Biography

In a library, the word biography refers both to a kind of book and to a section where books of that kind are found. Each tells the story of a real person’s life. Biography is sometimes regarded as a branch of history, and earlier biographical writings—such as the 15th-century Mémoires of the French councellor of state, Philippe de Commynes, or George Cavendish’s 16th-century life of Thomas Cardinal Wolsey—have often been treated as historical material rather than as literary works in their own right. Some entries in ancient Chinese chronicles included biographical sketches; imbedded in the Roman historian Tacitus’s Annals is the most famous biography of the emperor