Oxford University Press has recognized the work of five Hope College scholars by inviting them to contribute to the new edition of the "Dictionary of National Biography."
The work was first published in 1900 in 22
volumes. It lists all the significant persons in English
history, with brief narratives about each one. Oxford is
re-editing the work for the new millennium, updating many of
the biographies and adding others.
Marc Baer, John Cox, James Herrick, Kathleen
Verduin and Leslie Workman have been invited to contribute
to the new edition.
Baer is a professor of history at Hope and a
scholar of early 19th century English history. He has been
asked to write a new biography of Sir Francis Burdett, a
leader in English social and political reform movements from
the French Revolution era through the 1830s.
Cox is the DuMez Professor of English and a
scholar of Shakespeare. He will write about Barnabe Barnes,
who was a contemporary of Shakespeare and wrote for the same
acting company.
Herrick is a professor of communication who has
studied religious skepticism. He will revise articles about
three religious radicals of the 18th century: Jacob Ilive,
Peter Annet and Henry Dodwell.
Verduin and Workman are both scholars of
medievalism who together have edited the journal "Studies in
Medievalism" for many years.
Verduin is a professor of English and a scholar of
American literature and medievalism. Her entry is on Thomas
Speght, a contemporary of Shakespeare and the first editor
of the works of Geoffrey Chaucer, author of "The Canterbury
Tales."
Workman is an independent scholar. He will write
an entry for William L'Isle, a poet and early student of
Anglo Saxon, the language in which "Beowulf" is written.
Entries in the "Dictionary of National Biography"
range in length from 900 to 3,000 words. The five Hope
scholars have been offered contracts for their work and will
each receive a small stipend from Oxford University Press.