The Spectator.—'As each volume of the Dictionary appears, its merits become more conspicuous.... The book ought to commend itself to as wide a circle of buyers as the "Encyclopædia Britannica."'
The Manchester Examiner and Times.—'We extend a hearty welcome to the latest instalment of a most magnificent work, in which both the editing and the writing appear still to improve.'
The Quarterly Review.—'A "Dictionary of National Biography," of WHICH THE COUNTRY MAY BE JUSTLY PROUD, which, though it may need correcting and supplementing, will probably never be superseded, and which, in unity of conception and aim, in the number of the names inserted, in fulness and accuracy of details, in the care and precision with which the authorities are cited, and in the bibliographical information given, will not only be immeasurably superior to any work of the kind which has been produced in Great Britain, but will as far surpass the German and Belgian biographical dictionaries now in progress, as these two important undertakings are in advance of the two great French collections, which until lately reigned supreme in the department of Biography.'
The Rev. Dr. Jessop in the Nineteenth Century.—'The greatest literary undertaking that has ever been carried out in England.... We shall have a Dictionary of National Biography such as no other nation in Europe can boast of, and such as can never be wholly superseded, though it will need to be supplemented for the requirements of our posterity.'
The Lancet.—'The usefulness, fulness, and general accuracy of this work become more and more apparent as its progress continues. It is a classic work of reference as such, WITHOUT ANY COMPEER IN ENGLISH OR PERHAPS ANY OTHER LANGUAGE.'
The Pall Mall Gazette.—'As to the general execution, we can only repeat the high praise which it has been our pleasing duty to bestow on former volumes. To find a name omitted that should have been inserted is well-nigh impossible.'
London: SMITH, ELDER, & CO., 15 Waterloo Place.