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Lear

(Encyclopedia)Lear lēr [key], legendary English king, supposed descendant, through Locrine and Brut, of Aeneas of Troy. The story of Lear and his three daughters probably originated in early Celtic mythology. Geof...

Icelandic literature

(Encyclopedia)Icelandic literature, the literature of Iceland. For the earliest literature of Iceland, see Old Norse literature. The 20th cent. saw the rise of a more introspective writing, influenced by Nietzsch...

Heyward, DuBose

(Encyclopedia)Heyward, DuBose dəbōzˈ hāˈwərd [key], 1885–1940, American author, b. Charleston, S.C. His first published work was a volume of poetry, Carolina Chansons (1922), written with Hervey Allen. Heyw...

Pisemsky, Aleksey Feofilaktovich

(Encyclopedia)Pisemsky, Aleksey Feofilaktovich əlyĭksyāˈ fāˌəfēläkˈtəvĭch pēˈsyĭmskē [key], 1821–81, Russian novelist and playwright. In his realistic descriptions of country life he portrayed the...

van Loon, Hendrik Willem

(Encyclopedia)van Loon, Hendrik Willem văn lōn [key], 1882–1944, American author and journalist, b. Rotterdam, Netherlands. He emigrated to the United States in 1903 and studied at Harvard and Cornell (B.A., 19...

Maugham, Somerset

(Encyclopedia)Maugham, Somerset (William Somerset Maugham) môm [key], 1874–1965, English writer, b. Paris. He was noted as an expert storyteller and a master of the technique of fiction. An introverted child aff...

Saul

(Encyclopedia)Saul, first king of the ancient Hebrews. He was a Benjamite and anointed king by Samuel. Saul's territory was probably limited to the hill country of Judah and the region to the north, and his proximi...

Durant, William James

(Encyclopedia)Durant, William James, 1885–1981, American historian and essayist, b. North Adams, Mass. He received his Ph.D. from Columbia in 1917 and published his doctoral dissertation, Philosophy and the Socia...

Wandering Jew, in legend

(Encyclopedia)Wandering Jew, in literary and popular legend, a Jew who mocked or mistreated Jesus while he was on his way to the cross and who was condemned therefore to a life of wandering on earth until Judgment ...

Baum, L. Frank

(Encyclopedia)Baum, L. Frank (Lyman Frank Baum) bôm [key], 1856–1919, American journalist, playwright, and author of children's stories, b. Chittenango, N.Y. He and his family moved to South Dakota in 1888, wher...