New-York tribune., 1885-02-22
THE NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.

THE NEW BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARY.
rrCsrIoNARY OF NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY; Edited
by LESLIE sTEPHtN. Vol. l., ADDadle-AhhIc' o'o''
pp. 474. Macmillan Co.
The first volume of Mr.. Leslie stephens great
hiocronbical dictionary has been received in Eng
land with cordial applause which seems 10 Us
richly deserved. Intended to fill fifty large vol
nues which are promised at intervals of about
three months. it will take rank in point OF dimen'
sons with the large collections for which the
French have long had an exceptional distinction
but unlike the famous French publications. 1t Is
restricted to biographies OF a single nation. IN
deciding what titles properly fall under the dcscrp-
tion national" the editor must he somewhat
arbitrary He includes foreigners who have hved
and worked under the British crown, and 1t was
understood that he would include Americans OF the
colonial period He has omitted however, the
American Adamses, although Samuel Adams made
his fame before the revolution and John Adams
belonged to both the colonial and the independent
periods both these patriots would have been
clearly entitled TO place in the Dictionary if they
had died before July 4, 177G, and it seems odd that
they should lose their claim by living to earn
additional celebrity. But any rule which may
have been made for such cases will doubtless prOyc
embarrassing at times in ITS application, and Mr..
Stephen will have to fall back upon his reserved
rights as an autocrat So far we see little reason to
quarrel with his decisions.
The time seems to have come when all great
biographical dictionaries must be restricted to one
nation The elaborate general works in French
and German are far superior to anything in our
language but it is only for the articles on the dis
tingushed persons of their own countries that they
have a real value the best of them becoming
Incomplete Incorrect and unappreclative as soon
as they 90 abroad. 1t is obvious that if all the
nations are to be treated on the scale, either
the notices must be exceedingly brief. or the bulk
of the work will become unmanageable. 1t is in
possibe to assemble a large corps of contributors
and to make a systematic division of labor; but
there can be no good dictionary without clos'
editorial supervision, and here lies the iDsuperabl'
difficulty with all general biographical dictonarie
on a large scale it is simply not in the power o
any man to overlook 50 vast field And the diff
entity grows more and more appalling. Not only
ere new names daily added to the roll of fame, bu
modern researchs furbishngupold Names discover
ing forgotten worthless and tracing out thei
relation to the history of literature, art, science
and affairs The number of old titles which bec0m
obsolete is small in proportion to those which tax
ON increased Importance. The development of his
torcal methods, moreover, involves rec0nsidera
ton of many traditional opinions so that stor.
which once could be told in few paragraphs nov
requires several pages of discussion.
IL is probably the most conspicuous merit of tn
work of Mr.. Stephens that it recognizes the new
conditions under which such an enterprise must b
prosecuted. lie has not been satisfied to rest upo
the Judgment Of his predecessors either for lis lis
of titles or for his method of treating them but t
most surprising extent he has made his Dictionar
dc moro 10 almost every article is appended a
excellent catalogue of authorities, and reference
10 sonrces of information also freely inserted i
the text The importance OF this feature in til
hook can hardly he overstated. 1t makes the ne'
dictionary better guide to the investigator tha
any similar work with which we are acquainted
And an examination of almost any OF the long'
articles will show tnat the data have been collecte
In the most thorough and painstaking manner.
books of reference profess to embody the late
results of contemporary inquiry this is one OF u
few which really do so Mr. Freemans article
GEltredn (Alfred the Great is perhaps not mod
of STYLE but it is a good example OF the freshne
and exactitude which distinguish the new dictlo
nry Other excellent illustrations of conscientiol
research are Mr.. Lees Archbishop Abbot, M
GhaMpson Coopers Cardinal Allen. and numb'