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Smythson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Smythson, Robert, 1536?–1614, English architect of the Elizabethan era. From 1568, Smythson was freemason to John Thynne in finishing (1567–75) the country house Longleat, Wiltshire. Striking in i...

Toombs, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Toombs, Robert, 1810–85, American statesman, Confederate leader, b. Wilkes co., Ga. A successful lawyer in Georgia, he entered politics as a Whig, serving in the state legislature and in Congress (1...

Blair, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Blair, Robert, 1699–1746, English poet and clergyman. His literary reputation rests solely on his didactic, blank-verse poem on death, The Grave (1743). ...

Blake, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Blake, Robert, 1599–1657, English admiral. A merchant, he sat in the Short Parliament (1640) and joined the parliamentary side in the civil war. He defended Bristol, Lyme, and Taunton against royali...

Wodrow, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Wodrow, Robert wo͝odˈrō [key], 1679–1734, Scottish ecclesiastical historian. His principal work is The History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland from the Restoration to the Revolution (...

Beverley, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Beverley, Robert bĕvˈərlē [key], 1673–1722, Virginia colonial historian, author of The History and Present State of Virginia (1705). A substantial planter and colonial official, he wrote his boo...

Abbe, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Abbe, Robert ăbˈē [key], 1851–1928, American surgeon, b. New York City, M.D. Columbia, 1874; brother of Cleveland Abbe. He was especially noted as a plastic surgeon and was a pioneer in the use o...

Bresson, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Bresson, Robert rôbĕrˈ brĕsôNˈ [key], 1901–99, French film director and scriptwriter, b. Bromont-Lamottie, France. Bresson's films tend to be austere, unadorned, and concerned more with intell...

Raikes, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Raikes, Robert rāks [key], 1735–1811, English philanthropist. In 1780 he organized a Sunday school, primarily for poor children, who were taught to read and to spell to enable them to read the Bibl...

Rauschenberg, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Rauschenberg, Robert rouˈshənbûrgˌ [key], 1925–2008, American painter, b. Port Arthur, Tex., as Milton Ernest Rauschenberg. He studied at the Kansas City Art Institute, with Josef Albers at Blac...