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humanism

(Encyclopedia)humanism, philosophical and literary movement in which man and his capabilities are the central concern. The term was originally restricted to a point of view prevalent among thinkers in the Renaissan...

Marprelate controversy

(Encyclopedia)Marprelate controversy märˈprĕlˌĭt [key], a 16th-century English religious argument. Martin Marprelate was the pseudonym under which appeared several Puritan pamphlets (1588–89) satirizing the ...

Mercier, Désiré Joseph

(Encyclopedia)Mercier, Désiré Joseph dāzērāˈ zhôzĕfˈ mârsēāˈ [key], 1851–1926, Belgian churchman, cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church. He was ordained in 1874 and eight years later became professor...

Pendleton, Edmund

(Encyclopedia)Pendleton, Edmund, 1721–1803, American jurist and political leader in the American Revolution, b. Caroline co., Va. He began law practice in 1741 and was elected (1752) to the Virginia house of burg...

Bradford, William, 1722–91, American Revolutionary printer and patriot

(Encyclopedia)Bradford, William, 1722–91, American Revolutionary printer and patriot; grandson of William Bradford (1663–1752). He learned printing from his uncle, Andrew Bradford, in Philadelphia, and in 1742 ...

Blanchot, Maurice

(Encyclopedia)Blanchot, Maurice mōrēsˈ bläNshōˈ [key], 1907–2003, French novelist and literary critic. One of the first intellectuals in France to be interested in questions of language and meaning, he was ...

Taylor, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Taylor, Richard, 1826–79, Confederate general in the American Civil War, b. near Louisville, Ky.; son of Zachary Taylor. A Louisiana planter, he attained some political prominence and was a member o...

lyric

(Encyclopedia)lyric, in ancient Greece, a poem accompanied by a musical instrument, usually a lyre. Although the word is still often used to refer to the songlike quality in poetry, it is more generally used to ref...

Astaire, Fred

(Encyclopedia)Astaire, Fred əstârˈ [key], 1899–1987, American dancer, actor, and singer, b. Omaha, Nebr., as Frederick Austerlitz. After 1911 he and his sister Adele (1896–1981), b. Adele Marie Austerlitz, f...

Sheridan, Richard Brinsley

(Encyclopedia)Sheridan, Richard Brinsley, 1751–1816, English dramatist and politician, b. Dublin. His father, Thomas Sheridan, was an actor and teacher of elocution and his mother, Frances Sheridan, published two...