Talk:Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 supplement/Farmer, John

Author

Quite a puzzle as to who wrote this article - Author:Edward Walford died in 1897, so he can be ruled out. The DNB12 list of authors does not mention "E. W.".

I think this is garbling, and that the likely author is ‎Edmund Whytehead Howson, mentioned in references as co-author of the book on Harrow School. So that "E. W. H." may have been intended. The other author of that work is George Townsend Warner, not E. Townsend Warner.

@Billinghurst: @Miraclepine: Charles Matthews (talk) 07:16, 10 March 2023 (UTC)

@Charles Matthews: It is author:Ernest Walker, says so in the contributors to vol. 2. We will need to update the initials footer, (though I am still hoping for a better means than so many manual modifications.) — billinghurst sDrewth 13:02, 18 March 2023 (UTC)

@Billinghurst: OK, thanks.

The Lua script seems a good idea, if a little awkward given that the initials change within the first edition in some cases. It would make sense to have all the information in one array, and proceed from there.

The template infrastructure has become onerous. I am currently ducking {{DNB GG}} and {{DNB SL}} for full disambiguation, given the number of Gordon Goodwin and Sidney Lee articles there are. Otherwise, though, revisiting legacy DNB is a good idea, for validation and several other ways to add value. Charles Matthews (talk) 15:04, 18 March 2023 (UTC)