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Ashendene Press

(Encyclopedia)Ashendene Press ăshˌəndēnˈ [key], founded in 1895 at Ashendene, Hertfordshire, England, by Sir C. H. St. John Hornby and moved in 1899 to Chelsea, London. It was a leader (with the Kelmscott Pres...

extortion

(Encyclopedia)extortion, in law, unlawful demanding or receiving by an officer, in his official capacity, of any property or money not legally due to him. Examples include requesting and accepting fees in excess of...

Ripley, George

(Encyclopedia)Ripley, George, 1802–80, American literary critic and author, b. Greenfield, Mass. After graduating from Harvard Divinity School in 1826, he entered the Unitarian ministry. He was one of the leaders...

Montagna, Bartolomeo

(Encyclopedia)Montagna, Bartolomeo bärtōlōmĕˈō mōntäˈnyä [key], c.1450–1523, Italian painter. He was the founder and most important representative of the school of Vicenza, where he settled in 1480. His...

St. John, John Pierce

(Encyclopedia)St. John, John Pierce, 1833–1916, American political reformer, b. Brookville, Ind. He traveled in the West and in South America, fought in the Union army in the Civil War, and after 1869 practiced l...

Chryseis

(Encyclopedia)Chryseis krīsēˈĭs [key], in the Iliad, a woman captured by Agamemnon. When ransom efforts failed, her father, the priest Chryses, appealed to Apollo, who promptly sent a plague to terrorize the Gr...

Berlin, Conference of

(Encyclopedia)Berlin, Conference of, 1884–85, international meeting aimed at settling the problems connected with European colonies in Africa. At the invitation of the German chancellor Otto von Bismarck, represe...

Wilder, Billy

(Encyclopedia)Wilder, Billy, 1906–2002, American film director, producer, and writer, b. Sucha, Galicia (now Poland) as Samuel Wilder. He wrote for films in Berlin, fled the Nazis, and arrived in Hollywood in 193...

Eleanor of Aquitaine

(Encyclopedia)Eleanor of Aquitaine ăkwĭtānˈ, ăkˈwĭtān [key], 1122?–1204, queen consort first of Louis VII of France and then of Henry II of England. Daughter and heiress of William X, duke of Aquitaine, s...

Devoy, John

(Encyclopedia)Devoy, John dĭvoiˈ [key], 1842–1928, Irish-American journalist and Irish revolutionary, b. Ireland. He joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood (see Fenian movement) in 1861. For proselytizing with...