This project promotes on-line collaborative research on nineteenth and twentieth century English-language collections of biographies of women. The work will expand on Collective Biographies of Women: An Annotated Bibliography, a web site that examines more than 930 collections of women's biographies published between 1830-1940 in Britain and North America. These books, written by both men and women, cover a surprising range of subjects—historical and literary, biblical and legendary, martyrs and murderers, queens and reformers—and have much in common with the genres of popular fiction, self-help, and history.

Prosopography, a term for biographies in and about groups, has long been the most widespread mode of biographical representation of marginalized groups but has been surprisingly overlooked by academic researchers. The study of large bodies of “parallel lives” representing social roles and shared histories is highly suited to digital methods. This project will yield new approaches and tools for studies in biography and prosopography by analyzing narrative and visual designs both in single texts and across many publications, as well as comparing multiple versions of individual subjects (e.g. Florence Nightingale or Queen Victoria) and types (e.g. the saintly nurse or the head of state). Examination of recurring subjects and common conventions that would be recognized by the writers and readers of these collections will be coordinated with measurable trends in regional or national, racial, and religious representation across the decades. With implications for all forms of biographical history, this study both uncovers the roots of recent women's studies and provides a mirror of sorts for contemporary narratives of celebrated and famous women.