Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Bartram, William

(Encyclopedia)Bartram, William, 1739–1823, American naturalist, b. Philadelphia; son of John Bartram. He is known chiefly for his Travels (1791), in which he describes his journey (1773–77) through the Carolina...

Bartram, John

(Encyclopedia)Bartram, John bärˈtrəm [key], 1699–1777, pioneer American botanist, b. near Darby, Pa. He had no formal schooling but possessed a keen mind and a great interest in plants. In 1728 he purchased la...

Wilson, Alexander

(Encyclopedia)Wilson, Alexander, 1766–1813, American ornithologist, b. Scotland. He came to the United States c.1794, taught in rural New Jersey and Pennsylvania, and became a citizen in 1804. Encouraged by Willi...

Livingston, William

(Encyclopedia)Livingston, William: see under Livingston, family. ...

Langland, William

(Encyclopedia)Langland, William, c.1332–c.1400, putative author of Piers Plowman. He was born probably at Ledbury near the Welsh marshes and may have gone to school at Great Malvern Priory. Although he took minor...

Ladd, William

(Encyclopedia)Ladd, William, 1778–1841, American pacifist, b. Exeter, N.H., grad. Harvard, 1797. He commanded sailing vessels until the outbreak of the War of 1812, when he retired to a farm in Maine. In 1820 he ...

Laud, William

(Encyclopedia)Laud, William, 1573–1645, archbishop of Canterbury (1633–45). He studied at St. John's College, Oxford, and was ordained a priest in 1601. From the beginning Laud showed his hostility to Puritanis...

Law, William

(Encyclopedia)Law, William, 1686–1761, English clergyman, noted for his controversial, devotional, and mystical writings. One of the nonjurors, Law was deprived of his fellowship in Emmanuel College, Cambridge, a...

Keith, William

(Encyclopedia)Keith, William, 1838–1911, American painter, b. Scotland. In 1851 he came to New York City, where he learned wood engraving and did illustrations for Harper's Weekly. He moved to San Francisco in 18...

Kennedy, William

(Encyclopedia)Kennedy, William, 1928–, American novelist, b. Albany, N.Y., grad. Siena College, 1949. Brought up in Albany, he worked as a journalist from 1949 to 1970, and began to concentrate on writing fiction...