Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Elgar, Sir Edward William ĕlˈgär [key], 1857–1934, English composer. He received his training from his father, who was an organist, music seller, and amateur violinist. In 1885 he succeeded his f...

(Encyclopedia) Garrick, David, 1717–79, English actor, manager, and dramatist. He was indisputably the greatest English actor of the 18th cent., and his friendships with Diderot, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, ...

(Encyclopedia) Deak, Francis, Hung. Deák Ferenc dĕˈäk fĕˈrĕnts [key], 1803–76, Hungarian politician. A landed proprietor and lawyer, he entered the Hungarian diet in 1833 and became minister of justice afte...

(Encyclopedia) Peabody, Endicott pēˈbädē, –bədē [key], 1857–1944, American educator, b. Salem, Mass., grad. Cheltenham College, 1876, LL.B. Cambridge, 1880. Ordained (1885) in the Episcopal Church, Peabody...

(Encyclopedia) Merritt Island, c.40 mi (60 km) long and c.6 mi (10 km) wide, E Fla., separated from the mainland by Indian River (a lagoon) and from the Canaveral peninsula on the east by Banana River (a lagoon). It...

(Encyclopedia) Benjamin, Park, 1809–64, American journalist, b. British Guiana (now Guyana). As owner and editor of the New England Magazine, he merged it (1835) with the American Monthly Magazine of New York and ...

(Encyclopedia) polonaise pŏlˌənāzˈ, ōˌ– [key], Polish national dance, in moderate 3–4 time and of slow, stately movements. It evolved from peasant and court processions and ceremonies of the late 16th cen...

(Encyclopedia) Leavis, Q. D. (Queenie Dorothy Leavis), 1906–81, British literary critic; wife of F. R. Leavis. After studying at Cambridge, she wrote Fiction and the Reading Public (1932), which analyzed the marke...

(Encyclopedia) Melville, Sir James, 1535–1617, Scottish diplomat. He was a page to Mary Queen of Scots in France and, after her return to Scotland, was employed as Mary's representative at the court of Elizabeth I...

(Encyclopedia) Cobb, Irvin Shrewsbury, 1876–1944, American author, b. Paducah, Ky. He was a noted New York humorist and columnist. Although he wrote over 60 books, Cobb is best known for his humorous stories of Ke...