The Dictionary of Literary Biography is a specialist encyclopedia dedicated to literature

Literature

Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...

. Published by Gale, the 375-volumes set covers a wide variety of literary topics, periods, and genres, with a focus on American

American literature

American literature is the written or literary work produced in the area of the United States and its preceding colonies. For more specific discussions of poetry and theater, see Poetry of the United States and Theater in the United States. During its early history, America was a series of British...

 and British literature

British literature

British Literature refers to literature associated with the United Kingdom, Isle of Man and Channel Islands. By far the largest part of British literature is written in the English language, but there are bodies of written works in Latin, Welsh, Scottish Gaelic, Scots, Cornish, Manx, Jèrriais,...

.

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." 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. The biographies are focused on an author's writings and the development of his or her career. In addition to author biographies, the series publishes volumes on literary topics, periods, and genres. Some authors appear in multiple volumes, as befits their work.

Each volume is overseen by an expert in the field and is approximately 3,000 to 5,000 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.

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, South Carolina

Columbia is the state capital and largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The population was 129,272 according to the 2010 census. Columbia is the county seat of Richland County, but a portion of the city extends into neighboring Lexington County. The city is the center of a metropolitan...

 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 has named the DLB an Outstanding Academic Book four times and American Library Association

American Library Association

The American Library Association is a non-profit 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 more than 62,000 members....

's Reference and User Services Association has twice named it as an Outstanding Reference Source.

External links

• Dictionary of Literary Biography at Gale