Changing Conceptions of National Biography

Abstract

The publication of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography in September 2004 was an event of great literary and scholarly importance. In his Leslie Stephen Lecture, commemorating the founder of the original Dictionary of National Biography, the celebrated historian Keith Thomas surveys the many earlier attempts at collective biography, considers the relationship of the Oxford DNB to them, and offers a preliminary assessment of the Oxford DNB itself. The author, who has been chairman of the Supervisory Committee of the Oxford DNB since its inception, writes with intimate knowledge of the project. This Leslie Stephen Lecture complements the earlier Lecture on the DNB by the late Colin Matthew, Founder-Editor of the Oxford DNB, and published by Cambridge in 1997.

‘True Biographies of Nations?’: The Cultural Journeys of Dictionaries of National Biography

“…For Lee, the Dictionary also served as a record of incremental national progress over time, and especially the century just passed: a charting of 'the multiplication of intellectual callings' by which 'the opportunities of distinction have been of late conspicuously augmented'. 2 Lee's view echoed earlier assessments, including one from Henry Reeve, editor of the Edinburgh Review, for whom the Dictionary's opening volumes offered 'striking proof of the advancement of civilization' that was 'honourably characteristic of the present age'. 3 Ask 'what national biography was for' in 1900 and the answer seems clear: to facilitate national and historical comparisons that revealed the British to be best, and the late Victorian British to be best of all.…”

“…'compare a variety of its modern manifestations', it took place over three days, with the proceedings published as National Biographies and National Identity: A Critical Approach to Theory and Editorial Practice. 2 Musing on the genre in the introduction to the collection, Iain McCalman suggested that the genre of the national biographical dictionary stood 'at the heart of the most ferocious and divisive contemporary debates about the epistemology and hermeneutics of knowledge'. 3 In the late twentiethcentury context of fracturing national identities and the assertion of multiculturalism and multilingualism in Europe and the antipodes, he stated, '[m]akers of national biographies stand in the front line of these identity wars'.…”

“…Leaving aside Wales, which always sent very low numbers to New Zealand, and also the offshore islands, Table 1 gives the breakdown of national origins from the death registers, and Table 2 gives the percentages from the New Zealand census. 2…”

“…Emphasising factual accuracy, embracing modern scholarship, and seeking to ensure accessibility to the general reader, the DIB is a general biographical reference work. 2 The 2009 edition comprises individuals who died before the end of 2002, either born in Ireland (with careers within or outside Ireland) or elsewhere (with careers in Ireland). The 'essential criterion of selection is presence in Ireland'.…”

Collective Biography and Europe’s Cultural Legacy

“…From 1992 onwards, this dictionary became the The Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, and was revised and given a new form. 64 The British model, characterized by its rigorous research and high academic standard, was followed by many later works and is often referenced in thematic dictionaries. It has developed into the Anglophone tradition that today includes the American, Australian, and New Zealand biographical dictionaries.…”