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Day, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Day, Thomas, 1748–89, English social reformer and author. He supported the American Revolution and the abolition of slavery and was interested in improving the lot of the small farmer. His moralisti...

Graves, Alfred Percival

(Encyclopedia)Graves, Alfred Percival, 1846–1931, Irish poet. An inspector of schools, he was also twice president of the Irish literary society. He compiled several volumes of Irish music and folksongs. Included...

Hyde, Douglas

(Encyclopedia)Hyde, Douglas, 1860–1949, Irish scholar and political leader. He was largely responsible for the revival of the Irish language and literature through his founding of the Gaelic League in 1893. After...

Jones, Ernest Charles

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Ernest Charles, 1819–69, English radical, lawyer, journalist, and poet. He was a prominent leader of the more militant wing of the Chartists (see Chartism). After imprisonment for sedition (1...

Sturm, Johannes

(Encyclopedia)Sturm, Johannes yōhäˈnəs shto͝orm [key], 1507–89, German scholar and educator. He founded (1537) and directed for more than 40 years the Strasbourg Gymnasium. His system of graded readings and ...

Webb, Mary (Meredith)

(Encyclopedia)Webb, Mary (Meredith), 1881–1927, English novelist. Her native Shropshire is the scene of all her novels, which are somber, passionate, and infused with an intense feeling for the countryside. Altho...

Wendell, Barrett

(Encyclopedia)Wendell, Barrett wĕnˈdəl [key], 1855–1921, American teacher and scholar, b. Boston, grad. Harvard, 1877. He taught at Harvard (1880–1917) and lectured at Cambridge and the Sorbonne. Among his w...

Castro, Américo

(Encyclopedia)Castro, Américo ämāˈrēkō käsˈtrō [key], 1885–1972, Spanish philologist and literary critic, b. Brazil. After the Spanish Civil War, Castro's studies focused on how modern Spanish history wa...

Blind Harry

(Encyclopedia)Blind Harry or Henry the Minstrel, fl. late 15th cent., supposed Scottish poet. He is considered the author of the patriotic epic, The Wallace, which celebrates the life of Sir William Wallace. Violen...

Read, Sir Herbert

(Encyclopedia)Read, Sir Herbert, 1893–1968, English poet and critic. His studies at the Univ. of Leeds were interrupted by World War I, in which he served with a Yorkshire regiment. After the war he completed his...