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Bulfinch, Charles

(Encyclopedia)Bulfinch, Charles, 1763–1844, American architect, b. Boston. A member of the Boston board of selectmen in 1791, he was chosen chairman in 1799—an office equivalent to mayor and held by Bulfinch fo...

Böll, Heinrich

(Encyclopedia)Böll, Heinrich hīnˈrĭkh böl [key], 1917–85, German novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. Böll presents a critical, antimilitarist view of modern society in a collection of masterful sh...

Weir, Julian Alden

(Encyclopedia)Weir, Julian Alden wēr [key], 1852–1919, b. West Point, N.Y., American painter. He studied with his father Robert Walter Weir, a landscape painter of the Hudson River school, at the National Academ...

Coppard, Alfred Edgar

(Encyclopedia)Coppard, Alfred Edgar kŏpˈärd [key], 1878–1957, English author. Almost entirely self-educated, he worked at several clerical positions. His tales, written in a poetic and fanciful vein, include A...

Paludan-Müller, Frederik

(Encyclopedia)Paludan-Müller, Frederik frĭˈᵺərĭk päˈlo͞oᵺän-müˈlər [key], 1809–76, Danish poet. In Denmark he is widely regarded as a peer of Kierkegaard and Hans Christian Andersen. Among his ear...

Thornhill, Sir James

(Encyclopedia)Thornhill, Sir James, 1676–1734, English decorative artist. George I made him court painter and later knighted him. He executed decorations in Hampton Court and the cupola of St. Paul's, London; the...

Gioia, Melchiorre

(Encyclopedia)Gioia or Gioja, Melchiorre both: mālkyôrˈrā jōˈyä [key], 1767–1829, Italian economist and political theorist. An early advocate of the unification of Italy, he was several times imprisoned, o...

Kirkcaldy

(Encyclopedia)Kirkcaldy kərkôˈdē, –kôlˈ– [key], town (1991 pop. 46,356) and district, Fife, E Scotland, on the Firth of Forth. Industries textiles and furniture manufacture and light electrical engineerin...

Gimbel

(Encyclopedia)Gimbel gĭmˈbəl [key], family of American merchants and philanthropists. Adam Gimbel, 1815–96, b. Bavaria, emigrated (1835) to the United States and traveled up and down the Mississippi River pedd...

Lilith

(Encyclopedia)Lilith lĭlˈĭth [key], female demon of Jewish mythology, originally probably the Assyrian storm demon Lilitu. In Talmudic tradition many evil attributes were given to this supposedly nocturnal creat...