It's All Right) and (The
Palace, novels, “Araminta May) and (Skäll.
Palace, novels, “Araminta May) and (Skäll.
Warner - World's Best Literature - v29 - BIographical Dictionary
He was the first editor of the Contem-
porary Review.
Alfred the Great. King of England,
translator of several works of antiquity into
the English tongue of his day (849-901). One
of his biographers credits him with having
translated into Saxon nearly the whole ex-
tant Latin literature: it is certain that he
did, himself, translate many of the monuments
of the Christian religion, as Gregory the
Great's Pastoral Care,' selections from the
writings of St. Augustine, and Boethius's (Con.
solations of Philosophy); he also translated
Bede's (Church History of the English
Nation. *
Algarotti Francesco, Count (äl-gä-rot-tē).
An Italian littérateur (1712-64). Frederick
the Great held him in high regard and made
him a count of Prussia. He was an accom-
plished critic of the arts of painting, sculpture,
and architecture. Among his works is (The
Plurality of Worlds) (1733), an exposition, for
ladies' use, of Newton's philosophy. He is at
his best in his letters, especially his (Poetical
Epistles) (1759).
Alger, Horatio. An American writer of
juvenile books; born at Revere, Mass. , Jan. 13,
1834. Graduated from Harvard in 1852, settled
in New York in 1866, and became interested in
the condition of self-supporting boys, described
in his series of more than fifty books, includ-
ing (Ragged Dick, (Tattered Tom,' Luck
and Pluck, which became very popular.
Other works : Nothing to Do: A Tilt at our
Best Society,' a poem (1857); Helen Ford,' a
novel ( 1860); a series of juvenile biographies
of Webster, Lincoln, Garfield, etc. ; and (The
Young Salesman (1896).
Alger, William Rounseville. An Ameri-
can Unitarian clergyman and miscellaneous
writer; born at Freetown, Mass. , Dec. 30,
1822. His chief works are: History of the
Doctrine of a Future Life) (1863); (Genius of
Solitude? (1865); and Friendships of Women)
(1867). He occupied pulpits in New York,
Denver, Boston, and San Francisco.
Alighieri. See Dante.
Alis, Hippolyte Percher (ä-le'). A French
novelist and journalist; born at Couleuvre,
Oct. 7, 1857. He has contributed to various
Paris journals, and is the author of several
naturalistic novels, among which are: Hara-
Kiri) (1882); (A Daughter of the Soil) (1885);
(Some Foolish People) (1889).
Alishan, Leon M. An Armenian poet and
historian; born in Constantinople, July 30,
1820. He studied in Venice, where he took
orders in 1840, and was appointed professor
in the College Raphael, of which he became
director in 1848. Having taken charge of the
Armenian college in Paris in 1858, he re-
turned to Venice in 1865 as director of Saint
Lazare. He is regarded by his countrymen
as their leading poet. Among his numerous
writings are: Poems Complete) (1857–67);
( Popular Songs of the Armenians) (1867);
(Historical Monographs) (1870); History and
Geography of Armenia) (1885), which was
seized and suppressed by the Turkish authorities.
Alison, Archibald. À Scottish writer; born
in Edinburgh, Nov. 13, 1757 ; died there, May
## p. 14 (#30) ##############################################
14
ALISON - ALLEN
17, 1839. The charm of his pulpit oratory
drew general attention to his published ser-
mons; and by his Essay on the Nature and
Principles of Taste) and kindred themes, he
won an acknowledged but inconspicuous posi-
tion in literature.
Alison, Sir Archibald. A Scottish histo.
rian, son of the above; born at Kenley, Shrop-
shire, Dec. 29, 1792; died at Glasgow, May 23,
1867. He studied at the University of Edin-
burgh, and was admitted to the bar in 1814.
His principal work is a History of Europe,
covering the period from 1789 to 1815, which
was received with remarkable favor, and trans-
lated into the leading languages of Europe,
and even into Arabic. The work contains a
vast amount of information and many inter-
esting descriptions; but is prolix in style, often
inaccurate, and so strongly partisan that it
has been said to have been designed to
prove that Providence was on the side of the
Tories. )
Allan, William, An American military
writer; born in Virginia in 1837; died in 1889.
During the Civil War he served as lieutenant-
colonel in the Confederate army. His works
are : (Jackson's Valley Campaign' (1862); Bat-
tle Fields of Virginia' (1867); Army of
Northern Virginia.
Allen, Alexander Viets Griswold. An
American ecclesiastical historian; born at Otis,
Mass. , May 4, 1841. Professor of ecclesiastical
history at the Episcopal Theological School,
Cambridge, Mass. He has written : (The Con-
tinuity of Christian Thought) (1883); (The
Greek Theology and the Renaissance of the
19th Century) (1884, the Bohlen lectures for
that year), and a Life of Jonathan Edwards )
(1889), besides revised articles, etc.
Allen, Elizabeth Akers. An American
poet; born (Elizabeth Chase) at Strong, Me. ,
Oct. 9, 1832. She was married in 1860 to Paul
Akers, the sculptor, who died in 1861, and in
1865 to E. M. Allen of New York. Her first
volume, Forest Buds,' appeared under the
pen-name of Florence Percy » (1855). Other
works: (The Silver Bridge and Other Poems)
(1866); a volume of Poems) (1866), which
contains (Rock Me to Sleep, Mother); (her
authorship of this popular ballad, once dis-
puted, is proved in the New York Times,
May 27, 1867;) (The High-Top Sweeting and
Other Poems) (1891).
Allen, Ethan. An American Revolutionary
hero; born at Litchfield, Conn. , Jan. 10, 1737;
died near Burlington, Vt. , Feb. 12, 1789. His
services in the war of independence, as colonel
of the Green Mountain Boys,” capturing
Fort Ticonderoga (in the name of the great
Jehovah and the Continental Congress, his
attack on Montreal, sufferings as a prisoner in
England, skillful diplomacy in behalf of Ver-
mont, etc. , are well known. He wrote an ac-
count of his captivity (1799), (A Vindication
of Vermont) (1784), and (Allen's Theology, or
the Oracles of Reason (1784), in which he
declared reason to be the only oracle of man.
Allen, Fred Hovey. An American clergy-
man and writer; born in New Hampshire in
1845. He has written the text of several pop-
ular art works, among which are included:
"Great Cathedrals of the World); Modern
German Masters) (1886); (The Doré Album';
(Discovery and Conquest of Peru'; Discov-
ery and Conquest of Mexico.
Allen, Grant (Charles Grant Blairfindie
Allen). An English naturalist, essayist, and
novelist; born in Kingston, Canada, Feb. 24,
1848. He graduated from Oxford, and was
professor at Queen's College, Jamaica, until
he settled in England. He early became a
follower of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spen-
cer, and has written scientific essays in a
light, picturesque, and attractive style. Since
1883 he has produced a large number of
novels, many of which are based on a psy-
chological theme. Probably the best among
them are : Babylon' (1885) and (The Devil's
Die) (1888). His latest is Under Sealed Or-
ders) (1896). *
Allen, James Lane. An American novelist;
born near Lexington, Ky. , in 1850. He gradu-
ated at Transylvania University, taught there
for a time, and became subsequently professor
of Latin and English in Bethany College.
