Who Was Who

Template:Italic title Template:Short description Who Was Who is a book that is companion to A & C Black's Who's Who.

When the subject of a Who's Who entry dies, the biography is transferred to the next volume of Who Was Who, where it is usually printed as it appeared in its last Who's Who, with the date of death added.

The first volume of Who Was Who covered deaths between 1897 and 1915. They were then published at 10-year intervals, and since 1990 at five-year intervals.

Who Was Who series:

1. 1897–1915, 1988 reprint: Template:ISBN
2. 1916–1928, 1992 reprint: Template:ISBN
3. 1929–1940, 1967 reprint: Template:ISBN
4. 1941–1950, 1980 reprint: Template:ISBN
5. 1951–1960, 1984 reprint: Template:ISBN
6. 1961–1970, 1979 reprint: Template:ISBN
7. 1971–1980, 1989 reprint: Template:ISBN
8. 1981–1990: 1991 Template:ISBN
9. 1991–1995: 1996 Template:ISBN
10. 1996–2000: 2001 Template:ISBN
11. 2001–2005: 2006 Template:ISBN
12. 2006–2010: 2011 Template:ISBN
13. 2011–2015: 2016 Template:ISBN

Corrections

Errors contained in Who's Who entries are corrected in Who Was Who (the deceased subjects cannot object to corrections because they are deceased).<ref>Melanie Cable-Alexander. "The what's what of Who's Who" in "Perspectives". The Financial Times. 19 May 1990. Section II: Weekend FT (Weekend May 19/May 20). p viii.</ref><ref>"About". Who's Who & Who Was Who. Archived copy.</ref>

Volumes

Volume 1: 1897 to 1916 (later 1915)

The first edition was published in 1920 under the title Who Was Who: A Companion to "Who's Who" containing the Biographies of those who died during the period 1897-1916.<ref>Who Was Who. 1920.</ref> The second edition, with addenda and corrigenda, was published in 1929. The third edition, with revised corrigenda, was published in 1935. The fourth edition, with revised addenda and corrigenda, was published in 1953. The title of this edition was Who Was Who 1897-1915.<ref>Who Was Who 1897-1915. Fourth Edition. Adam & Charles Black. Soho Square, London. 1953. Reprinted 1962. Title page and following page.</ref> The fifth revised edition was published in 1966,<ref>Who Was Who 1897-1915. Fifth Edition. Adam & Charles Black. London. 1966. Title page and following page.</ref> and the sixth edition in 1988.<ref>Who Was Who 1897-1915. Sixth Edition. A & C Black. London. 1988. ISBN 0-7136-2670-4. Title page and following page.</ref>

In a review of the first edition of this volume, The Spectator wrote "This book fills the gap between the standard biographical dictionaries and the current Who's Who. It contains the notices, reprinted from former volumes of Who's Who, of those more or less well-known persons who died between 1897 and 1916, with the dates of their deaths. It runs to nearly eight hundred pages of small type. As a work of reference it will be found exceedingly useful, all the more because many of the persons named will never figure in the Dictionary of National Biography".<ref>125 The Spectator 88 (17 July 1920)</ref>

This volume was also reviewed in The Sketch,<ref>116 The Sketch: A Journal of Art and Actuality viii (28 December 1921)</ref> The New World,<ref>3 The New World: A Monthly International Review 376</ref> The Expository Times<ref>"Who Was Who" 32 The Expository Times 11</ref> The Illustrated London News,<ref>159 The Illustrated London News 916 (31 December 1921)</ref> The Sphere,<ref>83 The Sphere: An Illustrated Newspaper for the Home 302 (25 December 1920)</ref> Country Life,<ref>"The Reference Books of 1921" (1921) 49 Country Life lxx (29 January 1921)</ref> and The Publishers' Circular.<ref>"Who Was Who" (1920) 112 The Publishers' Circular and Booksellers' Record 651 (12 June 1920)</ref><ref>For further commentary on this volume, see 97 The Publishers Weekly, 3 January 1920, p 27; and 26 The American Historical Review 385</ref>

Volume 2: 1916-1928

The first edition was published in 1929, the second in 1947, and the third in 1962. The fourth revised edition was published in 1967.<ref>Who Was Who 1916-1928. Fourth Edition. Adam & Charles Black. London. 1967. Title page and following page.</ref>

Volume 3: 1929-1940

The first edition was published in 1941. The second revised edition was published in 1967.<ref>Who Was Who 1929-1940. Second Edition. Adam & Charles Black. London. 1967. Title page and following page.</ref> This volume was reviewed in The Spectator<ref>"A Spectator's Notebook" (1941) 167 The Spectator 324 (3 October 1941)</ref> and Subscription Books Bulletin.<ref>14 Subscription Books Bulletin, January 1943, p 13</ref>

Volume 4: 1941-1950

This volume was published in 1952. This volume was reviewed in The Spectator.<ref>"A Spectator's Notebook" (1952) 188 The Spectator 569 (2 May 1952)</ref>

Volume 5: 1951-1960

This volume was reviewed in British Book News.<ref>British Book News, p 146.</ref><ref>For other commentary, see 81 Science News Letter 221 (7 April 1962)</ref>

Volume 6: 1961-1970

This volume was published in 1972. This volume was reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement.<ref>"A decade and its dead". The Times Literary Supplement. 7 April 1972. p 395.</ref><ref>For further commentary on this volume, see "Who Was Who", The Times Literary Supplement, 28 April 1972, p 496; and The Bookseller 92 (8 January 1972) and 147 (15 January 1972)</ref>

Volume 7: 1971 to 1980

This volume was reviewed in The Times Literary Supplement.<ref>Alan Bell. "Lost leaders". The Times Literary Supplement. 16 April 1982. p 431.</ref>

Cumulated index

There is a cumulative index, titled "cumulated index":

• Who Was Who, A Cumulated Index 1897 to 1980. Published 1981.
• Who Was Who: A Cumulated Index 1897–1990. Published 1991.
• Who Was Who: A Cumulated Index 1897—2000. Published 2002.

Cumulated Index 1897 to 1980

This volume was reviewed in Books and Bookmen,<ref>Auberon Waugh. "Connections". Books and Bookmen. Number 316: January 1982, p 12.</ref> The Times<ref>Hugo Vickers. "Help at hand for the malignant" in "Books for Christmas/3". The Times. Saturday 24 November 1984. The Times Saturday Books for Christmas: A Weekly Guide to Leisure, Entertainment and the Arts. Saturday, 24–30 November 1984. p 13.</ref> and The Times Literary Supplement.<ref>Alan Bell. "Lost leaders". The Times Literary Supplement. 16 April 1982. p 431.</ref> Cox said this index is useful.<ref>Richard William Cox, British Sport, Frank Cass, 2003, vol 3, p xxxi</ref>

Further reading

• Saul Galin and Peter Spielberg. Reference Books: How to Select and Use Them. Random House. New York. 1969. p 46.
• W H Carter, "A Note on the Mortality Experience of those Recorded in ‘Who was Who’, Vol. VI" (1973) 99 Journal of the Institute of Actuaries 293

External links

Template:Wikisource/outer core{{#invoke:Check for unknown parameters|check|showblankpositional=1|unknown=|1|2|3|diagnose|has|italic|italics|lang|nocat|position|title|wislink|works|wslink}}