Dictionary of National Biography

E3627

biographical dictionary reference work

The Dictionary of National Biography is a comprehensive reference work that provides scholarly biographical articles on notable figures in British history.

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All labels observed (7)

Label	Occurrences
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography	35
Dictionary of National Biography canonical	22
Dictionary of National Biography, First Series	1
Dictionary of National Biography, Second Series	1
Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement volumes	1
National Biography (various national series)	1
Who’s Who and similar biographical references	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T31280 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Dictionary of National Biography
Context triple: [Erasmus Darwin, describedIn, Dictionary of National Biography]

A. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society is a long-running scholarly journal featuring research articles, historical studies, and papers presented under the auspices of the American Philosophical Society.
B. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society is a long-running scholarly journal that publishes monographic studies and research across a wide range of academic disciplines.
C. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples is a multi-volume historical narrative by Winston Churchill that surveys the political and cultural development of Britain and its English-speaking offshoots from ancient times to the 20th century.
D. Wholly New Forms of Encyclopedias
"Wholly New Forms of Encyclopedias" is a section of Vannevar Bush’s essay "As We May Think" that envisions future, highly interconnected and dynamically organized knowledge systems beyond traditional printed encyclopedias.
E. Royal Society
The Royal Society is the United Kingdom’s national academy of sciences, renowned as one of the world’s oldest and most prestigious scientific institutions dedicated to promoting excellence in science.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: Dictionary of National Biography
Target entity description: The Dictionary of National Biography is a comprehensive reference work that provides scholarly biographical articles on notable figures in British history.

A. Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society is a long-running scholarly journal featuring research articles, historical studies, and papers presented under the auspices of the American Philosophical Society.
B. Transactions of the American Philosophical Society
Transactions of the American Philosophical Society is a long-running scholarly journal that publishes monographic studies and research across a wide range of academic disciplines.
C. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples
A History of the English-Speaking Peoples is a multi-volume historical narrative by Winston Churchill that surveys the political and cultural development of Britain and its English-speaking offshoots from ancient times to the 20th century.
D. Republic of Letters
The Republic of Letters was an informal, transnational community of scholars, writers, and intellectuals who exchanged ideas through correspondence and publications, playing a key role in shaping Enlightenment thought.
E. The Life of George Washington
The Life of George Washington is a multi-volume 19th-century biography by Washington Irving that chronicles the life, military career, and presidency of the first U.S. president.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (44)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	biographical dictionary ⓘ reference work ⓘ
abbreviation	DNB ⓘ
basedOn	original archival and literary research ⓘ
completionDate	1900 ⓘ
countryOfOrigin	United Kingdom ⓘ
coverageArea	United Kingdom ⓘ
describedAs	comprehensive reference work on notable figures in British history ⓘ
editor	Leslie Stephen ⓘ Sidney Lee ⓘ Leslie Stephen ⓘ surface form: Sir Leslie Stephen Sir Sidney Lee ⓘ
field	biography ⓘ history ⓘ
firstPublicationDate	1885 ⓘ
followedBy	supplementary volumes after 1900 ⓘ
genre	biographical reference ⓘ
hasContributor	numerous British historians ⓘ
hasEdition	concise editions ⓘ revised editions ⓘ
hasImpactOn	biographical scholarship in the United Kingdom ⓘ reference publishing in Britain ⓘ
hasPart	Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Dictionary of National Biography, First Series Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Dictionary of National Biography, Second Series Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement volumes
hasUpdatePolicy	originally issued in volumes and later supplemented ⓘ
inception	1882 ⓘ
intendedAudience	general readers ⓘ scholars ⓘ
isReferencedBy	Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
language	English ⓘ
mediaType	print ⓘ
notableFor	scholarly biographical articles ⓘ
numberOfVolumes	63 ⓘ
placeOfPublication	London, England ⓘ surface form: London
publicationPeriod	1885–1900 ⓘ
publisher	Oxford University Press ⓘ Smith, Elder & Co. ⓘ
selectionCriterion	notable persons connected with the British Isles ⓘ
subjectMatter	British biography ⓘ notable figures in British history ⓘ
successor	Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ surface form: Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
timePeriodCovered	from early British history to the 19th century ⓘ
workLocation	United Kingdom ⓘ

How these facts were elicited

Referenced by (62)

Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.

Erasmus Darwin → describedIn → Dictionary of National Biography ⓘ

Dictionary of National Biography → hasPart → Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Dictionary of National Biography, First Series

Dictionary of National Biography → hasPart → Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Dictionary of National Biography, Second Series

Dictionary of National Biography → hasPart → Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ

this entity surface form: Dictionary of National Biography, Supplement volumes

Dictionary of National Biography → successor → Dictionary of National Biography self-linksurface differs ⓘ