Chronicling Britain’s famous people
Posted on 25 November 2004
Fifty academics at the University of York have written profiles of 340 people in the new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.
Because so many York scholars have contributed to the Dictionary, the Oxford University Press and the University are holding a regional launch on the York campus on 1 December.
The Dictionary fills 60 volumes and costs £7,500. The printed volumes are held in the Raymond Burton Library at the University. There is also a searchable online version available to students and staff at the University.
Among the famous British people profiled by York staff are the architects Hawksmoor, Vanbrugh and Wren, Whisky entrepreneurs Bell, Teacher and Walker, Lord Baden-Powell, the 12th-century pirate Swein Afleiffson, visionary Margery Kempe, and even the fictitious John Bull.
The University of York's contribution to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a source of pride and celebration
Professor Mark Ormrod
York also provided five Associate Editors for the publishing project – Professor Mark Ormrod, Dr Bill Sheils and Professor Miles Taylor from History, Professor Graham Parry from English, and Dr Jo Wainwright from Music. Professor David Howell from Politics was an Advisory Editor. They each wrote multiple entries for the Dictionary – Bill Sheils contributing no fewer than 50 profiles.
The launch of the Dictionary on 1 December will also welcome other contributors from North Yorkshire.
Professor Mark Ormrod commented: "The University of York's contribution to the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a source of pride and celebration, and reflects the acknowledged international reputations of its researchers in the Arts and Humanities departments.
"York researchers have helped the Dictionary not only to re-assess the careers of the great and good but also to reclaim the lives of the little people - including many Yorkshire men and women - who have made such an impact on the social, economic and cultural life of the country from the Dark Ages to the near present."
Henry Summerson of the OUP said: "The new Oxford Dictionary of National Biography is a mammoth undertaking, which in sixty volumes covers the lives of those who have shaped the British past over the last 2,400 years. We are delighted that so many of its articles have been written by scholars from York and North Yorkshire."
ENDS