Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Wieland, Christoph Martin krĭsˈtôf märˈtĭn vēˈlänt [key], 1733–1813, German poet and novelist. His style, typical of the German rococo, is elegant, satiric, and often playful. He borrowed s...

(Encyclopedia) Schurman, Jacob Gould shûrˈmən [key], 1854–1942, American educator and diplomat, b. Freetown, Prince Edward Island. His education was completed in London, Edinburgh, and, as Hibbert fellow, in He...

(Encyclopedia) Sparks, Jared, 1789–1866, American historian and educator, b. Willington, Conn. He studied theology, mathematics, and natural philosophy at Harvard (1817–19). He was pastor of a Unitarian church i...

(Encyclopedia) McLean, John məklānˈ [key], 1785–1861, American political figure and jurist, b. Morris co., N.J. His family moved to Ohio, where he studied law, was admitted (1807) to the bar, and practiced in L...

(Encyclopedia) Lyon, Matthew, 1750–1822, American political leader and pioneer, b. Co. Wicklow, Ireland. He emigrated to America in 1765, settling eventually in Vermont. During the American Revolution he served wi...

(Encyclopedia) Marbury v. Madison, case decided in 1803 by the U.S. Supreme Court. William Marbury had been commissioned justice of the peace in the District of Columbia by President John Adams in the “midnight ap...

(Encyclopedia) Carpentier, Alejo älāˈhō kärpĕntyārˈ [key], 1904–80, Cuban novelist and musicologist. As a political exile in Paris between 1928 and 1939, Carpentier was strongly influenced by Antonin Artau...

(Encyclopedia) Alabama claims, claims made by the U.S. government against Great Britain for the damage inflicted on Northern merchant ships during the American Civil War by the Alabama and other Confederate cruisers...

(Encyclopedia) Vives, Juan Luis hwän lo͞oēsˈ vēˈvās [key], 1492–1540, Spanish humanist and philosopher; friend of Erasmus. At the invitation of King Henry VIII he went to England, where he lectured at Oxfor...

(Encyclopedia) Quincy, Josiah kwĭnˈzē [key], 1744–75, political leader in the American Revolution, b. Boston. An outstanding lawyer, he wrote a series of anonymous articles for the Boston Gazette in which he op...