Modern English biography, volume 1 (of 6), A-H

by Frederic Boase

Modern English Biography is Frederic Boase's dictionary of people who died between 1851 and 1900, compiled single-handedly over decades and printed at Truro in six volumes between 1892 and 1921 in editions of only a few hundred copies. This first volume covers the letters A to H. Each entry gives, in compressed form, dates, parentage, education, career, publications, the date and place of death and the sources used, and Boase cast his net far wider than the Dictionary of National Biography, including actors, cricketers, inventors, clergymen, eccentrics and criminals who appear nowhere else. An index of "the most interesting matter" points to curiosities. For Victorian research it remains one of the most useful books ever made. The full text is available to read online in your browser on Vinteuil, and the opening pages are free.