This volume of the eleventh edition of the Encyclopaedia Britannica continues the vast lexicographical and historical project of the work, presenting an extensive series of biographical, geographical, and technical entries arranged alphabetically from Dübner to Dyeing. The biographical articles form the core of the text, detailing the lives and achievements of numerous European and American scholars, artists, ecclesiastics, and statesmen. Among the notable figures examined are the classical scholar Johann Friedrich Dübner, the French musical composer François Clément Théodore Dubois, the astute French statesman and cardinal Guillaume Dubois, and the missionary in India Jean Antoine Dubois. Other prominent subjects include the sculptor Paul Dubois, the publicist Pierre Dubois, the French revolutionist Edmond Louis Alexis Dubois-Crancé, the physiologist Emil Du Bois-Reymond, the author Jean-Baptiste Dubos, the writer Maxime Du Camp, and the great medievalist Charles du Fresne, sieur du Cange.
In addition to biographical notices of these historical figures, the volume provides detailed accounts of various European cities and regions, such as Dumbarton, Dumfries, Dundee, Dunfermline, Dunkirk, Duisburg, and Düren, elucidating their historical importance, architecture, and economic development. The geographical entries extend across the globe, covering locations in North America, such as Dubuque and Duluth, as well as eastern territories and colonies.
The text also embraces specialized scientific and cultural topics. Extensive articles are devoted to the anatomical structure and comparative physiology of the spleen, the adrenal glands, the thyroid and parathyroid glands, the thymus, and the carotid and coccygeal bodies. Other topics treated with scholarly precision include the history of duels and the judicial combat, the ethnology of the Dyaks, the history of the Dutch East India Company and the Dutch language and literature, the art of dyeing, and the various species of ducks and duckweeds.
Throughout the volume, the articles reflect the rigorous philological and historical criticism characteristic of the late Victorian and Edwardian periods. The entries are compiled by various specialists and scholars of international renown, providing concrete historical details, genealogical lineages, and bibliographical references for each subject. The volume concludes with comprehensive accounts of the various branches of the Dudley family and the historical notices of Dürer and his artistic legacy.