His fame rests mainly upon his powerful
and popular novels of manners and people in
the blue-grass region and elsewhere, the best
known being (Summer in Arcady) (1896);
(The Choir Invisible (1897); (A Kentucky
Cardinal'; and Aftermath. *
Allen, Joel Asaph. An American natural.
ist; born at Springfield, Mass. , July 19, 1838.
From 1865 to 1869 he was a member of vari-
ous scientific expeditions to Brazil, the Rocky
Mountains, and Florida. In 1870 he was ap-
pointed assistant in ornithology at the Museum
of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. ,
and in 1885 curator of ornithology and mam-
malogy in the American Museum of Natural
History in New York city. He is part author
with E. Coues of Monographs of North
American Rodentia) (1877); and has also pub-
lished among other works, History of North
American Pinnipeds) (1880).
Allen, Joseph Henry. An American Uni-
tarian minister, educator, historian, and essay-
ist; born at Northboro, Mass. , Aug. 21, 1821.
His chief works have been : (Ten Discourses
on Orthodoxy) (2d ed. , 1889); Hebrew Men
and Times) (2d ed. , 1879); (Outline of Christ-
ian History) (1884); (Our Liberal Movement
in Theology) (1889); Positive Religion, Es-
says, Fragments, and Hints) (1891). He was
editor of the well-known Allen and Greenough
series of Latin classics, and of the Unitarian
Review ; senior editor of the History of Uni-
tarianism. He had parishes at Jamaica Plain,
Mass. , Washington, D. C. , and Bangor, Me. ;
and lectured for several years on ecclesiastical
history in Harvard University.
:
(
>
## p. 15 (#31) ##############################################
ALLEN – ALMQUIST
15
(
Allen, Karl Ferdinand. A Danish histo-
rian; born at Copenhagen, April 23, 1811; died
there, Dec. 27, 1871. He became professor of
history and northern archæology at the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen in 1862. His principal
works, Handbook of the History of the
Fatherland) (1840), very democratic in tone,
and History of the Three Northern King-
doms) (1864-72), produced a marked impres-
sion, as did also minor writings relating to
Schleswig.
Allen, Paul. An American miscellaneous
writer and journalist ; born at Providence, R. I. ,
Feb. 15, 1775; died at Baltimore, Aug. 18,
1826. He studied law originally, but became
a journalist, and edited newspapers in Phila-
delphia and Baltimore. He wrote: Poems)
(1801); Lewis and Clark's Travels) (1814);
"Life of Alexander I. (1818), etc.
Allen, William. An American preacher and
miscellaneous writer ; born at Pittsfield, Mass. ,
Jan. 2, 1784; died at Northampton, Mass. , July
16, 1868. He became president of Dartmouth
University in 1817 ; was president of Bowdoin
College, 1820–39. Of numerous works, both in
prose and verse, the best known is (American
Biographical and Historical Dictionary) (3d
ed. , 1857).
Allen, Willis Boyd. An American writer;
born in Maine in 1855. Besides a collection
of verse, entitled 'In the Morning,' he has
written a large number of works for young
people, among which are : (The Red Mountain
of Alaska); Pine Cones) (1885); (Silver Rags)
(1886); (Kelp' (1888); (The Mammoth Hunters. )
Allibone, Samuel Austin (al'i-bon). An
American bibliographer; born at Philadelphia,
April 17, 1816; died at Lucerne, Switzerland,
Sept. 2, 1889. He was at one time librarian
of the Lenox Library, New York. He was
the author of a 'Dictionary of English Litera-
ture, and British and American Authors' (3 vols. ,
1854-71; Supplement by Dr. John Foster Kirk,
2 vols. , 1891); (Poetical Quotations ); Prose
Quotations, etc. It took twenty years to write
the Dictionary, which is familiar in libraries
the world over wherever English is spoken.
Allies, Jabez. An English antiquary and
one of the earliest writers on folklore ; born at
Sulsley, Worcestershire, Oct. 22, 1787 ; died at
Cheltenham, Jan. 29, 1856. He devoted nearly
his entire life to the study of Roman and
Saxon antiquities in Worcestershire, the re-
sults being embodied in his monumental work,
(The Ancient British, Roman, and Saxon An-
tiquities and Folklore of Worcestershire (1852).
Allingham, William. An Irish poet; born
at Ballyshannon, March 19, 1828; died at
Hampstead, near London, Nov. 18, 1889. Hav-
ing for some years been an officer in the
Customs, he became assistant editor of Fraser's
Magazine in 1871 and succeeded Froude as
editor in 1874, when he also married Helen
Paterson, the illustrator and water-color artist.
His graceful poems excel in descriptions of
Irish scenery and life; some of them were
illustrated by Rossetti, Kate Greenaway, and
other distinguished artists. Prominent among
his works is Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland)
(1864), a narrative poem on contemporary Irish
life.
Allmers, Hermann (äl'mers). A German
poet; born at Rechtenfleth, near Bremen, Feb.
II, 1821.
He wrote: (Book of the Marshes)
(1857), a faithful portrayal of nature and men
in his native country; Poems) (1860); Ro.
man Sauntering Days) (1869), subtle delinea-
tions of Italian life; (Electra) (1872), a drama,
continuing and concluding the plot of Goethe's
(Iphigenia.
Allston, Washington. An eminent American
painter, poet, and romancer; born at Wacca-
maw, S. C. , Nov. 5, 1779; died in Cambridge,
Mass. , July 9, 1843. He graduated at Harvard
in 1800; studied at the Royal Academy, Lon-
don, and in Rome, and returned to Boston in
1809. He is the author of: (The Sylph of the
Seasons and Other Poems) (1813); Monaldi,
a romance (1841), and (Lectures on Art and
Poems) (1850). See his (Life) by Flagg.
Almeida, Nicolao Tolentino de (äl-mā'ē-dä).
A Portuguese poet (1741-181), noted for his
satires, ridiculing the manners of his day. One
of them, on the ex-Minister Pombal, procured
for him a position as secretary in the Ministry
of the Interior. (Poetical Works) (Lisbon,
1802; new ed. , 1861).
Almeida-Garrett, João Baptista de Silva
Leitão de (äl-mā'ē-dä gär-ret'). A distin-
guished Portuguese poet, dramatist, and pol.
itician; born in Oporto, Feb. 4, 1799; died in
Lisbon, Dec. 10, 1854. He studied law at Coim.
bra, and joining the democratic movement in
1820, became minister of public instruction when
scarcely twenty-one, but on the restoration in
1823 was banished and went to England. He
subsequently returned, and experienced many
vicissitudes owing to his political activity. As
a man of letters he endeavored to free Por-
tuguese poetry from the shackles of pseudo-
classicism and to inspire it with new life by
basing it on national forms and traditions.
His efforts were also directed towards the
creation of a purely national drama. His prin-
cipal works are: (Catão, a tragedy (1820),
among the best in Portuguese literature; (Ca-
mões, a romantic epic (1825), glorifying the
life and death of Portugal's greatest poet;
(Dona Branca, a satirical epic (1826), scour-
ging monasticism; (Adozinda, a lyrical epic
(1828); (Bernal Francez, a cycle of romances
(1829); (Auto de Gil Vicente) (1838), pro-
nounced the first purely Portuguese drama;
(O Arco de Sant' Anna, a historical novel
(1846); (Romancerio,' a collection of Portu-
guese ballads (3 vols. , 1851-53).
