Consult biographical dictionaries to get brief information about people, dates and events. Biographical dictionaries often contain lists of a writer's complete works, as well as lists of related secondary sources and criticism, including book-length biographies.

Two categories of biographical dictionary are broadly useful for literary study. National biographies contain articles concerning historically important residents of a particular country; literary biographies collect the biographies of important writers. You can find specialized biographical dictionaries by doing a subject-heading search for biography in QCAT, e.g.

To determine if the Library owns a book-length biography of a person, perform a subject search in QCAT. Enter [last name, first name], e.g.

You may wish to consult titles that just have the author's name as subject heading as well as those with subdivisions: Biography, Correspondence, Diaries, Family, Interviews.

Another approach to finding biographies in QCAT is to perform a keyword search using the term "biography" (in the subject field) and the name of the person. However, this method will not return a list of all the books that contain biographical information on your subject.

For more sources, see Biographical Resources.

National Biographies

  You are connecting from off-campus. You will be prompted to enter your NetID and password before connecting to a Queen's-only database.

Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online

(more info)

A work in progress, this dictionary currently includes individuals whose date of death or last activity occurred between the years 1000 to 1930.

Dictionary of American Biography

REF E176.D5

Twenty-volume set containing scholarly articles and bibliographies about prominent Americans who died prior to 1927. Seven supplements bring the coverage up to 1965.

Oxford Dictionary of National Biography Online [U.K.]  Access limit

(more info)

Publication coverage: 400 BC - early 2000s AD
Print holdings: REF DA28 .O95 2004 Access restricted to the Queen's community (6 user limit)

Revised edition of the Dictionary of National Biography. A definitive resource for British and Commonwealth biography, comprising 50,000 biographies written by over 10,000 contributors. Print covers from the earliest times to the year 2000 (60 volumes). Online covers from earliest times to 2001.

Literary Biographies

Dictionary of Literary Biography (series)
REF Call Number varies

A collection of essays on the lives and careers of authors from all eras and genres as well as critical responses to their work. To locate the individual volumes of this multi-volume set, do a title search in QCAT for Dictionary of Literary Biography.

Contemporary Authors
REF Z1224.C59 Contemporary Authors First Revision, Vols. 1-44 (1962-1980)
REF Z1224.C76 Contemporary Authors Original, Vols. 45(1981-)-current
REF Z1224.C592t Contemporary Authors New Revision Series, vols.1(1981)-current

Provides bio-bibliographical information about living and deceased writers of fiction, nonfiction, poetry, drama, motion pictures, and television.

Initial biographies are published in Contemporary Authors Original. Updated biographies are published in Contemporary Authors New Revision Series.

Use the Contemporary Authors Cumulative Index (REF Z1224 .C76) to locate biographies in all the volumes.

The Feminist Companion to Literature in English. Women Writers from the Middle Ages to the Present
REF PN471.F45 1990t

A 1200-page compendium of biographical sketches for more than 2700 women writing in English, including those from African, Asian, Caribbean, Canadian and other literary traditions. Includes some topical entries and sources for further reading.

An Encyclopedia of British Women Writers
REF PR111.E54 1998

Biographies and secondary bibliographies are included. Thematic issues and critical reception are discussed.

A Biographical Dictionary of English Women Writers, 1580–1720
REF PR113.B46 1990t

Alphabetically arranged by name, provides short biographical entries, as well as lists of anonymous and pseudonymous texts, false ascriptions, and several critical appendices on such topics as Quaker women writers and women in the book trade.

A Dictionary of British and American Women Writers, 1660–1800
REF PR113 D5 1985

Brief biographical signed entries which names major publications but provides limited references to critical appraisals.