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Hobbes, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hobbes, Thomas hŏbz [key], 1588–1679, English philosopher, grad. Magdalen College, Oxford, 1608. For many years a tutor in the Cavendish family, Hobbes took great interest in mathematics, physics, ...

Abell, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Abell or Abel, Thomas both: āˈbəl [key], d. 1540, English priest, chaplain to Katharine of Aragón. In 1528 he served as Katharine's secret envoy to her nephew, Holy Roman Emperor Charles V, in con...

Girtin, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Girtin, Thomas gûrˈtən [key], 1775–1802, English draftsman and watercolorist. He was apprenticed to an engraver but was employed, together with J. M. W. Turner, to make topographical drawings. Gi...

Mun, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Mun, Thomas mŭn [key], 1571–1641, English writer on economics. A merchant in Italy and the Levant, he became (1615) a director in the East India Company. In his Discourse of Trade from England unto...

Dongan, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Dongan, Thomas dŏngˈgən [key], 1634–1715, colonial governor of New York, b. Co. Kildare, Ireland. He was appointed governor in 1682, and on the instructions of the duke of York (later James II), ...

Bewick, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Bewick, Thomas byo͞oˈĭk [key], 1753–1828, English wood engraver. Bewick pioneered in the revival of original wood engraving. Among his famous early works are his illustrations for John Gay's Fabl...

Jefferson, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Jefferson, Thomas, 1743–1826, 3d President of the United States (1801–9), author of the Declaration of Independence, and apostle of agrarian democracy. After 1809, Jefferson lived in retirem...

Hardy, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Hardy, Thomas, 1840–1928, English novelist and poet, b. near Dorchester, one of the great English writers of the 19th cent. The son of a stonemason, he derived a love of music from his father and a ...

Thomas, Dylan

(Encyclopedia)Thomas, Dylan dĭlˈən [key], 1914–53, Welsh poet, b. Swansea. An extraordinarily individualistic writer, Thomas is ranked among the great 20th-century poets. He grew up in Swansea, the son of a te...

Coke, Thomas

(Encyclopedia)Coke, Thomas ko͝ok, kōk [key], 1747–1814, English clergyman and early bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. After taking orders (1777) in the Church of England, he openly allied him...