Almquist, Karl Jonas Ludvig (älm'kvist).
A notable Swedish poet, novelist, and miscel-
laneous writer ; born in Stockholm, Nov. 28,
1793; died in Bremen, Sept. 26, 1866. A writer
of great versatility, author of a series of
## p. 16 (#32) ##############################################
16
ALPUCHE - AMES
.
educational works, treatises on the mental, moral,
and political sciences, on philology, religion,
mathematics, philosophy, and national econ-
omy, etc. , of novels and tales, dramas, poems,
lyric and epical. (The Book of the Rose, a
collection of dramatic and lyric pieces, is his
best known work.
It's All Right) and (The
Palace, novels, “Araminta May) and (Skäll.
nora's Will, tales, are also popular. *
Alpuche, Wenceslao (äl-pö'che). A Mexican
poet (1804-41). His first poems, published
when he was little more than a youth, brought
him great popularity. The best among his
works are: (Hidalgo) and the odes: 'Inde.
pendence) and (The Return from Exile.
Alsop, Richard (âl'sop). An American poet
and scholar; born at Middletown, Conn. , Jan.
23, 1761; died at Flatbush, L. I. , Aug. 20, 1815.
In conjunction with Theodore Dwight he
edited from 1791 to 1795 the Echo, a satirical
journal. Among his works are: (The Charms
of Fancy'; 'A Monody on the Death of Wash-
ington) (1800); and the translations entitled
(The Enchanted Lake of the Fairy Morgana)
(1808), and Molina's (Geographical, Natural,
and Civil History of Chili. ?
Altamirano, Ignacio Manuel (äl-tä-me-rä-'
no). A Mexican poet, orator, and journalist;
born in Guerrero, about 1835; died in Italy,
Feb. 1893. He wrote (Clemencia); Julia', etc.
He held political office, rose to the rank of
colonel in the army during the French invas.
ion, and was of pure Indian blood, said to
have been descended from the ancient Aztec
monarchs.
Altaroche, Marie Michel (ältä-rosh'). A
French poet and journalist (1811-84), studied
law in Paris, then turned to journalism and
in 1834-48 was editor-in-chief of the Charivari,
which owed to his witty articles a good deal
of its brilliant success. In 1850-52 he managed
several theatrical enterprises. His works in-
clude: Political Songs and Verses) (1835);
(Democratic Tales) (1837); Adventures of
Victor Augerol) (1838), an imitation of Lou-
vet's famous (Faublas) romance.
Alvarez do Oriente, Fernan (äl'vä- reth do
õ-ré-en-te). A Portuguese poet (1540-99) of
the school of Camoens. His life-work, Lusi-
tania Transformed, is a pastoral romance in
the manner of Sannazaro's (Arcadia,' com-
posed of prose and poetry and containing
elegies, sonnets, and idyls of such beauty as to
have caused some of them to be ascribed to
Camoens.
Alvin, Louis Joseph (al-van'). A Belgian
poet and art critic (1806–87); became secretary
(1830), then chief, of a department in the min-
istry of public instruction, member of the Bel-
gian Academy in 1845, and chief librarian of
the royal library in Brussels in 1850. Among
his works are: (Sardanapalus, a tragedy
(1834); “The Anonymous Pamphleteer,' a com-
edy (1835); (Re-Contemplations) (1856), a sa-
tirical imitation of the romantic style.
Alxinger, Johann Baptist von (älk'sing-er).
An Austrian poet (1755-97), especially esteemed
for his chivalrous epics in the manner of Wie.
land : Doolin von Mainz) (1787) and (Bliom-
beris) (1791).
Amalie, Marie Friederike Auguste (ä.
ma'lē-e). A German dramatist (1794-1870), who
wrote under the pseudonym Amalie Heiter. "
She was Duchess of Saxony, sister of King
John of Saxony. Comedies and dramas of sim-
ple conception, but careful delineation of char-
acter, and well adapted for the stage, have given
her eminence, among them :(The Uncle); “The
Prince's Fiancée); "Primogeniture); (The
Young Lady from the Country'; and (The
Agriculturist.
Ambros, August Wilhelm (am'bros). A no-
table Austrian writer on music; born at Mauth,
Bohemia, Nov. 17, 1816; died in Vienna, June
28, 1876. He was trained for the civil service
and served in it with distinction; but his apti-
tude for music, and particularly for the criti.
cism and literature of music, led him in another
direction, and he rose to eminence as the
author of «The Limits of Music and Poetry,'
besides numerous essays and studies connected
with art. His masterpiece, however, he left
unfinished : (The History of Music,' a work
which cost him many years of labor and which
he carried only to the fourth volume. He at.
tempted musical composition, but in it won no
popularity.
Ambrose, Saint (am'broz). One of the
fathers of the Latin Church ; born at Trèves,
Gaul, probably 340; died at Milan, April 4,
397. He became bishop of Milan in 374. His
writings include: (Of the Duties of the Clergy)
(in imitation of Cicero's (Of Duties '); Hex-
aemeron); hymns, etc. He is supposed to have
been the author of the style of singing known
as the (Ambrosian Chant. Works, Milan, 6
vols. , 1875-86.
Ambrosius, Johanna (äm-broʻzi-ös). A Ger-
man poet and story writer; born at Lengwe-
then, East Prussia, Aug. 3, 1854. Daughter of
an artisan, and married in 1874 to a peasant's
son by the name of Voigt, she led the hard
life of a peasant woman till in middle age
she wrote verses, which were published in a
weekly newspaper; their success led to the pub-
lication of other poems and stories of hers,
which have had extremely wide circulation. *
Ames, Charles Gordon. An American Uni-
tarian clergyman and writer; born at Dor-
chester, Mass. , Oct. 3, 1828. He has published
(George Eliot's Two Marriages) (1886); (As
Natural as Life); (Studies of the Inner King-
dom'; and is distinguished as a preacher.
Ames, Mrs. Eleanor Maria (Easterbrook).
An American writer; born in 1830. She is a
resident of Brooklyn, N. Y. Under the pseu-
donym of Eleanor Kirk) she wrote: (Up
Broadway and Its Sequel (1870); Informa-
tion for Authors) (1888); “Perpetual Youth.
Ames, Fisher. A famous American orator
and statesman; born at Dedham, Mass. , April
## p. 17 (#33) ##############################################
AMES - AMYOT
17
ram.
a
9, 1758; died there, July 4, 1808. Admitted to
the bar in 1781, he became a Member of Con-
gress in 1789, where he gained a national
reputation by his oratory. Two of his finest
efforts were in support of John Jay's treaty
with Great Britain, and a eulogy on Wash-
ington before the Massachusetts Legislature.
He was elected president of Harvard College
in 1804, but declined. A brilliant talker, he
was distinguished in conversation for wit and
imagination, while his character was spotless.
His works consist of orations, essays, and let-
ters, 2 vols. , 1854.
