The Oxford Companion to English Literature first published in 1932, edited by the retired diplomat Sir Paul Harvey (1869–1948), was the earliest of the Oxford Companions to appear. The work, which has been periodically updated, includes biographies of prominent historical and leading contemporary writers in the English language, entries on major works, "allusions which may be encountered", significant (serial) publications and literary clubs. Writers in other languages are included when they have had an impact on the anglophone world. Harvey's entries concerning Sir Walter Scott, much admired by Drabble in the introduction to the fifth edition, had to be reduced for reasons of space, in the sixth edition.