The "DNB"

        Originally edited by Virginia (Stephen) Woolf's father, and brought to press by his friend and fellow Shakespearian, Sir Sidney Lee, The Dictionary of National Biography enlisted scholars to write definitive, accurate, and balanced biographical notes about persons who had found their way into print, especially authors, politicians, and others noticed by historians.  Unlike Burke's Peerage, the DNB covers middle class people, and even a few working class people whose historical impact had made the noteworthy.  In addition to the Main Collection's copies, Special Collections has a complete set on the wall to the left of the vault doors.