INTRODUCTION. The branch of BIOGRAPHY will be found to be necessarily limited; since the Books frequently classed under this head, are transferred to the part of HISTORY and HISTORICAL MEMOIRS, to which we must refer the reader. The chief works to be found under the head of BIOGRAPHY are the principal Biographical Dictionaries, universal and otherwise. The most distinguished of these are the great Dictionary of BAYLE, of well known character and celebrity; the "Nouveau Dictionnaire historique, &c." of CHAUFFEPIÉ, intended as an accompaniment to BAYLE; and the " Biographie Nouvelle des Contemporains, &c." edited by MM. ARNAULT, JAY, JOUY, &c. The " Biographie Universelle, ancienne et moderne," &c. by M. de BARANTE, and a great number of the most popular writers of the day, should not go unnoticed; it is a very able and highly important production. |