Ames, Mary Clemmer. An American writer;
born in Utica, N. Y. , in 1839; died in Wash-
ington, D. C. , Aug. 18, 1884. She was
frequent contributor to the Springfield Repub-
lican, and afterwards to the New York Inde-
pendent. Married to and divorced from the
Rev. Daniel Ames, she became in 1883 the
wife of Edward Hudson
at Washington.
Among her works are the novels (Victoria)
(1864); (Eirene (1870), and His Two Wives)
(1874); a volume of Poems) (1882); and
biographies of Alice and Phæbe Cary.
Ames, Nathaniel. An American physician
and humorist; born in Bridgewater, Mass. , in
1708; died at Dedham, Mass. , July II, 1764.
He was a resident of Dedham, Mass. From
1725 to 1764 he published an Astronomical
Diary and Almanac, which enjoyed great
popularity on account of its wit.
Amicis, Edmondo de (ä-mē'chēs). A dis-
tinguished Italian writer; born at Oneglia in
Liguria, Oct. 21, 1846. From 1865 till the oc-
cupation of Rome by the Italian army he was
in the military service of King Victor Eman-
uel's government; then he returned to civil
life at Turin, devoting himself wholly to lit-
erature, in which he had already won distinc-
tion by several graphic sketches of camp life.
Among his writings of this kind the most
noteworthy are : ( Army Life) (1869) and
(Recollections of 1870–71. Of novels we have
from his pen: (The College Friends); (A
Great Day); (The Paternal Home) (1872),
and (Cuore) (Hearts), published in English
as “The Heart of a Schoolboy. His works of
travel -- including (Spain); (Recollections of
London'; Holland); 'Constantinople); (Rec-
ollections of Paris); Morocco) – have had a
very wide circulation, and have been trans-
lated into several languages. He has pub-
lished also a volume of "Verses. *
Amiel, Henri Frédéric (ä-mē-el'). A dis-
tinguished Swiss essayist, philosophical critic,
and poet; born at Geneva, Sept. 27, 1821 ;
died there, March 11, 1881. He was for five
years a student in German universities, and
on his return home became professor of phi-
losophy in the Geneva Academy. He is
author of several works on the history of liter-
ature, as (The Literary Movement in Roman-
ish Switzerland) (1849); (Study on Mme. de
Staël) (1878); and of several poems, among
them Millet Grains) (1854). But his fame
rests principally on the Journal, which ap-
peared after the author's death. *
Ammen, Daniel. A distinguished American
admiral and author; born May 15, 1820, in
Ohio. He entered the United States Navy
July 7, 1836. He was executive officer of the
North Atlantic blockading squadron at the
outbreak of the Civil War. From 1861 to
1865 he rendered signal service in the attacks
on Port Royal, Fort Macallister, Fort Fisher,
and both the ironclad attacks on Fort Sumter.
On June 4, 1878, he was retired with the rank
of rear-admiral. He was the designer of the
Ammen life-raft and harbor defense
Among his works are: (The Atlantic Coast)
(1883); "The Old Navy and the New);
(Navy in the Civil War' (1883).
Amory, Thomas (am'o-ri). An English me-
moir writer; born 1691 (? ); died Nov. 25, 1788.
He has been called the English Rabelais. )
He wrote : (Memoirs Containing the Lives of
Several Ladies of Great Britain, etc. (1755);
Life of John Buncle, Esq. (1756-66); etc.
Amory, Thomas Coffin. An American lawyer,
politician, biographer, and poet; born in Bos-
ton, 1812; died 1889. He held municipal office
in Boston for many years. He wrote : Life
of James Sullivan, with Selections from his
Writings) (2 vols. , 1859); (Military Services
and Public Life of Major-General John Sulli-
van' (1868); (General Sullivan Not a Pensioner
of Luzerne) (2d ed. 1875); (The Transfer of
Erin (1877); (Life of Sir Isaac Coffin (1886);
and two poems: “The Siege of Newport)
(1888) and Charles River) (1888).
Ampère, Jean Jacques Antoine (on-pār').
A French literary historian (1800-64), son of
the physicist André M. Ampère. He became
professor in Marseilles, then at the Sorbonne,
and in 1833 at the College of France in Paris,
being elected member of the Academy in 1847.
His best work is Literary History of France
before the XII. Century) (1840).
Amyntor, Gerhard von (ä-min'tor), pseudo-
nym of Dagobert von Gerhardt. A German
novelist and poet; born at Liegnitz, Silesia,
July 12, 1831. He entered the army in 1849,
took part in the campaigns of 1864 and 1870-71
as a major, was severely wounded in the for-
mer and resigned in 1872; settled in Potsdam
in 1874. His principal works are : (Peter Qui-
dam's Rhine-Journey) (1877), an epic ; (Songs
of a German Night Watchman) (1878); “The
New Romancero) (1880), poems; (The Priest)
(1881), an epic ; novels : (It Is You' (1882);
(A Problem (1884); (Praise of Woman' (1885);
and (Gerke Suteminne) (1887), a historical
romance.
Amyot, Jacques (ä-mē-o'). A French author
(1513-93), famous for his translations from the
Greek, which, owing to their elegant style, are
considered classical literature. They are : the
(Theagenes and Chariclea) of Heliodorus ;
(Seven Books of Diodorus Siculus); the
(Daphnis and Chloe) of Longus; the Parallel
2
## p. 18 (#34) ##############################################
18
ANACREON
ANDERSON
(
Lives) and the (Morals) of Plutarch. The
most noteworthy among these is the translation
of Plutarch's Lives, which was used by Cor-
neille as a source for his antique tragedies,
and by Shakespeare (in its English version by
Sir Thomas North) for some of his plays.
Anacreon (a-nak're-on). A renowned lyric
poet of Greece; born at Teos in Ionia, 562 (? )
B. C. ; died 477 B. C. He enjoyed the pat-
ronage of Polycrates, autocrat of Samos; and
while at his court, composed most of the odes
in praise of wine and women which won for
him pre-eminence among singers. A few of
his authentic compositions have come down
to us : under his name as many as 68 extant
poems circulate, but the authorship of many
of these is extremely doubtful. *
Anagnos, Mrs. Julia Rowana (Howe)
(a-näg'nos). An American poet and littérateur,
daughter of Julia Ward Howe; born in 1844;
died in 1886. In 1870 she married M. Anagnos,
superintendent of the Perkins Institute for the
Blind, Boston, Mass. She wrote (Stray Chords)
(1883) and Philosophiæ Quæstor) (1885).
Anaxagoras (an-aks-ag'ō-ras). A famous
Greek philosopher of the Ionic school; born
at Clazomena, 500 (? ) B. C. ; died. 428 B. C.
He explained eclipses and advanced physical
science. In philosophy, he taught that the uni-
verse is regulated by an eternal self-existent
and infinitely powerful principle, called by him
mind; matter he seems to have asserted to be
eternal, what is called generation and destruc-
tion being merely the temporary union and
separation of ever existing elements; he dis-
proved the doctrine that things may have
arisen by chance. Fragments of his “Treatise
on Nature) are still in existence.
Anaximander (an-aks-i-man'der). A Greek
philosopher of the Ionian school; born at
Miletus, about 611 B. C. ; died about 547 B. C.
