History and Publication of the Dictionary of National Biography (DNB) and Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB)
– George Smith planned a universal dictionary of biographical entries on individuals from world history.
– Leslie Stephen became the editor and focused the work on subjects from the United Kingdom and its colonies.
– The first volume of the DNB was published in 1885.
– Sidney Lee succeeded Leslie Stephen as editor in 1891.
– The DNB relied on a team of sub-editors, researchers, and external contributors.
– George Murray Smith subsidized the DNB and saw it into print before his death in 1901.
– Three supplementary volumes were issued to cover subjects who had died between 1885 and 1900 or were overlooked.
– The dictionary was reissued with minor revisions in 1908 and 1909, covering British history up to 1900.
– Further volumes were published on a decade-by-decade basis from 1912 to 1996, adding lives of people who died in the twentieth century.
– The DNB was transferred to Oxford University Press in 1917.
– The New DNB project began in 1992.
– Editor Colin Matthew ensured no subjects from the old dictionary were excluded.
– The new dictionary would cover British history up to 31 December 2000.
– The research project involved nearly 10,000 contributors internationally.
– The digitisation of the DNB was performed by the Alliance Photosetting Company in Pondicherry, India.
– The ODNB aimed to include significant figures from the life of Britain and its former colonies.
– Brian Harrison succeeded Colin Matthew as editor in January 2000.
– The ODNB aimed to adapt to the changing landscape of European Union and global reference works.
– The ODNB was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print.
– The print edition was priced at £7500, but subsequent editions were available at a lower price.
– An online edition of the ODNB was also published for subscribers.
– The 2004 edition of the ODNB had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives.
– The online edition is regularly updated and extended by a small permanent staff in Oxford.
– New subjects who died after the DNB was published are added to the online dictionary.
– The ODNB also includes new biographies on people who became notable since the DNB was published.
– Sir David Cannadine took over as editor of the ODNB in October 2014.
– Lawrence Goldman succeeded the initial editor, Colin Matthew, in October 2004.
Supplements and Revisions
– Three supplementary volumes were issued to cover subjects who had died between 1885 and 1900 or were overlooked.
– The dictionary was reissued with minor revisions in 1908 and 1909, covering British history up to 1900.
– Further volumes were published on a decade-by-decade basis from 1912 to 1996, adding lives of people who died in the twentieth century.
Concise Dictionary of National Biography
– The Concise Dictionary of National Biography included shorter articles on everyone in the main work.
– Some articles were only two lines long.
– The last edition of the Concise Dictionary covered everyone who died before 1986.
Reception and Criticism
– The response to the ODNB has been mostly positive.
– Some British newspapers and periodicals criticized the dictionary for factual inaccuracies.
– However, only a small number of articles were publicly queried, leading to fewer than 100 factual amendments.
– Ongoing programs assess proposed corrections or additions to existing subject articles.
– The American Library Association awarded the ODNB the prestigious Dartmouth Medal in 2005.
Additional Resources and Reviews
– A general review of the ODNB was published in 2007.
– The DNB is described in an article from the 1911 edition of the Encyclopædia Britannica.
– The Dictionary of National Biography: Missing Persons provides additional information on the DNB.
– Corrections and additions to the DNB are covered in a publication by the University of London.
– A scholarly article by Christopher N. Warren discusses the data infrastructure and history at scale in the ODNB. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dictionary_of_National_Biography#Oxford_Dictionary_of_National_Biography
