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Benbow, William

(Encyclopedia)Benbow, William, fl. 1825–40, English pamphleteer and publisher. He is known especially as the author (c.1832) of the Grand National Holiday; or, Congress of the Productive Classes, which introduced...

Blessington, Marguerite, countess of

(Encyclopedia)Blessington, Marguerite, countess of, 1789–1849, English author and famous beauty, b. Ireland. At the age of 14 she was forced by her father into marriage with Capt. Maurice St. Leger Farmer, a sadi...

Rule, Britannia

(Encyclopedia)Rule, Britannia, English patriotic song. The music was composed by Thomas Augustine Arne for his masque Alfred, first performed August 1, 1740, in commemoration of the accession of George I. The words...

Cavendish

(Encyclopedia)Cavendish kăvˈəndĭsh [key], pseud. of Henry Jones, 1831–99, English card game expert. Jones studied medicine, practiced in London, and retired in 1868. He became a leading authority on card game...

Rogers, James Gamble

(Encyclopedia)Rogers, James Gamble, 1867–1947, American architect, b. Kentucky. He designed many buildings for Yale, his alma mater. Among them are the Sterling Memorial Library, the Sterling School of Graduate S...

Ossory

(Encyclopedia)Ossory, ancient kingdom of Ireland, the borders of which are now largely traced by those of the Roman Catholic episcopal see of Ossory, including Kilkenny and parts of Co. Offaly and Co. Laoighis. An ...

Priestley, J. B.

(Encyclopedia)Priestley, J. B. (John Boynton Priestley), 1894–1984, English author. An extraordinarily prolific writer, Priestley worked in a variety of genres. He first wrote literary criticism as a student at C...

Garrick, David

(Encyclopedia)Garrick, David, 1717–79, English actor, manager, and dramatist. He was indisputably the greatest English actor of the 18th cent., and his friendships with Diderot, Samuel Johnson, Oliver Goldsmith, ...

Townshend Acts

(Encyclopedia)Townshend Acts, 1767, originated by Charles Townshend and passed by the English Parliament shortly after the repeal of the Stamp Act. They were designed to collect revenue from the colonists in Americ...

Gosse, Sir Edmund William

(Encyclopedia)Gosse, Sir Edmund William gŏs [key], 1849–1928, English biographer and critic. He was lecturer in English literature at Trinity College, Cambridge (1884–90) and librarian of the House of Lords (1...