A biographical dictionary of prominent persons of the British Isles and noteworthy Americans of the Colonial period. Articles are scholarly and include excellent bibliographies, which often cite original sources, such as letters and journals. The original set covered persons who had died prior to 1900, but has been supplemented each decade. Who was who in America. Compilations of biographies which first appeared in Who's Who in America, supplemented by a historical volume covering persons from colonial times to 1897.
Periodic supplements appear, providing sketches of persons recently deceased.
There is also a cumulative index volume covering all volumes of the set. Dictionary of American biography. A biographical encyclopedia of prominent Americans, conceived along the same lines as Dictionary of National Biography . Articles are written by scholars and included references to secondary and primary sources. Dictionary of American biography.