Columbia Encyclopedia

(Encyclopedia) Alarcón, Juan Ruiz de dā älärkōnˈ [key], 1581?–1639, Spanish dramatic poet, one of the great literary figures of the Spanish Golden Age, b. Mexico. After practicing law in Spain (1600–1608)...

(Encyclopedia) aquatint äˈkwətĭntˌ [key], etching technique. The plate is covered with a porous ground, or resist, through which acid bites many tiny pockmarks in the metal. If an area is to be completely white...

(Encyclopedia) Argenson, Marc Pierre de Voyer de Paulmy, comte d' märk pyĕr də vwäyāˈ də pōmēˈ kôNt därzhäNsôNˈ [key], 1696–1764, French statesman and patron of literature; younger brother of René ...

(Encyclopedia) Vulcan, in astronomy, hypothetical planet whose existence was proposed by Le Verrier to explain part of the advance of the perihelion of Mercury, not all of which could be accounted for by gravitation...

(Encyclopedia) Viardot-Garcia, Pauline pōlēnˈ vyärdōˈ-gärsēäˈ [key], 1821–1910, French mezzo-soprano; sister of Maria Malibran; pupil of her father, Manuel García. Following her concert debut in Brussel...

(Encyclopedia) trouvères tro͞ovĕrˈ [key], medieval poet-musicians of central and N France, fl. during the later 12th and the 13th cent. The trouvères imitated the troubadours of the south. Written in the dialec...

(Encyclopedia) Scudéry, Madeleine de zhôrzh [key], 1601–67, who was probably only a secondary collaborator. Georges wrote plays and other works and actively attacked Corneille's Cid. ...

(Encyclopedia) Reinach, Joseph zhôzĕfˈ rĕnäkˈ [key], 1856–1921, French publicist and lawyer. An associate of Léon Gambetta, he waged (1889) a campaign against General Boulanger in the journal République fr...

(Encyclopedia) Severn sĕvˈərn [key]. 1 River, c.420 mi (680 km) long, rising in W Ont., Canada, and flowing NE through Severn Lake to Hudson Bay. Fort Severn, a Hudson's Bay Company trading post established (1689...

(Encyclopedia) Brunschvicg, Léon lāôNˈ brünˈshvēk [key], 1869–1944, French philosopher, b. Paris. From 1909 until his death he taught at the Sorbonne. Brunschvicg's philosophy, which has had considerable in...