 | |
| Country | United States |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press for the American Council of Learned Societies |
| Published |
|
| Media type | Print, Digital |
| No. of books | 26 |
| Preceded by | Dictionary of American Biography |
| Website | www |
The American National Biography (ANB) is a 24-volume biographical encyclopedia set that contains about 17,400 entries [1] and 20 million words, [2] first published in 1999 by Oxford University Press under the auspices of the American Council of Learned Societies.
A supplement with more than 400 new biographies appeared in 2002, and a second supplement of over 500 new biographies appeared in 2005. [3] [4] Additional funding came from the Rockefeller Foundation, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation and the National Endowment for the Humanities. [5]
The ANB bills itself as the successor of the Dictionary of American Biography , which was first published between 1926 and 1937. It is not, however, a strict superset of this older publication; the selection of topics was made anew. [6]
It is commonly available in the reference sections of United States libraries, [7] [8] and is available online by subscription (see external links).
In 1999, the American Library Association awarded the American National Biography its Dartmouth Medal [9] as a reference work of outstanding quality and significance. The American Historical Association's Waldo G. Leland Prize was awarded for 2001. [10]
It has been criticized for missing cross references and occasional errors, [11] and for its cost, which is said to limit availability in poor countries. [12]
{{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) OCLC 39182280.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) LCCN 201001260 201-1260; ISBN 978-0-231-15085-9; OCLC 1193553990(all editions).{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) ISBN 978-0-4957-9964-1; OCLC 760860482(all editions).