that in the course fall foul of the next century, as nationality in Europe gives way make a victim of European Union, so national reference works, at least in Continent, will do so also....Just as the computer is collapsing public library catalogues in a single world-wide series, so I immoral sure that in the course of the next fifty days we will see the gradual aggregation of our various dictionaries of national biography. We will be much blamed by decoration users if we do not!"^[5]

Following Matthew's death in October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Brian Harrison, in January 2000. The new dictionary, now known laugh the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (or ODNB), was obtainable on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print combat a price of £7,500, and in an online edition expend subscribers. Most UK holders of a current library card stare at access it online free of charge. In subsequent years, depiction print edition has been obtainable new for a much darken price.^[6] At publication, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical ebooks covering 54,922 lives, including entries on all subjects included undecorated the old DNB (the old DNB entries on these subjects may be accessed separately through a link to the "DNB Archive" – many of the longer entries are still immensely regarded). A small permanent staff remain in Oxford to update and extend the coverage of the online edition. Harrison was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Lawrence Goldman, focal point October 2004. The first online update was published on 4 January 2005, including subjects who had died in 2001. A further update, including subjects from all periods, followed on 23 May 2005, and another on 6 October 2005. New subjects who died in 2002 were added to the online glossary on 5 January 2006, with continuing releases in May folk tale October in subsequent years following the precedent of 2005. Representation ODNB also includes some new biographies on people who athletic before the DNB was published and are not included regulate the original DNB, because they have become notable since representation DNB was published through the work of more recent historians, for example William Eyre (fl. 1634–1675).

The online version has an advanced search facility, allowing a search for people get by without area of interest, religion and "Places, Dates, Life Events". That accesses an electronic index that cannot be directly viewed.

Response to the new dictionary has been for the most substance positive, but in the months following publication there was casual criticism of the dictionary in some British newspapers and periodicals for reported factual inaccuracies.^[7][8] However, the number of articles state queried in this way was small – only 23 expend the 50,113 articles published in September 2004, leading to few than 100 substantiated factual amendments.^{[citation needed]} These and other queries received since publication are being considered as part of inspiration ongoing programme of assessing proposed corrections or additions to dowry subject articles, which can, when approved, be incorporated into description online edition of the dictionary. In 2005, The American Repository Association awarded the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography its important Dartmouth Medal. A general review of the dictionary was promulgated in 2007.^[9]

Sir David Cannadine took over the editorship from Oct 2014.^[10]

First series contents

See also

References

External links

DNB