Books with author Frank Northen Magill

The set is the same format as Magill's Salem Press publications a comfortable octavo. The substance is familiar: the scientist (in alphabetical order), an illustration, and a 2,000 word description giving vital statistics, areas of fame, and a biography of his/her early life, the major phase of creativity, impact upon later work, a bibliography. The difference is in publisher and distribution: Grolier. It cannot be doubted that more sets will sell with Grolier's army of sellers promoting it. We are somewhat reserved because Grolier passed us to and fro many times in order to find someone knowing that this was their title. The other major fault is that a 10" shelf of books does not need 2<1/2>" of binding board (each volume is about <3/4>" thick; Salem Press would have put this set in five volumes at, maybe, $300.00). Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

Containing 250 entries, each volume of the Dictionary of World Biography contains examines the lives of the individuals who shaped their times and left their mark on world history. Much more than a 'Who's Who', each entry provides an in-depth essay on the life and career of the individual concerned. Essays commence with a quick reference section that provides basic facts on the individual's life and achievements, and conclude with a fully annotated bibliography. The extended biography places the life and works of the individual within an historical context, and the summary at the end of each essay provides a synopsis of the individual's place in history. Any student in the field will want to have one of these as a handy reference companion.

Combines, updates, and expands two earlier Salem Press reference sets: Critical survey of drama, Rev. ed., English language series, published in 1994, and Critical survey of drama, Foreign language series, published in 1986. This new 8 vol. set contains 602 essays, of which 538 discuss individual dramatists and 64 cover broad overview topics. The dramatist profiles contain more than 310 photographs and drawings.