He was a friend and pupil of Thales of Miletus,
and is said to have written the first philo-
sophical work in Greek prose. His system of
philosophy declared that the principle, or sub-
stance, out of which all things arise and to
which they return, is immortal and imperish-
able," being in nature intermediate between
air and water. He is reputed to have in-
vented the sun-dial.
Anaximenes (an-aks-im'e-nēz). A Greek
philosopher of the Ionian school; born at
Miletus, and lived in the 6th century B. C. He
was probably a pupil of Anaximander. He
held that air is the original substance, from
which, by thickening and thinning, all other
elements, as fire, water, earth, are produced.
But little is known of him, there being extant
but a single fragment of his lost work (On
Nature.
Ancelot, Jacques Arsène Polycarpe (ons-
lõ'). A French dramatist (1794-1854), whose
first success the tragedy (Louis IX.
(1819). In 1841 he was elected a member
of the Academy. His works include: (Fiesco)
(1824), a successful imitation of Schiller's play;
(Maria Padilla) (1838); Marie of Brabant,
an epic (1825); (Six Months in Russia, a
medley of prose and verse (1827); (The Man
of the World,' a novel (1827); (Familiar Epis-
tles) (1842), satires of great elegance of style.
His wife Marguerite Louise Virginie, née Char-
don (1792–1875), was frequently his co-laborer
and also the author of plays and novels. Of
the former, Marie, or the Three Epochs)
(1836) is the best ; of the latter, (Renée de
Varville) (1853) and (The Banker's Niece)
(1853) found most favor.
Anczyc, Vladislav Ludvig (än'tsich). A
Polish dramatist (1823-83), who lived mostly at
Cracow, and wrote national plays which be-
came very popular. The best among them
are : (The Peasant-Aristocrats) (1851); (The
Inhabitants Lobsov) (1854); The Raftsmen'
(1875); “The Peasants' Emigration (1876); be-
sides which he wrote (Tyrtæus,' a poetical tale
(1883), and many juvenile works, partly under
the pseudonym “Kasimir Góralczyk. ”
Andersen, Hans Christian (än'der-sen). An
eminent Danish poet and story writer; born
at Odense, April 2, 1805; died Aug. 4, 1875.
porary Review.
Alfred the Great. King of England,
translator of several works of antiquity into
the English tongue of his day (849-901). One
of his biographers credits him with having
translated into Saxon nearly the whole ex-
tant Latin literature: it is certain that he
did, himself, translate many of the monuments
of the Christian religion, as Gregory the
Great's Pastoral Care,' selections from the
writings of St. Augustine, and Boethius's (Con.
solations of Philosophy); he also translated
Bede's (Church History of the English
Nation. *
Algarotti Francesco, Count (äl-gä-rot-tē).
An Italian littérateur (1712-64). Frederick
the Great held him in high regard and made
him a count of Prussia. He was an accom-
plished critic of the arts of painting, sculpture,
and architecture. Among his works is (The
Plurality of Worlds) (1733), an exposition, for
ladies' use, of Newton's philosophy. He is at
his best in his letters, especially his (Poetical
Epistles) (1759).
Alger, Horatio. An American writer of
juvenile books; born at Revere, Mass. , Jan. 13,
1834. Graduated from Harvard in 1852, settled
in New York in 1866, and became interested in
the condition of self-supporting boys, described
in his series of more than fifty books, includ-
ing (Ragged Dick, (Tattered Tom,' Luck
and Pluck, which became very popular.
Other works : Nothing to Do: A Tilt at our
Best Society,' a poem (1857); Helen Ford,' a
novel ( 1860); a series of juvenile biographies
of Webster, Lincoln, Garfield, etc. ; and (The
Young Salesman (1896).
Alger, William Rounseville. An Ameri-
can Unitarian clergyman and miscellaneous
writer; born at Freetown, Mass. , Dec. 30,
1822. His chief works are: History of the
Doctrine of a Future Life) (1863); (Genius of
Solitude? (1865); and Friendships of Women)
(1867). He occupied pulpits in New York,
Denver, Boston, and San Francisco.
Alighieri. See Dante.
Alis, Hippolyte Percher (ä-le'). A French
novelist and journalist; born at Couleuvre,
Oct. 7, 1857. He has contributed to various
Paris journals, and is the author of several
naturalistic novels, among which are: Hara-
Kiri) (1882); (A Daughter of the Soil) (1885);
(Some Foolish People) (1889).
Alishan, Leon M. An Armenian poet and
historian; born in Constantinople, July 30,
1820. He studied in Venice, where he took
orders in 1840, and was appointed professor
in the College Raphael, of which he became
director in 1848. Having taken charge of the
Armenian college in Paris in 1858, he re-
turned to Venice in 1865 as director of Saint
Lazare. He is regarded by his countrymen
as their leading poet. Among his numerous
writings are: Poems Complete) (1857–67);
( Popular Songs of the Armenians) (1867);
(Historical Monographs) (1870); History and
Geography of Armenia) (1885), which was
seized and suppressed by the Turkish authorities.
Alison, Archibald. À Scottish writer; born
in Edinburgh, Nov. 13, 1757 ; died there, May
## p. 14 (#30) ##############################################
14
ALISON - ALLEN
17, 1839. The charm of his pulpit oratory
drew general attention to his published ser-
mons; and by his Essay on the Nature and
Principles of Taste) and kindred themes, he
won an acknowledged but inconspicuous posi-
tion in literature.
Alison, Sir Archibald. A Scottish histo.
rian, son of the above; born at Kenley, Shrop-
shire, Dec. 29, 1792; died at Glasgow, May 23,
1867. He studied at the University of Edin-
burgh, and was admitted to the bar in 1814.
His principal work is a History of Europe,
covering the period from 1789 to 1815, which
was received with remarkable favor, and trans-
lated into the leading languages of Europe,
and even into Arabic. The work contains a
vast amount of information and many inter-
esting descriptions; but is prolix in style, often
inaccurate, and so strongly partisan that it
has been said to have been designed to
prove that Providence was on the side of the
Tories. )
Allan, William, An American military
writer; born in Virginia in 1837; died in 1889.
During the Civil War he served as lieutenant-
colonel in the Confederate army. His works
are : (Jackson's Valley Campaign' (1862); Bat-
tle Fields of Virginia' (1867); Army of
Northern Virginia.
Allen, Alexander Viets Griswold. An
American ecclesiastical historian; born at Otis,
Mass. , May 4, 1841. Professor of ecclesiastical
history at the Episcopal Theological School,
Cambridge, Mass. He has written : (The Con-
tinuity of Christian Thought) (1883); (The
Greek Theology and the Renaissance of the
19th Century) (1884, the Bohlen lectures for
that year), and a Life of Jonathan Edwards )
(1889), besides revised articles, etc.
