Columbia Encyclopedia

Search results

500 results found

Munsey, Frank Andrew

(Encyclopedia)Munsey, Frank Andrew mŭnˈsē [key], 1854–1925, American publisher and author, b. Mercer, Maine. In 1882 he quit a telegraph operator's job in Maine to begin a career as publisher in New York City....

Knopf, Alfred A.

(Encyclopedia)Knopf, Alfred A. (Alfred Abraham Knopf) kənŏpfˈ, nŏpf [key], 1892–1984, American publisher, b. New York City. After working (1912–14) for the Doubleday, Page Publishing Company, he founded (19...

Snead, Sam

(Encyclopedia)Snead, Sam (Samuel Jackson Snead) snēd [key], 1912–2002, American golfer, b. Ashwood, Va. An outstanding high school athlete, he turned to golf after injuring a hand as a football player. He attrac...

Keith, George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount

(Encyclopedia)Keith, George Keith Elphinstone, Viscount 1746–1823, British admiral. After serving as a captain in the American Revolution and early French Revolutionary Wars, he was appointed (1795) vice admiral....

Horne, Lena

(Encyclopedia)Horne, Lena (Lena Mary Calhoun Horne), 1917–2010, American singer and actress, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. Elegantly beautiful, Horne entered show business at 16 in the chorus line at Harlem's Cotton Club; sh...

Keating, Charles Humphrey, Jr.

(Encyclopedia)Keating, Charles Humphrey, Jr., 1923–2014, American banker, b. Cincinnati, grad. Univ. of Cincinnati College of Law (1948). Keating was a partner (1952–72) in a law firm he founded with his brothe...

Tonson, Jacob

(Encyclopedia)Tonson, Jacob tŏnˈsən [key], 1656?–1736, English publisher. He and his brother Richard purchased the publication rights to Milton's Paradise Lost, a transaction later claimed as the firm's most p...

transcendentalism , American literary and philosophical movement

(Encyclopedia)transcendentalism trănˌsĕndĕnˈtəlĭzəm [key] [Lat.,=overpassing], in literature, philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to 1860. It originated among ...

De Long, George Washington

(Encyclopedia)De Long, George Washington də lôngˈ [key], 1844–81, American arctic explorer, b. New York City, grad. Annapolis, 1865. In 1873 he was assigned to the Juniata, which was sent to the arctic to sear...

Fields, James Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Fields, James Thomas, 1817–81, American author and publisher, b. Portsmouth, N.H. He was the junior partner of Ticknor and Fields, noted Boston publishing house in the mid-19th cent. He edited (1861...