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Flaxman, John

(Encyclopedia)Flaxman, John, 1755–1826, English sculptor and draftsman. At 20 he went to work for Josiah Wedgwood, designing the cameolike decorations for Wedgwood's pottery. Later, in Rome, he devoted himself to...

Barbour, John

(Encyclopedia)Barbour, John bärˈbər [key], c.1316?–1395, Scottish poet. He was archdeacon of Aberdeen from 1355 until his death. His romance, The Bruce (1375), celebrating Scotland's emancipation from England,...

Ashbery, John

(Encyclopedia)Ashbery, John, 1927–2017, American poet, b. Rochester, N.Y., grad. Harvard (B.A., 1949), Columbia (M.A., 1951). Among the most acclaimed and influential American poets of his era, he was (1960s–70...

Jones, Robert Edmond

(Encyclopedia)Jones, Robert Edmond, 1887–1954, American scene designer, b. Milton, N.H. With his design in 1915 for The Man Who Married a Dumb Wife, a new era of scene design began in the United States. His use o...

Caro, Sir Anthony Alfred

(Encyclopedia)Caro, Sir Anthony Alfred, 1924–2014, British sculptor, one of the most important and influential modernist sculptors of the late 20th cent. Educated as an engineer (grad. Cambridge, 1944), he studie...

Butler, John

(Encyclopedia)Butler, John, 1728–96, Loyalist commander in the American Revolution, b. New London, Conn. He served in the French and Indian Wars and distinguished himself especially by leading the Native American...

Strype, John

(Encyclopedia)Strype, John strīp [key], 1643–1737, English ecclesiastical historian and biographer. A graduate of Cambridge, he took holy orders. Much of his early life was spent in collecting old charters, lett...

Porteous, John

(Encyclopedia)Porteous, John pôrˈtēəs [key], d. 1736, British soldier. He was captain of the Edinburgh town guard at the execution (1736) of Andrew Wilson, a smuggler. When the crowd, which was sympathetic to W...

Burke, John

(Encyclopedia)Burke, John, 1787–1848, Irish genealogist. He issued (1826) A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Peerage and Baronetage of the United Kingdom. He published the guide irregularly until 1847,...

Orton, Joe

(Encyclopedia)Orton, Joe, 1933–67, English playwright, b. John Kingsley. After studying acting, he wrote farcical comedies noted for their cynical humor. His plays include The Ruffian on the Stair (1963), Enterta...