Словарь национальной биографии Великобритании

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 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and online, with 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives.

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 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. The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885. In May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephen's assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor. 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 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to the work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, when the series closed with volume 63. the supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who died in the twentieth century. In 1993, a volume containing missing biographies was published. In 1966, the University of London published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research.

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. The last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986.

In the early 1990s, Oxford University Press committed itself 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 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 14,000 new subjects. Suggestions for new subjects were solicited through questionnaires placed in libraries and universities and, as the 1990s 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. 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 2000. The research project was conceived as a collaborative one, with in house staff co ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 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. Matthews's dedication to a digitised ODNB included what Christopher Warren calls Matthews's "data internationalism". At publication, 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 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 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 dictionary on 5 January 2006, with continuing releases in May and October in subsequent years following the precedent of 2005. 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. 1634–1675). 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. However, the number of articles publicly queried in this way was small – only 23 of the 50,113 articles published in September 2004, leading to fewer than 100 substantiated factual amendments. 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 2005, The American Library Association awarded the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography its prestigious Dartmouth Medal. A general review of the dictionary was published in 2007. Sir David Cannadine took over the editorship from October 2014.

+ Contents of each volume of the first series with year of publication and editor. 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 – Craigie 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 – Gloucester 1890 22 Glover – Gravet Stephen & Lee 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 – John 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 – Owen 43 Owens – Passelewe 44 Paston – Percy 45 Pereira – Pockrich 1896 46 Pocock – Puckering 47 Puckle – Reidfurd 48 Reilly – Robins 49 Robinson – Russell 1897 50 Russen – Scobell 51 Scoffin – Sheares 52 Shearman – Smirke 53 Smith – Stanger 1898 54 Stanhope – Stovin 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