Dictionary of National Biography
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.
The title page of the first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography (1885)
George Murray Smith conceived of the DNB, subsidised it, and saw it finally into print before he died in 1901.
Some volumes of the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or curriculum vitae (résumé), a biography presents a subject's life story, highlighting various aspects of their life, including intimate details of experience, and may include an analysis of the subject's personality.
Third volume of a 1727 edition of Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans printed by Jacob Tonson
Einhard as scribe
John Foxe's The Book of Martyrs, was one of the earliest English-language biographies.
James Boswell wrote what many consider to be the first modern biography, The Life of Samuel Johnson, in 1791.