Allen, Elizabeth Akers. An American
poet; born (Elizabeth Chase) at Strong, Me. ,
Oct. 9, 1832. She was married in 1860 to Paul
Akers, the sculptor, who died in 1861, and in
1865 to E. M. Allen of New York. Her first
volume, Forest Buds,' appeared under the
pen-name of Florence Percy » (1855). Other
works: (The Silver Bridge and Other Poems)
(1866); a volume of Poems) (1866), which
contains (Rock Me to Sleep, Mother); (her
authorship of this popular ballad, once dis-
puted, is proved in the New York Times,
May 27, 1867;) (The High-Top Sweeting and
Other Poems) (1891).
Allen, Ethan. An American Revolutionary
hero; born at Litchfield, Conn. , Jan. 10, 1737;
died near Burlington, Vt. , Feb. 12, 1789. His
services in the war of independence, as colonel
of the Green Mountain Boys,” capturing
Fort Ticonderoga (in the name of the great
Jehovah and the Continental Congress, his
attack on Montreal, sufferings as a prisoner in
England, skillful diplomacy in behalf of Ver-
mont, etc. , are well known. He wrote an ac-
count of his captivity (1799), (A Vindication
of Vermont) (1784), and (Allen's Theology, or
the Oracles of Reason (1784), in which he
declared reason to be the only oracle of man.
Allen, Fred Hovey. An American clergy-
man and writer; born in New Hampshire in
1845. He has written the text of several pop-
ular art works, among which are included:
"Great Cathedrals of the World); Modern
German Masters) (1886); (The Doré Album';
(Discovery and Conquest of Peru'; Discov-
ery and Conquest of Mexico.
Allen, Grant (Charles Grant Blairfindie
Allen). An English naturalist, essayist, and
novelist; born in Kingston, Canada, Feb. 24,
1848. He graduated from Oxford, and was
professor at Queen's College, Jamaica, until
he settled in England. He early became a
follower of Charles Darwin and Herbert Spen-
cer, and has written scientific essays in a
light, picturesque, and attractive style. Since
1883 he has produced a large number of
novels, many of which are based on a psy-
chological theme. Probably the best among
them are : Babylon' (1885) and (The Devil's
Die) (1888). His latest is Under Sealed Or-
ders) (1896). *
Allen, James Lane. An American novelist;
born near Lexington, Ky. , in 1850. He gradu-
ated at Transylvania University, taught there
for a time, and became subsequently professor
of Latin and English in Bethany College.
His fame rests mainly upon his powerful
and popular novels of manners and people in
the blue-grass region and elsewhere, the best
known being (Summer in Arcady) (1896);
(The Choir Invisible (1897); (A Kentucky
Cardinal'; and Aftermath. *
Allen, Joel Asaph. An American natural.
ist; born at Springfield, Mass. , July 19, 1838.
From 1865 to 1869 he was a member of vari-
ous scientific expeditions to Brazil, the Rocky
Mountains, and Florida. In 1870 he was ap-
pointed assistant in ornithology at the Museum
of Comparative Zoology at Cambridge, Mass. ,
and in 1885 curator of ornithology and mam-
malogy in the American Museum of Natural
History in New York city. He is part author
with E. Coues of Monographs of North
American Rodentia) (1877); and has also pub-
lished among other works, History of North
American Pinnipeds) (1880).
Allen, Joseph Henry. An American Uni-
tarian minister, educator, historian, and essay-
ist; born at Northboro, Mass. , Aug. 21, 1821.
His chief works have been : (Ten Discourses
on Orthodoxy) (2d ed. , 1889); Hebrew Men
and Times) (2d ed. , 1879); (Outline of Christ-
ian History) (1884); (Our Liberal Movement
in Theology) (1889); Positive Religion, Es-
says, Fragments, and Hints) (1891). He was
editor of the well-known Allen and Greenough
series of Latin classics, and of the Unitarian
Review ; senior editor of the History of Uni-
tarianism. He had parishes at Jamaica Plain,
Mass. , Washington, D. C. , and Bangor, Me. ;
and lectured for several years on ecclesiastical
history in Harvard University.
:
(
>
## p. 15 (#31) ##############################################
ALLEN – ALMQUIST
15
(
Allen, Karl Ferdinand. A Danish histo-
rian; born at Copenhagen, April 23, 1811; died
there, Dec. 27, 1871. He became professor of
history and northern archæology at the Uni-
versity of Copenhagen in 1862. His principal
works, Handbook of the History of the
Fatherland) (1840), very democratic in tone,
and History of the Three Northern King-
doms) (1864-72), produced a marked impres-
sion, as did also minor writings relating to
Schleswig.
Allen, Paul. An American miscellaneous
writer and journalist ; born at Providence, R. I. ,
Feb. 15, 1775; died at Baltimore, Aug. 18,
1826. He studied law originally, but became
a journalist, and edited newspapers in Phila-
delphia and Baltimore. He wrote: Poems)
(1801); Lewis and Clark's Travels) (1814);
"Life of Alexander I. (1818), etc.
Allen, William. An American preacher and
miscellaneous writer ; born at Pittsfield, Mass. ,
Jan. 2, 1784; died at Northampton, Mass. , July
16, 1868. He became president of Dartmouth
University in 1817 ; was president of Bowdoin
College, 1820–39. Of numerous works, both in
prose and verse, the best known is (American
Biographical and Historical Dictionary) (3d
ed. , 1857).
Allen, Willis Boyd. An American writer;
born in Maine in 1855. Besides a collection
of verse, entitled 'In the Morning,' he has
written a large number of works for young
people, among which are : (The Red Mountain
of Alaska); Pine Cones) (1885); (Silver Rags)
(1886); (Kelp' (1888); (The Mammoth Hunters. )
Allibone, Samuel Austin (al'i-bon). An
American bibliographer; born at Philadelphia,
April 17, 1816; died at Lucerne, Switzerland,
Sept. 2, 1889. He was at one time librarian
of the Lenox Library, New York. He was
the author of a 'Dictionary of English Litera-
ture, and British and American Authors' (3 vols. ,
1854-71; Supplement by Dr. John Foster Kirk,
2 vols. , 1891); (Poetical Quotations ); Prose
Quotations, etc. It took twenty years to write
the Dictionary, which is familiar in libraries
the world over wherever English is spoken.
Allies, Jabez. An English antiquary and
one of the earliest writers on folklore ; born at
Sulsley, Worcestershire, Oct. 22, 1787 ; died at
Cheltenham, Jan. 29, 1856. He devoted nearly
his entire life to the study of Roman and
Saxon antiquities in Worcestershire, the re-
sults being embodied in his monumental work,
(The Ancient British, Roman, and Saxon An-
tiquities and Folklore of Worcestershire (1852).
Allingham, William. An Irish poet; born
at Ballyshannon, March 19, 1828; died at
Hampstead, near London, Nov. 18, 1889. Hav-
ing for some years been an officer in the
Customs, he became assistant editor of Fraser's
Magazine in 1871 and succeeded Froude as
editor in 1874, when he also married Helen
Paterson, the illustrator and water-color artist.
His graceful poems excel in descriptions of
Irish scenery and life; some of them were
illustrated by Rossetti, Kate Greenaway, and
other distinguished artists. Prominent among
his works is Lawrence Bloomfield in Ireland)
(1864), a narrative poem on contemporary Irish
life.
Allmers, Hermann (äl'mers). A German
poet; born at Rechtenfleth, near Bremen, Feb.
II, 1821.
