DCB began in the late 1950s, and the University of Toronto Press published the first English volume in 1966. The dictionary was founded with the financial aid of the late James Nicholson, who wanted his estate to help finance a Canadian biographical reference publication. The CD-ROM version was provided free to nearly 13,000 schools and public libraries across Canada. There are also photographs, portraits and caricatures of Zola and his contemporaries. Recently uncovered texts document drama, minstrelsy and public ceremonies in England prior to 1642, when the Puritans and the impending civil war between Charles I and Parliament shut down the London theatres.
REED also sheds light on the society, music and language of the era.
To date, REED has published 20 collections. The first, York , was published in 1979, and Sussex in 2000. REED also produces an annual journal, Early Theatre , in conjunction with McMaster University. Editors are also working on early dramas of Scotland and Wales. Comparatively is the first of five volumes and will be published this year.