Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Blake, William, 1757–1827, English poet and artist, b. London. Although he exerted a great influence on English romanticism, Blake defies characterization by school, movement, or even period. At the...

(Encyclopedia) Henry V, 1387–1422, king of England (1413–22), son and successor of Henry IV. Henry abandoned his early recklessness (celebrated and probably exaggerated by Shakespeare) and ruled with justice...

(Encyclopedia) Greek literature, modern, literature written in Greek in the modern era, primarily beginning during the period of rebellion against the rule of the Ottoman Empire. In general, 20th-century Greek lit...

(Encyclopedia) portraiture, the art of representing the physical or psychological likeness of a real or imaginary individual. The principal portrait media are painting, drawing, sculpture, and photography. From earl...

(Encyclopedia) War of 1812, armed conflict between the United States and Great Britain, 1812–15. It followed a period of great stress between the two nations as a result of the treatment of neutral countries by bo...

(Encyclopedia)  CE5 Virgin Islands, group of about 100 small islands, West Indies, E of Puerto Rico. The islands are divided politically between the United States and Great Britain. Although constituting the weste...

(Encyclopedia) Scott, Winfield, 1786–1866, American general, b. near Petersburg, Va. Although vain and pompous (he was called “Old Fuss and Feathers”), Scott was also generous, fair-minded, considerate of h...

(Encyclopedia) teacher training, professional preparation of teachers, usually through formal course work and practice teaching. Although the concept of teaching as a profession is fairly new, most teachers in indus...

(Encyclopedia) North West Company, fur-trading organization in North America in the late 18th and early 19th cent.; it was composed of Montreal trading firms and fur traders. After 1810 the rivalry between the Nor...

(Encyclopedia) Holbein, Hans häns hôlˈbīn [key] the elder, c.1465–1524, German painter and draftsman. Holbein worked principally in Augsburg and Ulm, painting altarpieces for churches and probably creating por...