The ''Dictionary of

Literary Biography When studying literature, biography and its relationship to literature is often a subject of literary criticism, and is treated in several different forms. Two scholarly approaches use biography or biographical approaches to the past as a tool for i ...

'' is a specialist

biographical dictionary A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people onl ...

dedicated to

literature Literature is any collection of written work, but it is also used more narrowly for writings specifically considered to be an art form, especially prose fiction, drama, and poetry. In recent centuries, the definition has expanded to include ...

. Published by

Gale A gale is a strong wind; the word is typically used as a descriptor in nautical contexts. The U.S. National Weather Service defines a gale as sustained surface winds moving at a speed of between 34 and 47 knots (, or ).American American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

and

British literature British literature is literature from the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islands. This article covers British literature in the English language. Anglo-Saxon (Old English) literature is inc ...

Purpose and scope

The series editors write that "Our purpose is to make literature and its creators better understood and more accessible to students and the reading public, while satisfying the needs of teachers and researchers.""Plan of the Series", xix. They define literature as "the intellectual commerce of a nation; not merely ''belles lettres'' but as that ample and complex process by which ideas are generated, shaped, and transmitted." (emphasis in original) The series thus includes biographies of historians, journalists, publishers, book collectors, and screenwriters."Plan of the Series", ix. Each volume is overseen by an expert in the field, and each volume contains approximately 30 entries around 4,000 to 6,000 words long. The biographies contain basic information, such as birth and death dates, a bibliography of the author's works, and a "further reading" list of sources on the author and his or her works. Each volume is illustrated by relevant drawings, paintings, or photographs of the authors as well as title pages of their works. As of 2006, the series had 375 volumes, which included 23 yearbooks and 45 documentary volumes. Altogether, the series included 13,500 author biographies. The ''DLB'' exists in both print and electronic versions. As of 2006, approximately 85 percent of the series was online.Rogers, 107.

History

The project was proposed by Frederick G. Ruffner, president of Gale, to the company Bruccoli Clark, in November 1975. After a few sample entries were written, an advisory board was appointed to design the format of the entire series. The first volume was published in 1978. ''DLB Yearbooks'' were published between 1981 and 2002 to keep the series up-to-date. These have now been discontinued. The series is currently published and distributed by Thomson Gale, but produced in

Columbia, South Carolina Columbia is the capital of the U.S. state of South Carolina. With a population of 136,632 at the 2020 census, it is the second-largest city in South Carolina. The city serves as the county seat of Richland County, and a portion of the city ...

by Bruccoli Clark Layman, a company composed of the well-known scholars Matthew J. Bruccoli and Richard Layman and the now deceased businessman, C. E. Frazer Clark, Jr.

Reception

Michael Rogers wrote that "it is hands-down the best overall literary reference work ever published" but that many reference librarians had probably never heard of it. ''

Choice A choice is the range of different things from which a being can choose. The arrival at a choice may incorporate motivators and models. For example, a traveler might choose a route for a journey based on the preference of arriving at a giv ...

'' has named the DLB an Outstanding Academic Book four times and

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 ...

's Reference and User Services Association has twice named it as an Outstanding Reference Source. The American Library Association ''Guide to Reference'' called it "An indispensable reference tool for literary research in far-reaching genres and crossing political borders, the articles in this series are often the first critical and biographical treatment of a literary figure"."Dictionary of literary biography." American Library Association ''Guide to Reference'
online link
(paid resource) Accessed Dec 18,2012

Notes

References

*''DLB'' Advisory Board. “Plan of the Series”. ''Mark Twain’s'' ''Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'': ''A Documentary Volume''. Ed. Tom Quirk. DLB 343. Detroit: Gale, 2009. . *Rogers, Michael.
Democratizing Literature
. ''Library Journal'' (15 June 2006): 106–07.

External links

''Dictionary of Literary Biography''
at Gale {{Authority control Biographical dictionaries Biographies about writers