📖 Overview
Great Men and Famous Women is an eight-volume biographical collection edited by Charles F. Horne and published in 1894. The work contains profiles of historical figures from ancient times through the late 19th century, including rulers, military leaders, artists, writers, and other notable individuals.
The biographies are written by various contributors and range from brief sketches to detailed accounts of the subjects' lives and achievements. Each profile includes key facts about the person's background, major accomplishments, and historical impact, along with selected anecdotes and quotations from primary sources.
The collection organizes its subjects chronologically and by category, with separate sections devoted to soldiers and sailors, statesmen and sages, workmen and heroes, artists and authors, and great women. The text incorporates period illustrations, portraits, and other visual materials to supplement the written accounts.
This comprehensive work reflects late Victorian perspectives on greatness, heroism, and the role of exceptional individuals in shaping human civilization. The biographical selections and editorial choices provide insight into 19th-century views of history, gender, and social progress.
👀 Reviews
Minimal reader reviews exist online for this 1894 biographical collection, making it difficult to gauge broad public reception. The few available reviews note its value as a historical reference text documenting prominent figures from that era's perspective.
What readers liked:
- Comprehensive scope covering military, political, and cultural figures
- Detailed illustrations and engravings
- Useful primary source for understanding late 19th century perspectives
What readers disliked:
- Dated writing style and Victorian-era biases
- Limited coverage of women and non-Western figures
- Some inaccuracies reflecting historical knowledge of the time
Available Ratings:
Goodreads: No ratings
Amazon: No ratings
Internet Archive: 3 reviews, unrated
Note: This book appears more frequently in library collections and academic references than consumer review sites. Most modern readers encounter it as a historical document rather than for general reading.
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🤔 Interesting facts
📚 The eight-volume series was published in 1894 by Selmar Hess in New York
🎨 Each volume contained numerous photogravure prints and half-tone illustrations of artwork, portraits, and historical scenes
👑 The collection features biographies of both rulers and common people who achieved greatness, including artists, writers, explorers, and military leaders
📖 The work was created as a collaborative effort, with different experts and historians contributing individual chapters rather than being written entirely by Horne
🌍 The series was one of the first major biographical collections to give significant coverage to non-Western historical figures, including leaders from Asia and the Middle East