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Martini, Giovanni Battista

(Encyclopedia)Martini, Giovanni Battista jōvänˈnē bät-tēsˈtä märtēˈnē [key], 1706–84, Italian composer and teacher, also known as Padre Martini. Martini became a priest in 1722. He acquired great pres...

Benjamin, Park

(Encyclopedia)Benjamin, Park, 1809–64, American journalist, b. British Guiana (now Guyana). As owner and editor of the New England Magazine, he merged it (1835) with the American Monthly Magazine of New York and ...

Beth-shemesh

(Encyclopedia)Beth-shemesh bĕth-shēˈmĕsh [key], in the Bible. 1 The Egyptian Heliopolis. 2 Town of ancient Palestine, the modern Tel Bet Shemesh (Israel), W of Jerusalem. Excavations there have revealed traces ...

Randolph, Thomas, English poet and dramatist

(Encyclopedia)Randolph, Thomas, 1605–35, English poet and dramatist. After graduating from Cambridge in 1632, he went to London where he became a disciple of Ben Jonson. His best-known poems are “A Gratulatory ...

Seelye, Laurenus Clark

(Encyclopedia)Seelye, Laurenus Clark, 1837–1924, American educator and Congregational clergyman, b. Bethel, Conn., grad. Union College, 1857, and studied at Andover Theological Seminary and in Germany; brother of...

Calverley, Charles Stuart

(Encyclopedia)Calverley, Charles Stuart, 1831–84, English poet and translator. Expelled from Oxford for a youthful prank, he earned academic honors at Cambridge. He became famous for the wit and erudition of his ...

Conant, Roger

(Encyclopedia)Conant, Roger, 1592–1679, one of the founders of Massachusetts, b. East Budleigh, Devonshire, England. He was a salter in London before he went to Plymouth in 1623. Conant lived at Nantasket from 16...

Cosway, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Cosway, Richard kŏzˈwā [key], 1740?–1821, English miniaturist. His work was elegant and modish and became highly popular in his day. There is a collection of his works in Windsor Castle. Perhaps ...

Green, Hetty

(Encyclopedia)Green, Hetty, 1835–1916, American financier, b. Henrietta Howland Robinson, New Bedford, Mass. She inherited a large fortune from her father and invested it so shrewdly that she was considered the g...

Gwinnett, Button

(Encyclopedia)Gwinnett, Button, c.1735–1777, American political figure, signer of the Declaration of Independence, b. Gloucestershire, England. Emigrating to America, he became a Georgia planter and merchant. In ...