Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography. in Five Volumes. Volume I - Paperbackby Lyon G. Tyler (Editor) The five volume "Encyclopedia of Virginia Biography" is a collection of biographical sketches of thousands of Virginians who lived between the early seventeenth century and the twentieth century. Covering the entire spectrum of colonial, Revolutionary, and post Revolutionary figures, the Encyclopedia treats the following personages: founders, immigrants, and early settlers, state councillors and burgesses, landowners,