Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Josephus, Flavius flāˈvēəs jōsēˈfəs [key], a.d. 37–c.a.d. 100, Jewish historian and soldier, b. Jerusalem. Josephus' historical works are among the most valuable sources for the study of ear...

(Encyclopedia) Ken, Thomas, 1637–1711, English prelate and hymn writer, prominent among the nonjuring bishops. He became chaplain to Charles II in 1680 and was nominated by that monarch to the bishopric of Bath an...

(Encyclopedia) Hampton Roads Peace Conference, meeting held on Feb. 3, 1865, on board the Union transport River Queen in Hampton Roads, Va., with the object of ending the Civil War. President Lincoln and Secretary o...

(Encyclopedia) Vittorini, Elio ĕˈlyō vēt-tōrēˈnē [key], 1908–66, Italian novelist, b. Syracuse, Sicily. Between 1934 and 1941 Vittorini translated the works of D. H. Lawrence, Poe, Faulkner, Hemingway, T. ...

(Encyclopedia) Root, John Wellborn, 1850–91, American architect, b. Lumpkin, Ga. He worked in New York City with James Renwick and became a partner of D. H. Burnham in Chicago. The firm created the modern type of ...

(Encyclopedia) Brady, Mathew B., c.1823–96, American pioneer in photography, b. Warren co., N.Y. Brady learned the daguerreotype process from S. F. B. Morse and in 1844 opened his own photographic studio in New Yo...

(Encyclopedia) metaphysical poets, name given to a group of English lyric poets of the 17th cent. The term was first used by Samuel Johnson (1744). The hallmark of their poetry is the metaphysical conceit (a figure ...

(Encyclopedia) Ausonius (Decimus Magnus Ausonius) ôsōˈnēəs [key], c.310–c.395, Latin poet and man of letters, b. Bordeaux. He tutored Gratian, who, when he ascended the throne, made Ausonius prefect of Gaul, ...

(Encyclopedia) Marne, battle of the, two important battles of World War I that are named for the Marne River. In the first battle (Sept. 6–9, 1914) the German advance on Paris was halted at the Marne by the Allies...

(Encyclopedia) Piranesi, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēˈstä pēränāˈzē [key], 1720–78, Italian etcher and architect. The greater part of his life was spent in Rome, where he made etchings of the bui...