LibGuides: English: Junior Seminar: Biographies

Author Biographies

Book-length biographies

To locate book-length biographies, use the Reed Library Catalog Advanced Search.

To search for a biography of a particuar person, use the SUBJECT search by last name, first name without punctuation, followed by biography; for example:

Lewis Carroll biography
Orson Wells biography
John Donne biography

Use the Reed Library Only search scope to find books at Reed.

Use the Reed Library and Summit search scope to find books at Reed and from Summit libraries.

General Resources

General biography resources

Dictionary of National Biography Print only, not available online(DA28 .D5)

The British Dictionary of National Biography was originally published from 1885-1901 in 66 volumes and updated with decennial supplements. The series was continued by Oxford University Press and continues to be updated as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography.

American National Biography
ANB offers biographies for more than 19,000 men and women -- from all eras and walks of life -- whose lives have shaped the American nation.
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography
Biographical information about around 60,000 men and women important to British history.

Dictionary of Writers and Their Works This link opens in a new window
Focuses on the general canon of British literature from the fifteenth-century to the present.
Oxford Reference Online This link opens in a new window
Oxford Reference offers a huge range of fully-indexed, extensively linked, up to date, and cross-searchable dictionary, language reference, and subject reference works published by Oxford University Press. Search the collection of almost 50 literature resources or jump to one of the specific titles listed below.