Library Homepage: Dr. Rebecca Bates History 200 Fall 2023: Biographical resources

Bios

Biographies

These are major biography sets that history students should know and will often find them valuable first stops. Our electronic resources seldom duplicate these print reference works! Most but not all scholarly encyclopedias include biographies; careful researchers will consult major encyclopedias.

American National Biography, 24 volumes + 2 supplements
R 920 D554g 1999
This work is well indexed and contains only historic figures. One nice feature is the location of a person's papers. Many libraries and museums are now making such holding available to the public online. These listing assist in finding online resources.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 61 volumes + 1 supp.
R 920 D554o 2004
The British National Biography also includes noteworthy individuals from former colonial possessions such as George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Mahatma Gandhi. The set is limited to historic individuals, and there is no subject index.
African American National Biography, 8 volumes
R 920.009 A2585 2008
Works includes both living and historic individuals.
Research Guide to European Historical Biography:1450 to the Present , 8 volumes
R 920.073 R4325
This work is dated but remains valuable. The most notable feature is the "Overview and Evaluation of Primary Resources" included in each entry. Looking for primary documents this is a good starting place.
Notable American Women, 5 volumes
R 920.7 N899
Decades in the making, Notable American Women functions as an unofficial national biography for American women. Volumes are by era. Work contains historic entries.
Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie, 56 volumes
920.043 A435
Written in German, this 56 volume set was first published in the early 1900s and is still useful to people with German language skills. Note this is a circulating title.
Current Biography (1940 to present)
R 920 C976
This work contains well written biographies of important individuals of the day, this means living people. For over 70 years Contemporary Biography has been the go to resource for detailed biographies of living individuals.

Great Lives

This 24 volume series is organized around historic eras but without additional limits concerning ethnicity, nationality, geographical location, gender or other specific factors are imposed. During its revision, the series editors deliberately expanded the number of women and individuals from beyond Western Europe and North America. The Great Lives Series now offers an excellent starting point for international biography. The entries do not presume significant prior knowledge of the subject and are geared toward offering foundational knowledge to an undergraduate audience. Nearly 3,800 important people from the Ancient World to the turn of the 21st century are included. Hundreds of illustrations, maps, photographs, and side bars provide an additional dimension. The entries range from three to five pages or 1,500 to 3,000 words, utilize a common format and offer annotated bibliographies. While employing the standard A to Z format, each set has an outstanding indexes. There is, however, no series index. The 20th Century set does contain many living individuals. The series is divided in the sets listed to below.

Great Lives from History: World Prehistory – 476, 2 volumes

Great Lives from History: The Middle Ages 474 - 1453 2 volumes

Great Lives from History: The Renaissance & Early Modern Era, 1454 -1600, 2 volumes

Great Lives from History: The 17th Century, 2 volumes

Great Lives from History: The 18th Century, 2 volumes

Great Lives from History: The 19th Century, 4 volumes

Great Lives from History: The 20th Century, 10 volumes

Questions

Biographical reference books are often organized around one or more of the following: nationality, time period, ethnicity or race, profession, or gender. Many individuals could be included in multiple categories. Biographical reference works are often restricted to individuals who are deceased. These works are known as historic or retrospective biographies. Biographies of living individuals are noted as current biography. Reference works include both historic and current biographies are uncommon. These questions provide you with starting points.

• What do you know about this individual?

• Are they living or dead?

• If deceased what time period did they live?

• Do you know their nationality?

• What is their profession or occupation?

• Are gender or ethnicity a factor?

Biographical Databases

Gale Virtual Reference Library This link opens in a new window
Gale Virtual Reference Library offers a wide variety of full-text interdisciplinary content on virtually any subject area to support assignments, papers, projects, and presentations. Includes the Scribner Writers Series.

Online Biography collections

In recent years many national biographies have become available online free to the public. The following links provide good examples. National biographies in languages maybe be freely available.

Australian Dictionary of Biography
The Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB) is Australia's preeminent dictionary of national biography. It contains over 12,000 entries of prominent individuals from all walks of life. The ADB is produced by the National Centre of Biography at the Australian National University.
Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online provides access to the 15 volumes already in print and to a selection of biographies from unpublished volumes. Do note that volumes are arranged by date of death or last know activity.