He wrote: (Book of the Marshes)
(1857), a faithful portrayal of nature and men
in his native country; Poems) (1860); Ro.
man Sauntering Days) (1869), subtle delinea-
tions of Italian life; (Electra) (1872), a drama,
continuing and concluding the plot of Goethe's
(Iphigenia.
Allston, Washington. An eminent American
painter, poet, and romancer; born at Wacca-
maw, S. C. , Nov. 5, 1779; died in Cambridge,
Mass. , July 9, 1843. He graduated at Harvard
in 1800; studied at the Royal Academy, Lon-
don, and in Rome, and returned to Boston in
1809. He is the author of: (The Sylph of the
Seasons and Other Poems) (1813); Monaldi,
a romance (1841), and (Lectures on Art and
Poems) (1850). See his (Life) by Flagg.
Almeida, Nicolao Tolentino de (äl-mā'ē-dä).
A Portuguese poet (1741-181), noted for his
satires, ridiculing the manners of his day. One
of them, on the ex-Minister Pombal, procured
for him a position as secretary in the Ministry
of the Interior. (Poetical Works) (Lisbon,
1802; new ed. , 1861).
Almeida-Garrett, João Baptista de Silva
Leitão de (äl-mā'ē-dä gär-ret'). A distin-
guished Portuguese poet, dramatist, and pol.
itician; born in Oporto, Feb. 4, 1799; died in
Lisbon, Dec. 10, 1854. He studied law at Coim.
bra, and joining the democratic movement in
1820, became minister of public instruction when
scarcely twenty-one, but on the restoration in
1823 was banished and went to England. He
subsequently returned, and experienced many
vicissitudes owing to his political activity. As
a man of letters he endeavored to free Por-
tuguese poetry from the shackles of pseudo-
classicism and to inspire it with new life by
basing it on national forms and traditions.
His efforts were also directed towards the
creation of a purely national drama. His prin-
cipal works are: (Catão, a tragedy (1820),
among the best in Portuguese literature; (Ca-
mões, a romantic epic (1825), glorifying the
life and death of Portugal's greatest poet;
(Dona Branca, a satirical epic (1826), scour-
ging monasticism; (Adozinda, a lyrical epic
(1828); (Bernal Francez, a cycle of romances
(1829); (Auto de Gil Vicente) (1838), pro-
nounced the first purely Portuguese drama;
(O Arco de Sant' Anna, a historical novel
(1846); (Romancerio,' a collection of Portu-
guese ballads (3 vols. , 1851-53).
Almquist, Karl Jonas Ludvig (älm'kvist).
A notable Swedish poet, novelist, and miscel-
laneous writer ; born in Stockholm, Nov. 28,
1793; died in Bremen, Sept. 26, 1866. A writer
of great versatility, author of a series of
## p. 16 (#32) ##############################################
16
ALPUCHE - AMES
.
educational works, treatises on the mental, moral,
and political sciences, on philology, religion,
mathematics, philosophy, and national econ-
omy, etc. , of novels and tales, dramas, poems,
lyric and epical. (The Book of the Rose, a
collection of dramatic and lyric pieces, is his
best known work.
It's All Right) and (The
Palace, novels, “Araminta May) and (Skäll.
nora's Will, tales, are also popular. *
Alpuche, Wenceslao (äl-pö'che). A Mexican
poet (1804-41). His first poems, published
when he was little more than a youth, brought
him great popularity. The best among his
works are: (Hidalgo) and the odes: 'Inde.
pendence) and (The Return from Exile.
Alsop, Richard (âl'sop). An American poet
and scholar; born at Middletown, Conn. , Jan.
23, 1761; died at Flatbush, L. I. , Aug. 20, 1815.
In conjunction with Theodore Dwight he
edited from 1791 to 1795 the Echo, a satirical
journal. Among his works are: (The Charms
of Fancy'; 'A Monody on the Death of Wash-
ington) (1800); and the translations entitled
(The Enchanted Lake of the Fairy Morgana)
(1808), and Molina's (Geographical, Natural,
and Civil History of Chili. ?
Altamirano, Ignacio Manuel (äl-tä-me-rä-'
no). A Mexican poet, orator, and journalist;
born in Guerrero, about 1835; died in Italy,
Feb. 1893. He wrote (Clemencia); Julia', etc.
He held political office, rose to the rank of
colonel in the army during the French invas.
ion, and was of pure Indian blood, said to
have been descended from the ancient Aztec
monarchs.
Altaroche, Marie Michel (ältä-rosh'). A
French poet and journalist (1811-84), studied
law in Paris, then turned to journalism and
in 1834-48 was editor-in-chief of the Charivari,
which owed to his witty articles a good deal
of its brilliant success. In 1850-52 he managed
several theatrical enterprises. His works in-
clude: Political Songs and Verses) (1835);
(Democratic Tales) (1837); Adventures of
Victor Augerol) (1838), an imitation of Lou-
vet's famous (Faublas) romance.
Alvarez do Oriente, Fernan (äl'vä- reth do
õ-ré-en-te). A Portuguese poet (1540-99) of
the school of Camoens. His life-work, Lusi-
tania Transformed, is a pastoral romance in
the manner of Sannazaro's (Arcadia,' com-
posed of prose and poetry and containing
elegies, sonnets, and idyls of such beauty as to
have caused some of them to be ascribed to
Camoens.
Alvin, Louis Joseph (al-van'). A Belgian
poet and art critic (1806–87); became secretary
(1830), then chief, of a department in the min-
istry of public instruction, member of the Bel-
gian Academy in 1845, and chief librarian of
the royal library in Brussels in 1850. Among
his works are: (Sardanapalus, a tragedy
(1834); “The Anonymous Pamphleteer,' a com-
edy (1835); (Re-Contemplations) (1856), a sa-
tirical imitation of the romantic style.
Alxinger, Johann Baptist von (älk'sing-er).
An Austrian poet (1755-97), especially esteemed
for his chivalrous epics in the manner of Wie.
land : Doolin von Mainz) (1787) and (Bliom-
beris) (1791).
Amalie, Marie Friederike Auguste (ä.
ma'lē-e). A German dramatist (1794-1870), who
wrote under the pseudonym Amalie Heiter. "
She was Duchess of Saxony, sister of King
John of Saxony. Comedies and dramas of sim-
ple conception, but careful delineation of char-
acter, and well adapted for the stage, have given
her eminence, among them :(The Uncle); “The
Prince's Fiancée); "Primogeniture); (The
Young Lady from the Country'; and (The
Agriculturist.
Ambros, August Wilhelm (am'bros). A no-
table Austrian writer on music; born at Mauth,
Bohemia, Nov. 17, 1816; died in Vienna, June
28, 1876. He was trained for the civil service
and served in it with distinction; but his apti-
tude for music, and particularly for the criti.
cism and literature of music, led him in another
direction, and he rose to eminence as the
author of «The Limits of Music and Poetry,'
besides numerous essays and studies connected
with art. His masterpiece, however, he left
unfinished : (The History of Music,' a work
which cost him many years of labor and which
he carried only to the fourth volume. He at.
tempted musical composition, but in it won no
popularity.
