New-York tribune., 1885-01-24
NATIONAL BIOGRAPHY.
BY Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Poet Laureate
Globe svo, 81 so.

EDITED BY LESLIE STEPHEN
Further will be issued at inervaso hree
confidently expected t1at the WORK Will oe
In about fifty volumes - 1899, =,
THE DICTIONARY OF NATI oNAL BIOGRAPHY IS
intended supply which has for more han hai ce
tury been generally Every reader has recognized inc
utility of the French Dictionaries of universal hosfa
phy AT the present such work woud be rendered I'M
practicable by the al Increase OF The results o
inguiry Some OF labor seems to be inper"u'e
necessary Each nation should have its own Biographical
Dictionary The and Belgian Dictionaries no" IN
pr,gre.s are ins a1ces Of such work abroad ana u IN
Dictionary toc our own nation worthy 10
take a place beside them.
The Dictionary National Bio graphy viii inclnie iiVcs
OF Inhabitants Of the Isani- from the earliest ms
70 pcrioi Living persons excluded The first aim
has give biographies which al embry WIN sum
cent the latest rcss of historical 'lrc ann DC
founded upoa an exln1ltun % original documents
ear in icaton will he in ca'h article OF the an'ho
ties which have eon 'cl and which further in'ofm
tion may be derived
In later volumes IL will remedy errors OF
excess or defect which nav pointed out in the first IL Is
deuy hoped that the execution oil the WORK
will be not unworthy eln Its titles ami that
IL Will place bes - The cJnpetest Bosraphlca DC
tionaries hitherto published
past there has been abundant need OF an exhaus
tive work on English biography like those which e rnei
societies under royal national aronase are Issuing In
Germany DO, 1t to the cX ri1ns OF pHbshng
firm private Of letters that o~e the present abe
undertak ing An examination OF the INST my Nous u"
which II is to that the expectations which have
been formed concerning it win not be DISAPPOINTED In u
ness horOughness and In general accura II leaves e
or nothing desired 1t compares very v'raby Win
its foreign models most essential points ana IN oh at
lcaT t distinctly upelior Some dozen years hencc
then c mly expect the fifty gooiy volumes OF the
Dictionary of National Biography ying side by Side on tho
shelves Of our libraries II al 0! the compiled win tc
learning intelligence and the general accuracy e'hce IN
the first part the place they hold Ia not likely 70 be DIS
puted for many generations - London AthenGum.
I'VE have before ms in this hlndsome volume IA hrn IN
.alment of work promises do creit alike to Tho
enterprise publishers and the scholarly assidry 0i s
editor Every literary must have felt the lack oil
book OF reference since the Biographa BRITANNICA
no attempt anyt ding ike adequate scale
to provide complete Of British Biography The
magnitude Of the task has not unnaturay deferred pub
fishers from atte npting In such undertaken =
chief difficulty a. In the first ace TO determine
shall be deemed worthy OF notice and, In the second
place preserve proportion in the length OF the art
In both respects MT stephen has shown excellent
Judgment But Is the shorter ,tices rather than
the extended raphs upon which the real utility
OF depend. These far wc have looked in
them executed with great care and To
embody most instances good deal OF original research
The attention devoted to theatrical biography VIII
greatly enhance value OF tbs Dctionary-tPall Mall
| Gazette.
THE appearance OF volume OF the Dictionary OF
National biography viii probably call the attention OF many
persons the the fact that such work was
wanting naoni literature We nave all sorts oi Bio
graphical Dictionaries and OF late having goodlY
supply of what may call classified serial biographie
but ged and carefully ordered Dictionary
Of National Biography such that edited by Mr. Leslie
Stephen promises To become. Such work. II success
fu ought OF beadro OF fame for English
men something much better than the Golden
Venice 1t VIII be ia nily distinction TO have had
the memoir its hrined IN this national
biography Tic undertaking is one 10 which every one must
Wish and in which the best wer, of the day might
| be proud to bear u hani."-l London Daily News,
MACMILLAN e. CO., New-York.,
|