592 p; Gale (October 20, 2006)
The series editors write that "Our purpose is to make literature and its creators better understood and more accessible to students and the reading public, while satisfying the needs of teachers and researchers." They define literature as "the intellectual commerce of a nation; not merely belles lettres but as that ample and complex process by which ideas are generated, shaped, and transmitted." (emphasis in original) The series thus includes biographies of historians, journalists, publishers, book collectors, and screenwriters. The biographies are focused on an author's writings and the development of his or her career.In addition to author biographies, the series publishes volumes on literary topics, periods, and genres. Some authors appear in multiple volumes, as befits their work.Each volume is overseen by an expert in the field and is approximately 3,000 to 5,000 words long. The biographies contain basic information, such as birth and death dates, a bibliography of the author's works, and a "further reading" list of sources on the author and his or her works. Each volume is illustrated by relevant drawings, paintings, or photographs of the authors as well as title pages of their works.As of 2006, the series had 375 volumes, which included 23 yearbooks and 45 documentary volumes. Altogether, the series included 13,500 author biographies. The DLB exists in both print and electronic versions. As of 2006, approximately 85 percent of the series was online.
