Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Kit-Cat Club, London political and literary club, active c.1700–1720. The membership of some four dozen included leading Whig politicians and London's best young writers. Among them were Charles Sey...

(Encyclopedia) New Zealand literature. In the 20th cent. New Zealand developed a vital literary tradition, though only a few of its authors are well-known outside its islands: Katherine Mansfield, short-story writer...

(Encyclopedia) Stafford, Humphrey, 1st duke of Buckingham, 1402–60, English nobleman. He succeeded his father as earl of Stafford in 1403. He inherited the title of earl of Buckingham through his mother, Anne, cou...

(Encyclopedia) Alderney ōrēnyēˈ [key], anc. Riduna, island, c. 3 sq mi (7.7 sq km), in the English Channel, northernmost of the larger Channel Islands. It is separated from the Frenc...

(Encyclopedia) Dahl, Michael däl [key], 1656–1743, Swedish portrait painter. In 1688, after traveling on the Continent, he settled in England. After the death of Kneller in 1723, Dahl enjoyed an enormous populari...

(Encyclopedia) Harrison, Rex, 1908–90, English actor. Born Reginald Carey, he entered repertory theater at 16 as an apprentice. Harrison, noted for his suave, insouciant style, has appeared in many plays, includin...

(Encyclopedia) Woolson, Constance Fenimore, 1840–94, American novelist, b. Claremont, N.H.; grandniece of James Fenimore Cooper, and author of a number of well-written and popular works, including the novels Anne ...

(Encyclopedia) Weems, Mason Locke, 1759–1825, American author and preacher, b. Anne Arundel co., Md., studied theology in London. He was ordained in 1784 and served various Episcopal parishes. For 30 years after 1...

(Encyclopedia) Sacheverell, Henry səshĕˈvərəl [key], 1674?–1724, English clergyman, the center of a religio-political incident in the reign of Queen Anne. In two sermons (1709) Dr. Sacheverell attacked the Wh...

(Encyclopedia) Lamb, Charles, 1775–1834, English essayist, b. London. He went to school at Christ's Hospital, where his lifelong friendship with Coleridge began. Lamb was a clerk at the India House from 1792 to 18...