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Beverley, Robert

(Encyclopedia)Beverley, Robert bĕvˈərlē [key], 1673–1722, Virginia colonial historian, author of The History and Present State of Virginia (1705). A substantial planter and colonial official, he wrote his boo...

Scherer, Wilhelm

(Encyclopedia)Scherer, Wilhelm vĭlˈhĕlm shĕrˈər [key], 1841–86, German philologist, b. Austria. Scherer held professorships at the universities of Vienna, Strasbourg, and Berlin. His History of German Liter...

Osgood, Herbert Levi

(Encyclopedia)Osgood, Herbert Levi, 1855–1918, American historian, b. Canton, Maine. He taught at Worcester Academy (1877–79) and Brooklyn High School (1883–89). From 1890 to 1896 he was adjunct professor and...

Villani, Giovanni

(Encyclopedia)Villani, Giovanni jōvänˈnē vēl-läˈnē [key], c.1275–1348, Italian historian of Florence. As a Florentine government functionary, he participated in some of the events he narrates. His 12-volu...

Ibn Khaldun

(Encyclopedia)Ibn Khaldun ĭˈbən khäldo͞onˈ [key], 1332–1406, Arab historian, b. Tunis. He held various offices under the rulers of Tunis and Morocco and served (1363) as ambassador of the Moorish king of Gr...

Wittkower, Rudolf

(Encyclopedia)Wittkower, Rudolf wĭtˈkōv-ər, Ger. vĭtˈkōv-ər [key], 1901–71, German-American art historian. After gaining his doctorate in Berlin, Wittkower became a research assistant and later research f...

frontier

(Encyclopedia)frontier, in U.S. history, the border area of settlement of Europeans and their descendants; it was vital in the conquest of the land between the Atlantic and the Pacific. The importance of the westwa...

Buchanan, James

(Encyclopedia)Buchanan, James, 1791–1868, 15th President of the United States (1857–61), b. near Mercersburg, Pa., grad. Dickinson College, 1809. Buchanan was nominated as a Democratic candidate for the pres...

Duris of Samos

(Encyclopedia)Duris of Samos do͞oˈrĭs [key], fl. 3d cent. b.c., Greek historian. A descendent of Alcibiades, Duris was tyrant of Samos for a time. He wrote Samian Chronicle—a history of Samos—and a rambling ...

Commons, John Rogers

(Encyclopedia)Commons, John Rogers, 1862–1945, American economist, b. Hollansburg, Ohio, grad. Oberlin, 1888. Influenced by the other social sciences, Commons tried to broaden the scope of economics, especially i...