Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Fields, James Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Fields, James Thomas, 1817–81, American author and publisher, b. Portsmouth, N.H. He was the junior partner of Ticknor and Fields, noted Boston publishing house in the mid-19th cent. He edited (1861...

Thomas, Seth

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Seth, 1785–1859, American clock manufacturer, b. Wolcott, Conn. In 1812 he sold his partnership in a clock business established by Eli Terry and set up a factory to make metal-movement clock...

Tickell, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Tickell, Thomas tĭkˈəl [key], 1686–1740, English poet and translator. A contributor of verse to the Spectator, he was a friend of Addison, for whom he wrote a fine elegy (1721). His translation o...

Usk, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Usk, Thomas ŭsk [key], d. 1388, English politician and author. He was under-sheriff of London. While in Newgate Prison he wrote Testament of Love, an allegory in prose describing and justifying the p...

Thomas à Kempis

(Encyclopedia)Thomas à Kempis kĕmˈpĭs [key], b. 1379 or 1380, d. 1471, German monk, traditional author of The Imitation of Christ, b. Kempen, Germany. He was schooled at Deventer, in the Netherlands, the center...

Dalyell, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Dalyell or Dalzell, Thomas both: dēĕlˈ, dălˈyəl [key], 1599?–1685, Scottish soldier; also called Dalziel of the Binns. He fought for Charles II at the battle of Worcester (1651), was captured,...

Chalkley, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Chalkley, Thomas chôˈklē [key], 1675–1741, Quaker mariner and missionary preacher, b. England. He made his home after 1701 in Philadelphia. He traded chiefly with the West Indies, navigating his ...

Holcroft, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Holcroft, Thomas hōlˈkrôft [key], 1745–1809, English dramatist and novelist. Sometimes credited with having introduced melodrama to the London stage, he is the author of the sentimental play The ...

Thomas, Clarence

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Clarence, 1948–, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (1991–), b. Pin Point (Savannah), Ga. Raised in a poor family, he graduated (1974) from the Yale Law School and became a promin...

Herrera, Fernando de

(Encyclopedia)Herrera, Fernando de fārnänˈdō ᵺā ārāˈrä [key], 1534–97, Spanish poet. One of the outstanding poets of the 16th cent. and the leader of the Seville school, he earned the name Herrera el D...