Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) letters, in literature, written messages, ranging from those addressed to the public and those sent from lover to lover, to business letters and thank-you notes. The common quality they share is a liv...

(Encyclopedia) Mencken, H. L. (Henry Louis Mencken) mĕngˈkən, mĕnˈ– [key], 1880–1956, American editor, author, and critic, b. Baltimore, studied at the Baltimore Polytechnic. Probably America's most influen...

(Encyclopedia) Provençal literature, vernacular literature of S France. Provençal, or Occitan, as the language is now often called, appears to have been the first vernacular tongue used in French commerce and lite...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Barcode barcode, computer coding system that uses a printed pattern of lines and bars to identify such things as products, mail and packages, and customer accounts; the term also is used for s...

(Encyclopedia) Chouteau sho͞otōˈ [key], family of American fur traders. René Auguste Chouteau, 1749–1829, b. New Orleans, accompanied (1763) his stepfather, Pierre Laclede, on a trading expedition to the Illin...

(Encyclopedia) Collins, Patricia Hill, 1948–, American sociologist and social theorist, b. Philadelphia, Ph.D. Brandeis University, 1984. A noted ...

(Encyclopedia) iodine īˈədīn, –dĭn [key] [Gr.,=violet], nonmetallic chemical element; symbol I; at. no. 53; at. wt. 126.90447; m.p. 113.5℃; b.p. 184.35℃; sp. gr. 4.93 at 20℃; valence −1, +1, +3, +5, o...

(Encyclopedia) Philip IV (Philip the Fair), 1268–1314, king of France (1285–1314), son and successor of Philip III. The policies of his reign greatly strengthened the French monarchy and increased the royal reve...

(Encyclopedia) Boniface VIII, 1235–1303, pope (1294–1303), an Italian (b. Anagni) named Benedetto Caetani; successor of St. Celestine V. As a cardinal he was independent of the factions in the papal court, and h...

(Encyclopedia) Savoy səvoiˈ [key], Fr. Savoie, Alpine region of E France. The boundaries of old Savoy have changed with time, but presently the region comprises the departments of Savoie and Haute-Savoie. It is bo...