Who’s Who

Odd publication when you think about it, though one rarely does. I can almost see them out of the corner of my eye, a plump row of big red books on a library shelf. Maybe I consulted one once — I can’t remember. What now makes me think of it is The Economist‘s bringing me the news that Bloomsbury, who by owning A & C Black, are publishers of this peculiar beast, have announced they are selling it. Who’s Who has been under way since 1849, and A & C Black have been its publishers since 1896. It may not be the world’s oldest on-going reference volume, the Encyclopaedia Britannica for instance has been at it since 1768, but The Economist claims it is “one of its most influential and, arguably, its oddest”. Who’s Who contains little bios of the people who matter, basically the establishment with a little leaven. “Broadly speaking, entrants are split into two categories. One is bigwigs you mostly haven’t heard of (MPs, KCs*, judges, peers, other types who wear tights), who gain automatic…