Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

451 results found

metaphysical poets

(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 ...

Murray, James

(Encyclopedia)Murray, James, 1721?–94, British general, first civil governor of Canada, b. Scotland. He went to Canada as an army officer in 1757 and was prominent at the siege of Louisburg (1758) and in the cruc...

Hagar

(Encyclopedia)Hagar āˈgər [key], according to the Book of Genesis, servant of Abraham's wife Sarah and mother of his eldest son, Ishmael. She and her son were sent out into the wilderness because of Sarah's jeal...

Rutledge, Ann

(Encyclopedia)Rutledge, Ann, 1813?–1835, American historical figure, alleged fiancée of Abraham Lincoln. Her father kept the inn at New Salem, Ill., where Lincoln lived from 1831 to 1837. Ann's sudden death from...

Buch, Christian Leopold, Freiherr von

(Encyclopedia)Buch, Christian Leopold, Freiherr von krĭsˈtyän lāˈōpôlt frīˈhĕr fən bo͞okh [key], 1774–1853, German geologist and paleontologist, graduate of the mining academy, Freiberg, Germany, and ...

Ghiberti, Lorenzo

(Encyclopedia)Ghiberti, Lorenzo lōrĕnˈtsō gēbĕrˈtē [key], c.1378–1455, Florentine sculptor. He received his early training in the workshop of Bartoluccio. In 1401 he entered the competition for a bronze p...

Schurz, Carl

(Encyclopedia)Schurz, Carl sho͝orts [key], 1829–1906, American political leader, b. Germany. He studied at the Univ. of Bonn and participated in the revolutionary uprisings of 1848–49 in Germany. Compelled to ...

Aramburu, Pedro Eugenio

(Encyclopedia)Aramburu, Pedro Eugenio pāˈthrō āo͞ohāˈnyō ärämbo͞oˈro͞o [key], 1903–70, president of Argentina (1955–58). An army general, he participated in the overthrow of Juan Perón in Sept., 1...

George, Lake

(Encyclopedia)George, Lake, glacial lake, 33 mi (53 km) long and 1 to 3 mi (1.6–5 km) wide, in the foothills of the Adirondack Mts., NE N.Y.; it drains NE via rapids and waterfalls into Lake Champlain. The lake w...

Howe, Elias

(Encyclopedia)Howe, Elias, 1819–67, American inventor, b. Spencer, Mass. He was apprenticed in 1838 to an instrument maker and watchmaker in Boston at whose suggestion he turned his attention to devising a sewing...