Oxford Dictionary of National Biography

Abstract

The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (ODNB) is a collection of concise biographies of notable people connected with the British isles from the earliest times to the recent past. First published in print in 2004, the ODNB replaces the Dictionary of National Biography , published between 1885 and 1900 with supplements thereafter, and is now updated twelve times a year with around 300 new lives per year plus additions to existing entries. The dictionary currently contains over 63,000 biographies in 75 million words. Biographies are by named authors, usually experts in their fields, and include key verified biographical information and lists of sources, archives, etc., as well as detailed and authoritative accounts of the subjects’ lives, careers, and impacts. More than 12,000 entries are illustrated, with ‘likenesses’ chosen in collaboration with the National Portrait Gallery. In addition the dictionary includes around 700 articles on key groups in British history, lists of office-holders and awards winners, or theme-based feature essays. Entries cover the whole range of occupations, including politics, government, the law, business, religion, literature, music and the arts, entertainment, journalism and the media, sport, medicine, science, engineering, and scholarship; they also include key figures who were British subjects beyond the British isles, such as pre-revolutionary Americans, and colonial subjects of the British empire. The dictionary is widely regarded as an essential reference point for the study of the individuals who have shaped British history.