The ''Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography'' was a

biographical dictionary A biographical dictionary is a type of encyclopedic dictionary limited to biographical information. Many attempt to cover the major personalities of a country (with limitations, such as living persons only, in ''Who's Who'', or deceased people o ...

of the nineteenth century, published by William Mackenzie in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

. The second edition, which was published in 1876, was released in two sets. One was a set of 28 volumes (parts), priced at 4 shillings each. The other set was in 14 volumes (divisions), in elegant cloth, bevel boards, cut edges, and priced at 10 shillings each.

Publication

The ''Dictionary'' was issued by part publication, and its first edition appeared from 1857 to 1863. In collected form (1863) there were three volumes, originally issued in 16 parts. A later edition appeared from 1876.

Staff and writers

The ''Imperial Dictionary'' was edited by

John Francis Waller John Francis Waller (21 July 1809 – 19 January 1894) was an Irish poet, librettist and editor. Life The son of Thomas Maunsell Waller, of an Irish baronetical family, and Margaret Vereker, Waller was born in Finnoe, County Tipperary, studied ...

from 1857 to 1866;

Patrick Edward Dove Patrick Edward Dove (31 July 1815 – 28 April 1873) was born at Lasswade, near Edinburgh in Scotland. He is mainly remembered for his book ''The Theory of Human Progression'' of 1850 which sets out his philosophy that land should be in common o ...

was general editor for the first 20 numbers,

John Service John Stewart Service (August 3, 1909 – February 3, 1999) was an American diplomat who served in the Foreign Service in China prior to and during World War II. Considered one of the State Department's "China Hands," he was an important member ...

was on the editorial staff 1858 to 1862, acting as sub-editor under Dove. Also involved editorially were

William John Macquorn Rankine William John Macquorn Rankine (; 5 July 1820 – 24 December 1872) was a Scottish mathematician and physicist. He was a founding contributor, with Rudolf Clausius and William Thomson (Lord Kelvin), to the science of thermodynamics, particularl ...

Francis Bowen Francis Bowen ( ; September 8, 1811 – January 22, 1890) was an American philosopher, writer, and educationalist. Biography He was born in Charlestown, Massachusetts. He was educated at Mayhew School, Boston, Phillips Exeter Academy, and Harvar ...

, John Eadie, and

John Pringle Nichol John Pringle Nichol Fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh, FRSE FRAS (13 January 1804 – 19 September 1859) was a Scotland, Scottish educator, phrenologist, astronomer and economist who did much to popularise astronomy in a manner that appe ...

. A list of contributors appeared in the first volume, and a further list in volume II. Other contributors included: * John Merry Ross, *

Christina Rossetti Christina Georgina Rossetti (5 December 1830 – 29 December 1894) was an English writer of romanticism, romantic, devotional and children's poems, including "Goblin Market" and "Remember". She also wrote the words of two Christmas carols well k ...

Petrarch Francis Petrarch (; 20 July 1304 – 19 July 1374; ; modern ), born Francesco di Petracco, was a scholar from Arezzo and poet of the early Italian Renaissance, as well as one of the earliest Renaissance humanism, humanists. Petrarch's redis ...

, and numerous other Italians *

William Michael Rossetti William Michael Rossetti (25 September 1829 – 5 February 1919) was an English writer and critic. Early life Born in London, Rossetti was a son of exiled Italian scholar Gabriele Rossetti and his wife Frances Polidori, Frances Rossetti '' ...

, *

Algernon Charles Swinburne Algernon Charles Swinburne (5 April 1837 – 10 April 1909) was an English poet, playwright, novelist and critic. He wrote many plays – all tragedies – and collections of poetry such as '' Poems and Ballads'', and contributed to the Eleve ...

, There were engravings included by

William Thomas Fry William Thomas Fry (1789–1843) was a British engraver. He occasionally exhibited his engravings at the Suffolk Street exhibition. Works Fry worked chiefly in stipple. He engraved four portraits for Fisher, Son, & Co.'s ''National Portrait Gall ...

, James Thomson, and

Richard Woodman Captain Richard Martin Woodman LVO MNM (10 March 1944 – 2 October 2024) was an English merchant navy officer, novelist and naval historian. Woodman served at sea mainly working for Trinity House and retired in 1997 from a 37-year nautical c ...

Notes

External links

* Waller, John Francis; Eadie, John; editors (1863). ''The Imperial Dictionary of Universal Biography'', 3 volumes. Glasgow: William MacKenzie. Vols
1
(AA–CZU)
2
(DAA–IWA), an
3
(JAA–ZWI) at

HathiTrust HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries. Its holdings include content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digit ...

. {{Authority control Biographical dictionaries 1863 non-fiction books 1876 non-fiction books