Genius oxford dictionary

Reference on notable British figures

The Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published since The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 September in 60 volumes and online, with 50, biographical articles covering 54, lives.

Biography oxford dictionary Welcome to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Over 63, biographies, 75 million words, 12, portraits of significant, influential or notorious figures who shaped British history – perform advanced search; Life of the day now available by email or RSS feed.

First series

Hoping to emulate national biographical collections published elsewhere in Europe, such as the Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (), in the publisher George Smith (–), of Smith, Elder & Co., planned a universal dictionary that would include biographical entries on individuals from world history. He approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the Cornhill Magazine, owned by Smith, to become the editor.

Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus only on subjects from the United Kingdom and its present and former colonies. An early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the name of an earlier eighteenth-century reference work.

Oxford translate

Welcome to Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Over 63, biographies, 75 million words, 12, portraits of significant, influential or notorious figures who shaped British history – perform advanced search; Life of the day now available by email or RSS feed.

The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January In May Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephen's assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor.^[1] A dedicated team of sub-editors and researchers worked under Stephen and Lee, combining 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 still in its infancy.

While much of the dictionary was written in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, who included several respected writers and scholars of the late nineteenth century. By , more than individuals had contributed to the work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer , when the series closed with volume ^[1] The year of publication, the editor and the range of names in each volume is given below.

Supplements and revisions

Since the scope included only deceased figures, the DNB was soon extended by the issue of three supplementary volumes, covering subjects who had died between and or who had been overlooked in the original alphabetical sequence. The supplements brought the whole work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January Corrections were added.

After issuing a volume of errata in , the dictionary was reissued with minor revisions in 22 volumes in and ; a subtitle said that it covered British history "from the earliest times to the year ". In the words of the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, the dictionary had "proved of inestimable service in elucidating the private annals of the British",^[1] providing not only concise lives of the notable deceased, but additionally lists of sources which were invaluable to researchers in a period when few libraries or collections of manuscripts had published catalogues or indices, and the production of indices to periodical literatures was just beginning.

What is the meaning of biography oxford dictionary The result is the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography--a collection of 50, specially written biographies of men and women who have shaped all aspects of the British past, from the earliest times to the end of the year

Throughout the twentieth century, further volumes were published for those who had died, generally on a decade-by-decade basis, beginning in with a supplement edited by Lee covering those who died between and The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co., to Oxford University Press in Until , Oxford University Press continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth century.

These include the 3rd supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 4th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 5th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 6th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 7th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 8th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 9th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 10th supplement in (covering those who died between and ), 11th supplement in (covering missing persons, see below), and 12th supplement in (covering those who died between and ).

The 63 volumes of the original DNB included 29, lives;^[2] the supplements published between and added about 6, lives of people who died in the twentieth century. In , a volume containing missing biographies was published.^[2] This had an additional 1, lives, selected from over , suggestions.^[2]

L.

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

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

Concise dictionary

There were various versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, which covered everyone in the main work but with much shorter articles; some were only two lines.

Oxford english dictionary: The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is the national record of over 60, men and women who shaped the history of the British Isles and of Britons worldwide, from the ‘earliest times’ to the 21st century.

The last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

In the early s, Oxford University Press committed itself to overhauling the DNB. Work on what was known until as the New Dictionary of National Biography, or New DNB, began in under the editorship of Colin Matthew, professor of Modern History at the University of Oxford.

Matthew decided that no subjects from the old dictionary would be excluded, however insignificant the subjects appeared to a late twentieth-century eye; that a minority of shorter articles from the original dictionary would remain in the new version in revised form, but most would be rewritten; and that room would be made for about 14, new subjects.

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

The new dictionary would cover British history, "broadly defined" (including, for example, subjects from Roman Britain, the United States of America before its independence, and from Britain's former colonies, provided they were functionally part of the Empire and not of "the indigenous culture", as stated in the Introduction), up to 31 December The research project was conceived as a collaborative one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10, contributors internationally.

It would remain selective&#;– there would be no attempt to include all members of parliament, for example – but would seek to include significant, influential or notorious figures from the whole canvas of the life of the United Kingdom and its former colonies, overlaying the decisions of the late-nineteenth-century editors with the interests of late-twentieth-century scholarship in the hope that "the two epochs in collaboration might produce something more useful for the future than either epoch on its own", but acknowledging also that a final definitive selection is impossible to achieve.

Matthew's dedication to a digitised ODNB included what Christopher Warren calls Matthew's "data internationalism".^[5] In a essay, Matthew prophesied, "Who can doubt that in the course of the next century, as nationality in Europe gives way to European Union, so national reference works, at least in Europe, will do so alsoJust as the computer is collapsing national library catalogues in a single world-wide series, so I am sure that in the course of the next fifty years we will see the gradual aggregation of our various dictionaries of national biography.

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

Following Matthew's death in October , he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Brian Harrison, in January The new dictionary, now known as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (or ODNB), was published on 23 September in 60 volumes in print at a price of £7,, and in an online edition for subscribers.

Most UK holders of a current library card can access it online free of charge.

Cambridge dictionary

Oxford dictionary biological

Oxford dictionary of national biography online free

Dictionary of national biography volumes 1-22

Biographical dictionary

In subsequent years, the print edition has been obtainable new for a much lower price.^[6] At publication, the edition had 50, biographical articles covering 54, lives, including entries on all subjects included in 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 highly 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, in October The first online update was published on 4 January , including subjects who had died in A further update, including subjects from all periods, followed on 23 May , and another on 6 October New subjects who died in were added to the online dictionary on 5 January , with continuing releases in May and October in subsequent years following the precedent of The ODNB also includes some new biographies on people who died before the DNB was published and are not included in the original DNB, because they have become notable since the DNB was published through the work of more recent historians, for example William Eyre (fl.

–).

Cambridge dictionary The Dictionary of National Biography (or DNB) is a biographical reference for deceased persons notable in British history. The current edition of this work has been published online by Oxford University Press since

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

Response to the new dictionary has been for the most part positive, but in the months following publication there was occasional criticism of the dictionary in some British newspapers and periodicals for reported factual inaccuracies.^[7][8] However, the number of articles publicly queried in this way was small – only 23 of the 50, articles published in September , leading to fewer than substantiated factual amendments.^{[citation needed]} These and other queries received since publication are being considered as part of an ongoing programme of assessing proposed corrections or additions to existing subject articles, which can, when approved, be incorporated into the online edition of the dictionary.

In , The American Library Association awarded the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography its prestigious Dartmouth Medal. A general review of the dictionary was published in ^[9]

Sir David Cannadine took over the editorship from October ^[10]

First series contents

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

See also

References

External links

DNB