Marquis Who's Who
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Marquis Who's Who is a US publisher of a number of books containing short biographical sketches of celebrated persons. The books are usually titled "Who's Who in …" followed by some subject, such as Who's Who in America, Who's Who in Science and Engineering, and so on.
Since 1899, Who's Who in America ® has chronicled the lives and careers of America's most noteworthy men and women. Founded by Albert Nelson Marquis (pronounced "Marqwis"), the first edition of the publication contained concise biographies of over 8,500 "distinguished Americans". Today, the company publishes over a dozen different series with information on more than a million individuals; the flagship book Who's Who in America contains over one hundred thousand entries.
The title "Who's Who" is in the public domain, and thousands of "Who's Who" compilations of varying scope and quality have been published by various authors and publishers. Some of these are vanity publications, where the inclusion criterion is the biographee's willingness to buy the book, and the business model consists in selling books directly to the biographees.
Marquis does offer some vanity features and merchandise to biographees. According to its publishers, the Marquis publications are intended and sold primarily as works of reference, and they insist that the sole selection criteria is "reference value". As proof of this reference value, they assert the company's success is demonstrated in celebrities and otherwise notable individuals contributing and updating their biographical data.
Today, Marquis Who's Who has grown to include the biographies of millions of leaders and achievers from around the world and from every significant field of endeavor. The books are available in the reference section of most U.S. libraries.
Contents |
[edit] List of publications
- Who's Who in America
- Who's Who in the World
- Who's Who of American Women
- Marquis Who's Who Professional Publications
- Who's Who in Medicine and Healthcare
- Who's Who in Science and Engineering
- Who's Who in Finance and Business
- Who's Who in American Law
- Who's Who in American Politics
- Who's Who in American Art
- Who's Who in American Education
- Who's Who Among American High School Students
- Who's Who Among American College Students
- Regional Publications
- Who's Who in the South and Southwest
- Who's Who in the East
- Who's Who in the Midwest
- Who's Who in the West
- Historical Series
- Who Was Who in America
- Who's Who in 20th Century America
[edit] See also
[edit] References
[edit] External links
- Marquis Who's Who Online
- Tucker Carlson's 1999 Forbes Article The Hall of Lame
- Marquis selection criteria
