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Dobrovský, Josef

(Encyclopedia)Dobrovský, Josef dôˈbrôfskē [key], 1753–1829, Hungarian philologist, of Bohemian parentage. In 1792 the Royal Bohemian Academy of Sciences commissioned Dobrovský to recover Bohemian manuscript...

Purdue University

(Encyclopedia)Purdue University pərdyo͞oˈ, –do͞oˈ [key], main campus at West Lafayette, Ind.; land-grant with state support; coeducational; chartered 1865, opened 1874. It maintains campuses at Hammond (Calu...

ballade

(Encyclopedia)ballade bəlädˈ [key], in literature, verse form developed in France in the 14th and 15th cent. The ballade usually contains three stanzas of eight lines with three rhymes and a four-line envoy (a s...

Hicks, Granville

(Encyclopedia)Hicks, Granville, 1901–82, American writer, b. Exeter, N.H. A member of the Communist party, he edited The New Masses and wrote a pioneering Marxist interpretation of American literature, The Great ...

Elizabeth of Valois

(Encyclopedia)Elizabeth of Valois vălˈwä, Fr. välwäˈ [key], 1545–68, queen of Spain, daughter of Henry II of France. Originally intended to wed Don Carlos, son of Philip II of Spain, she was married (1559) ...

Aneurin

(Encyclopedia)Aneurin or Aneirin ənīˈrĭn [key], fl. c.600, Welsh bard whose reputed writings are contained in a 13th-century manuscript, The Book of Aneirin. Included in this manuscript is Y Gododdin, an elegia...

Karlfeldt, Erik Axel

(Encyclopedia)Karlfeldt, Erik Axel āˈrĭk äkˈsəl kärlˈfĕlt [key], 1864–1931, Swedish lyric poet. His work is representative of neoromanticism in the 1890s. Themes of nature, love, and life in the province...

Key, Francis Scott

(Encyclopedia)Key, Francis Scott kē [key], 1779–1843, American poet, author of the Star-Spangled Banner, b. present Carroll co., Md. A lawyer, he was U.S. attorney for the District of Columbia (1833–41). His w...

Six Dynasties

(Encyclopedia)Six Dynasties, period of Chinese history between the fall of the Han dynasty (a.d. 220) and the unification of China under the Sui dynasty (a.d. 589). It is named for the six successive dynasties that...

Calloc'h, Jean Pierre

(Encyclopedia)Calloc'h, Jean Pierre zhäN pyĕr kälôkhˈ [key], 1888–1917, Breton poet. Important in the revival of Breton literature, he wrote in the Vannes dialect of Brittany. His lyrical verse displays a lo...