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Santa Fe Railroad

(Encyclopedia)Santa Fe Railroad, former U.S. railroad, chartered in 1863 as the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe RR; opened to traffic in 1864. Construction continued, and in 1880 it reached Santa Fe, N.Mex.; the fol...

MacInnes, Colin

(Encyclopedia)MacInnes, Colin məkĭnˈəs [key], 1914–76, English novelist, b. London. Son of the novelist Angela Thirkell, MacInnes was educated in Australia and served in the British intelligence corps during ...

Martínez Sierra, Gregorio

(Encyclopedia)Martínez Sierra, Gregorio grāgōˈrēō märtēˈnĕth syāˈrä [key], 1881–1947, Spanish dramatist, novelist, and poet. His masterpiece is Canción de cuna (1911, tr. The Cradle Song, 1917), but...

Hoffman, Dustin

(Encyclopedia)Hoffman, Dustin hŏfˈmən, hôfˈ– [key], 1937–, American actor, b. Los Angeles. Not glamorous in the manner of earlier stars, Hoffman began on Broadway, but gained widespread popularity with his...

irony

(Encyclopedia)irony, figure of speech in which what is stated is not what is meant. The user of irony assumes that his reader or listener understands the concealed meaning of his statement. Perhaps the simplest for...

Jusserand, Jean Jules

(Encyclopedia)Jusserand, Jean Jules zhäN zhül zhüsəräNˈ [key], 1855–1932, French diplomat and author, b. Lyon. After service in London, Constantinople, and Copenhagen, he was ambassador to the United States...

Deutsches Theater

(Encyclopedia)Deutsches Theater doiˈchəs tāäˈtər [key], German private theater organization founded in 1883. Under its first director, Adolph L'Arronge, the Deutsches merged with the Freie Bühne (Otto Brahm,...

chronicle plays

(Encyclopedia)chronicle plays, dramas based upon 16th-century chronicles in English, particularly those of Edward Hall and Raphael Holinshed. These plays became very popular late in the reign of Elizabeth I, when, ...

closet drama

(Encyclopedia)closet drama, a play that is meant to be read rather than performed. Precursors of the form existed in classical times. Plato's Apology is often regarded as tragic drama rather than philosophic dialog...

Rowe, Nicholas

(Encyclopedia)Rowe, Nicholas rō [key], 1674–1718, English dramatist. An ardent Whig, he was able to gain various government posts during the course of his life. In 1715 he became poet laureate. His first two pla...