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Cumming’s dictionary concentrates on the individuals, minor and important, who knew Carlyle or impacted his life or work in some way. The entries range from a paragraph to several pages each; some are written by the editor and some by other scholars. All are uniformly interesting, scholarly, and informative, and some have short bibliographies. The entries taken together constitute an overview of the entire Victorian era, seen through the prism of Thomas Carlyle. Although nearly all of them treat individuals who knew him personally, there are also entries for Carlyle’s major works, and a few for other nonpersonal subjects, such as “London,” “Church of England,” or “Mumbo Jumbo.” This summation of modern scholarship on Carlyle should be highly valuable to anyone studying either this great figure, or the era of which he was a part. Summing Up: Highly recommended. General and academic readers, upper-division undergraduates and higher.

W. Miller, Florida Atlantic University
Choice October 2004