This ambitious work sets out to list the most famous and infamous individuals encountered in the histories and legends of all nations. Volume one begins with Aaron, the brother of Moses from the Old Testament; so begins a bewildering array of Oxford dons, saints, explorers and inventors, chosen and sketched with a view towards improving the reader by educative example. Osborne's dictionary was a direct ancestor to the massive reference projects of the 19th century. It was revised and expanded multiple times (most notably by Alexander Chalmers in the early 1800s), eventually growing from 11 volumes to 32. It served as the primary blueprint for what would eventually become the Dictionary of National Biography. It is worth noting that while Thomas Osborne was the publisher, the work was a collaborative effort by several "Men of Letters," including William Sellers and John Heath. In the 18th-century book trade, the publisher (or "bookseller") often had their name most prominently associated with the "brand" of the book.

This ambitious work sets out to list the most famous and infamous individuals encountered in the histories and legends of all nations. Volume one begins with Aaron, the brother of Moses from the Old Testament; so begins a bewildering array of Oxford dons, saints, explorers and inventors, chosen and sketched with a view towards improving the reader by educative example. Osborne's dictionary was a direct ancestor to the massive reference projects of the 19th century. It was revised and expanded multiple times (most notably by Alexander Chalmers in the early 1800s), eventually growing from 11 volumes to 32. It served as the primary blueprint for what would eventually become the Dictionary of National Biography. It is worth noting that while Thomas Osborne was the publisher, the work was a collaborative effort by several "Men of Letters," including William Sellers and John Heath. In the 18th-century book trade, the publisher (or "bookseller") often had their name most prominently associated with the "brand" of the book.