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Cumberland, Richard, 1732–1811, English dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Cumberland, Richard, 1732–1811, English dramatist; great-grandson of the 17th-century philosopher Richard Cumberland. His family connections earned him a clerical position with the British board of ...

Argall, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Argall, Sir Samuel ärˈgəl [key], d. 1626?, English ship captain, prominent in the early settlement of Virginia. He commanded a ship sent to Jamestown in 1609 and had charge of one of the ships Baro...

Romilly, Sir Samuel

(Encyclopedia)Romilly, Sir Samuel rŏmˈĭlē [key], 1757–1818, English law reformer. Admitted to the bar in 1783, he soon developed a wide practice in the court of chancery. He was in sympathy with Rousseau's vi...

New Zealand literature

(Encyclopedia)New Zealand literature. In the 20th cent. New Zealand developed a vital literary tradition, though only a few of its authors are well-known outside its islands: Katherine Mansfield, short-story writer...

Champlain, Samuel de

(Encyclopedia)Champlain, Samuel de shămplānˈ, Fr. sämüĕlˈ də shäNplăNˈ [key], 1567–1635, French explorer, the chief founder of New France. After serving in France under Henry of Navarre (King Henry IV)...

van Dyke, Henry

(Encyclopedia)van Dyke, Henry, 1852–1933, American clergyman, educator, and author, b. Germantown, Pa., grad. Princeton, 1873, and Princeton Theological Seminary, 1874. He was pastor of the Brick Presbyterian Chu...

Potter, Beatrix

(Encyclopedia)Potter, Beatrix, 1866–1943, English author and illustrator. She published her first animal stories, The Tale of Peter Rabbit (1902) and The Tailor of Gloucester (1903), at her own expense before she...

Middle English literature

(Encyclopedia)Middle English literature, English literature of the medieval period, c.1100 to c.1500. See also English literature and Anglo-Saxon literature. The 15th cent. is not distinguished in English let...

Ormonde, Thomas Butler, 10th earl of

(Encyclopedia)Ormonde, Thomas Butler, 10th earl of, 1532–1614, Irish nobleman. Brought up at the English court, he was the first of his family to embrace Protestantism. He succeeded to the earldom of Ormonde in 1...

Erskine, John, American educator, author, and musician

(Encyclopedia)Erskine, John, 1879–1951, American educator, author, and musician, b. New York City, grad. Columbia (B.A., 1900; Ph.D., 1903). He taught first at Amherst (1903–9) and then at Columbia, becoming pr...