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Ronsard, Pierre de

(Encyclopedia)Ronsard, Pierre de pyĕr də rôNsärˈ [key], 1524–1585, French poet. As page, then squire, Ronsard seemed destined for a career at court both in France and abroad. However, deafness turned him to ...

Preble, Edward

(Encyclopedia)Preble, Edward prĕbˈəl [key], 1761–1807, American naval officer, b. Falmouth (now Portland), Maine. In the American Revolution he ran away from home to serve on a privateer, entered (1779) the Ma...

Portage

(Encyclopedia)Portage [1,] [2] pôrˈtəj; [3] pôrˈtĭj [key]. 1 Town (1990 pop. 29,060), Porter co., NW Ind., a suburb of Gary, on Lake Michigan; inc. 1959. The town, which was once surrounded by great industrie...

Vicksburg campaign

(Encyclopedia)Vicksburg campaign, in the American Civil War, the fighting (Nov., 1862–July, 1863) for control of the Mississippi River. The Union wanted such control in order to split the Confederacy and to resto...

Bodoni, Giambattista

(Encyclopedia)Bodoni, Giambattista jämbät-tēˈstä bōdōˈnē [key], 1740–1813, Italian printer b. Piedmont. He was the son of a printer and worked for a time at the press of the Vatican. Under the patronage ...

Wylie, Elinor (Hoyt)

(Encyclopedia)Wylie, Elinor (Hoyt), 1885–1928, American poet and novelist, b. Somerville, N.J. She was famous during her life almost as much for her ethereal beauty and personality as for her melodious, sensuous ...

Brisbane, Albert

(Encyclopedia)Brisbane, Albert brĭzˈbān [key], 1809–90, American social theorist, b. Batavia, N.Y. After studying with Charles Fourier in Paris, he returned to the United States as an enthusiastic advocate of ...

Freilicher, Jane

(Encyclopedia)Freilicher, Jane frīˈlĭkər [key] 1924–2014, American painter, b. Brooklyn, N.Y., as Jane Niederhoffer; studied Hans Hoffmann School (1947), Brooklyn College (B.A. 1947), Columbia (M.A. 1948). Th...

Foote, Horton

(Encyclopedia)Foote, Horton (Albert Horton Foote, Jr.), 1916–2009, American playwright and screenwriter, b. Wharton, Tex. He studied acting and acted in California and New York, and wrote his first one-act play i...

Seeger, Ruth Crawford

(Encyclopedia)Seeger, Ruth Crawford, 1901–53, American composer and folklorist, b. East Liverpool, Ohio, as Ruth Porter Crawford, studied American Conservatory, Chicago; stepmother of Pete Seeger and mother of Mi...