The ''American National Biography'' (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries and 20 million words, first published in 1999 by

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the university press of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world, and its printing history dates back to the 1480s. Having been officially granted the legal right to print books ...

under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies.

Background

A 400-entry supplement appeared in 2002. Additional funding came from the

Rockefeller Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation is an American private foundation and philanthropic medical research and arts funding organization based at 420 Fifth Avenue, New York City. The second-oldest major philanthropic institution in America, after the Carneg ...

, the

Andrew W. Mellon Foundation The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation of New York City in the United States, simply known as Mellon Foundation, is a private foundation with five core areas of interest, and endowed with wealth accumulated by Andrew Mellon of the Mellon family of Pitts ...

and the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

. The ''ANB'' bills itself as the successor of the ''

Dictionary of American Biography The ''Dictionary of American Biography'' was published in New York City by Charles Scribner's Sons under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies (ACLS). History The dictionary was first proposed to the Council in 1920 by hi ...

'', which was first published between 1926 and 1937. It is not, however, a strict

superset In mathematics, set ''A'' is a subset of a set ''B'' if all elements of ''A'' are also elements of ''B''; ''B'' is then a superset of ''A''. It is possible for ''A'' and ''B'' to be equal; if they are unequal, then ''A'' is a proper subset of ...

of this older publication; the selection of topics was made anew. It is commonly available in the reference sections of United States libraries, and is available online by subscription (see external links).

Awards and reception

In 1999, the

American Library Association The American Library Association (ALA) is a nonprofit organization based in the United States that promotes libraries and library education internationally. It is the oldest and largest library association in the world, with 49,727 members a ...

awarded the ''American National Biography'' its

Dartmouth Medal The Dartmouth Medal of the American Library Association is awarded annually to a reference work of outstanding quality and significance, published during the previous calendar year. History Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a priv ...

as a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. The

American Historical Association The American Historical Association (AHA) is the oldest professional association of historians in the United States and the largest such organization in the world. Founded in 1884, the AHA works to protect academic freedom, develop professional s ...

's Waldo G. Leland Prize was awarded for 2001. It has been criticized for missing

cross reference The term cross-reference (abbreviation: xref) can refer to either: * An instance within a document which refers to related information elsewhere in the same document. In both printed and online dictionaries cross-references are important because ...

s and occasional errors, and for its cost, which is said to limit availability in poor countries.

Selected access

* (full set); (full set); & (full set). :: General editors: John Arthur Garraty, PhD (1920–2007) & Mark Christopher Carnes, PhD (born 1950)

Volumes via Internet Archive (full access, free, with registration)

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Volumes via Google Books

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Via online

* .

Bibliography

Notes

References

* * * ; ; . * * ; ; . * ; ; . * ; ; . * ; . *

External links

* {{authority control 1999 non-fiction books United States biographical dictionaries History books about the United States Oxford University Press reference books