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Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck

(Encyclopedia)Gilbert, Sir William Schwenck, 1836–1911, English playwright and poet. He won fame as the librettist of numerous popular operettas, written in collaboration with the composer Sir Arthur Sullivan. Wh...

Motion, Sir Andrew Peter

(Encyclopedia)Motion, Sir Andrew Peter, 1952–, English poet and biographer, poet laureate of England (1999–2009), grad. University College, Oxford (B.A., 1974; M.Litt., 1977). He writes poems that are both lyri...

Black, Sir James Whyte

(Encyclopedia)Black, Sir James Whyte, 1924–2010, Scottish pharmacologist, M.B., Ch.B. Univ. of St. Andrews, 1946. A drug researcher, he held a series of posts with universities and drug companies before serving a...

Langtry, Lillie

(Encyclopedia)Langtry, Lillie, 1853–1929, English actress, b. Jersey, Channel Islands; known as the Jersey Lily. One of the first English women of elevated social rank to go on the stage, she made her debut at th...

York, Edmund of Langley, duke of

(Encyclopedia)York, Edmund of Langley, duke of, 1341–1402, fifth son of Edward III of England. He was made (1362) earl of Cambridge, served on expeditions to Spain and France, and married (1372) Isabel, daughter ...

Spitsbergen

(Encyclopedia)Spitsbergen spĭtsˈbərgən [key], formerly Vestspitsbergen, largest island (15,075 sq mi/39,044 sq km) of Svalbard, a Norwegian possession in the Arctic Ocean. It rises to Newtontoppen Mt. (c.5,650 ...

Charlottetown

(Encyclopedia)Charlottetown, city, capital and chief port of Prince Edward Island, E Canada, on the southern coast. Food processing, tourism, fishing, and farming are...

Back

(Encyclopedia)Back, river, c.600 mi (970 km) long, rising in lakes, Northwest Territories, Canada, and flowing northeast through Nunavut across the tundra to Chantry Inlet. Numerous lakes lie along its course. It i...

Harleian Library

(Encyclopedia)Harleian Library härˈlēən, härlēˈ– [key], manuscript collection of more than 7,000 volumes and more than 14,000 original legal documents, formed by Robert Harley, 1st earl of Oxford, and his ...

Pole, English noble family

(Encyclopedia)Pole, English noble family. The first member of importance was William de la Pole, d. 1366, a rich merchant who became the first mayor of Hull (1332) and a baron of the exchequer (1339). His oldest so...