Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Corelli, Marie

(Encyclopedia)Corelli, Marie məkīˈ [key], 1855–1924, English novelist. Her popular, highly moralistic books, written in flamboyant, pretentious prose, include A Romance of Two Worlds (1886), Thelma (1887), Bar...

Guimerà, Ángel

(Encyclopedia)Guimerà, Ángel änˈzhĕl gēmāräˈ [key], 1845?–1924, Catalan poet and dramatist. His first successful play, Mar y cel [sea and sky] (1888), was followed by many others, among them Maria Rosa (...

Lee, Nathaniel

(Encyclopedia)Lee, Nathaniel, 1653–92, English dramatist. After failing as an actor, he turned to writing plays. Lee confined himself entirely to tragedy, turning often to the classical historians for the backgro...

Madách, Imré

(Encyclopedia)Madách, Imré ĭmˈrĕ mŏˈdäch [key], 1823–64, Hungarian poet and dramatist. Madách is best known for his dramatic epic, The Tragedy of Man (1861, tr. 1908), which relates the history of mankin...

Heiberg, Gunnar Edvard Rode

(Encyclopedia)Heiberg, Gunnar Edvard Rode go͝onˈär ĕdˈvärd rōˈdə hāˈbârg [key], 1857–1929, Norwegian dramatist. His plays include Aunt Ulrikke (1883), The Balcony (1894, tr. 1922), and King Midas (189...

Taylor, Tom

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Tom, 1817–80, English dramatist and editor. His most famous play is Our American Cousin (1858), performed at Ford's Theater in Washington, D. C., when Lincoln was assassinated. Of his more t...

Whetstone, George

(Encyclopedia)Whetstone, George, 1551?–1587, English dramatist and poet. His chief work, the play Promos and Cassandra (1578), is important in the development of English domestic drama and was a source for Shakes...

reed organ

(Encyclopedia)reed organ, an organ in which air is forced over free reeds by means of bellows, usually worked by pedals. It is played by the use of one or more keyboards. Variations in tone are produced by stops th...

Gryphius, Andreas

(Encyclopedia)Gryphius, Andreas ändrāˈäs grüˈfēo͝os [key], 1616–64, German poet-dramatist, originally named Andreas Greif. He wrote in Latin, new High German, and Silesian dialect. Among his many sonnets,...

Fitch, Clyde

(Encyclopedia)Fitch, Clyde (William Clyde Fitch), 1865–1909, American dramatist, b. Elmira, N.Y. An extremely prolific and versatile playwright, he wrote over 36 original plays, including melodramas, farces, soci...