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Walpole, Sir Spencer

(Encyclopedia)Walpole, Sir Spencer, 1839–1907, English historian. He held a number of minor public offices and served as private secretary in the home office to his father, Sir Spencer Horatio Walpole, whose biog...

chalice

(Encyclopedia)chalice [Lat.,=cup], ancient name for a drinking cup, retained for the eucharistic or communion cup. Its use commemorates the cup used by Jesus at the Last Supper. Celebrated examples are the Great Ch...

Hatfield

(Encyclopedia)Hatfield, town, Hertfordshire, SE England. Hatfield was designated one of the new towns in 1948 to alleviate overpopulation in London. The plans for thi...

Maclay, William

(Encyclopedia)Maclay, William məklāˈ [key], 1734–1804, U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania (1789–91), b. Chester co., Pa. A lawyer and a provincial and state official before serving as Senator, he kept a journal,...

Pausias

(Encyclopedia)Pausias pôˈshēəs [key], fl. 1st half of 4th cent. b.c., Greek painter. He was celebrated for his decorative paintings, particularly in encaustic, a method which he is said to have invented. His mo...

Sirmium

(Encyclopedia)Sirmium sûrˈmēəm [key], ancient city of Pannonia. The site is near modern Sremska Mitrovica, NW Serbia. Sirmium was unimportant until occupied late in the 1st cent. b.c. by the Romans in the conqu...

doll

(Encyclopedia)doll, small figure of a human being, usually used as a child's toy. The many types of dolls found among the relics of primitive peoples were cult objects. Egypt, Greece, and Rome have left well-preser...

Isherwood, Christopher

(Encyclopedia)Isherwood, Christopher ishˈərwo͝od [key], 1904–86, British-American author. After the appearance of his first novel, All the Conspirators (1928), Isherwood went to Germany. The four years he spen...

Euphorion

(Encyclopedia)Euphorion yo͞ofôrˈēən [key], c.275–187? b.c., Greek poet, b. Chalcis. He was made (c.223 b.c.) librarian at Antioch by Antiochus the Great and held the position until his death. Highly regarded...

Herodians

(Encyclopedia)Herodians hĕrōˈdēənz [key], Jewish political party of the early 1st cent. a.d., related to the dynasty of Herod. Some have supposed that they were largely Sadducees. In the New Testament the Hero...