Ambrose, Saint (am'broz). One of the
fathers of the Latin Church ; born at Trèves,
Gaul, probably 340; died at Milan, April 4,
397. He became bishop of Milan in 374. His
writings include: (Of the Duties of the Clergy)
(in imitation of Cicero's (Of Duties '); Hex-
aemeron); hymns, etc. He is supposed to have
been the author of the style of singing known
as the (Ambrosian Chant. Works, Milan, 6
vols. , 1875-86.
Ambrosius, Johanna (äm-broʻzi-ös). A Ger-
man poet and story writer; born at Lengwe-
then, East Prussia, Aug. 3, 1854. Daughter of
an artisan, and married in 1874 to a peasant's
son by the name of Voigt, she led the hard
life of a peasant woman till in middle age
she wrote verses, which were published in a
weekly newspaper; their success led to the pub-
lication of other poems and stories of hers,
which have had extremely wide circulation. *
Ames, Charles Gordon. An American Uni-
tarian clergyman and writer; born at Dor-
chester, Mass. , Oct. 3, 1828. He has published
(George Eliot's Two Marriages) (1886); (As
Natural as Life); (Studies of the Inner King-
dom'; and is distinguished as a preacher.
Ames, Mrs. Eleanor Maria (Easterbrook).
An American writer; born in 1830. She is a
resident of Brooklyn, N. Y. Under the pseu-
donym of Eleanor Kirk) she wrote: (Up
Broadway and Its Sequel (1870); Informa-
tion for Authors) (1888); “Perpetual Youth.
Ames, Fisher. A famous American orator
and statesman; born at Dedham, Mass. , April
## p. 17 (#33) ##############################################
AMES - AMYOT
17
ram.
a
9, 1758; died there, July 4, 1808. Admitted to
the bar in 1781, he became a Member of Con-
gress in 1789, where he gained a national
reputation by his oratory. Two of his finest
efforts were in support of John Jay's treaty
with Great Britain, and a eulogy on Wash-
ington before the Massachusetts Legislature.
He was elected president of Harvard College
in 1804, but declined. A brilliant talker, he
was distinguished in conversation for wit and
imagination, while his character was spotless.
His works consist of orations, essays, and let-
ters, 2 vols. , 1854.
Ames, Mary Clemmer. An American writer;
born in Utica, N. Y. , in 1839; died in Wash-
ington, D. C. , Aug. 18, 1884. She was
frequent contributor to the Springfield Repub-
lican, and afterwards to the New York Inde-
pendent. Married to and divorced from the
Rev. Daniel Ames, she became in 1883 the
wife of Edward Hudson
at Washington.
Among her works are the novels (Victoria)
(1864); (Eirene (1870), and His Two Wives)
(1874); a volume of Poems) (1882); and
biographies of Alice and Phæbe Cary.
Ames, Nathaniel. An American physician
and humorist; born in Bridgewater, Mass. , in
1708; died at Dedham, Mass. , July II, 1764.
He was a resident of Dedham, Mass. From
1725 to 1764 he published an Astronomical
Diary and Almanac, which enjoyed great
popularity on account of its wit.
Amicis, Edmondo de (ä-mē'chēs). A dis-
tinguished Italian writer; born at Oneglia in
Liguria, Oct. 21, 1846. From 1865 till the oc-
cupation of Rome by the Italian army he was
in the military service of King Victor Eman-
uel's government; then he returned to civil
life at Turin, devoting himself wholly to lit-
erature, in which he had already won distinc-
tion by several graphic sketches of camp life.
Among his writings of this kind the most
noteworthy are : ( Army Life) (1869) and
(Recollections of 1870–71. Of novels we have
from his pen: (The College Friends); (A
Great Day); (The Paternal Home) (1872),
and (Cuore) (Hearts), published in English
as “The Heart of a Schoolboy. His works of
travel -- including (Spain); (Recollections of
London'; Holland); 'Constantinople); (Rec-
ollections of Paris); Morocco) – have had a
very wide circulation, and have been trans-
lated into several languages. He has pub-
lished also a volume of "Verses. *
Amiel, Henri Frédéric (ä-mē-el'). A dis-
tinguished Swiss essayist, philosophical critic,
and poet; born at Geneva, Sept. 27, 1821 ;
died there, March 11, 1881. He was for five
years a student in German universities, and
on his return home became professor of phi-
losophy in the Geneva Academy. He is
author of several works on the history of liter-
ature, as (The Literary Movement in Roman-
ish Switzerland) (1849); (Study on Mme. de
Staël) (1878); and of several poems, among
them Millet Grains) (1854). But his fame
rests principally on the Journal, which ap-
peared after the author's death. *
Ammen, Daniel. A distinguished American
admiral and author; born May 15, 1820, in
Ohio. He entered the United States Navy
July 7, 1836. He was executive officer of the
North Atlantic blockading squadron at the
outbreak of the Civil War. From 1861 to
1865 he rendered signal service in the attacks
on Port Royal, Fort Macallister, Fort Fisher,
and both the ironclad attacks on Fort Sumter.
On June 4, 1878, he was retired with the rank
of rear-admiral. He was the designer of the
Ammen life-raft and harbor defense
Among his works are: (The Atlantic Coast)
(1883); "The Old Navy and the New);
(Navy in the Civil War' (1883).
Amory, Thomas (am'o-ri). An English me-
moir writer; born 1691 (? ); died Nov. 25, 1788.
He has been called the English Rabelais. )
He wrote : (Memoirs Containing the Lives of
Several Ladies of Great Britain, etc. (1755);
Life of John Buncle, Esq. (1756-66); etc.
Amory, Thomas Coffin. An American lawyer,
politician, biographer, and poet; born in Bos-
ton, 1812; died 1889. He held municipal office
in Boston for many years. He wrote : Life
of James Sullivan, with Selections from his
Writings) (2 vols. , 1859); (Military Services
and Public Life of Major-General John Sulli-
van' (1868); (General Sullivan Not a Pensioner
of Luzerne) (2d ed. 1875); (The Transfer of
Erin (1877); (Life of Sir Isaac Coffin (1886);
and two poems: “The Siege of Newport)
(1888) and Charles River) (1888).
Ampère, Jean Jacques Antoine (on-pār').
A French literary historian (1800-64), son of
the physicist André M. Ampère. He became
professor in Marseilles, then at the Sorbonne,
and in 1833 at the College of France in Paris,
being elected member of the Academy in 1847.
His best work is Literary History of France
before the XII. Century) (1840).
Amyntor, Gerhard von (ä-min'tor), pseudo-
nym of Dagobert von Gerhardt. A German
novelist and poet; born at Liegnitz, Silesia,
July 12, 1831. He entered the army in 1849,
took part in the campaigns of 1864 and 1870-71
as a major, was severely wounded in the for-
mer and resigned in 1872; settled in Potsdam
in 1874. His principal works are : (Peter Qui-
dam's Rhine-Journey) (1877), an epic ; (Songs
of a German Night Watchman) (1878); “The
New Romancero) (1880), poems; (The Priest)
(1881), an epic ; novels : (It Is You' (1882);
(A Problem (1884); (Praise of Woman' (1885);
and (Gerke Suteminne) (1887), a historical
romance.
Amyot, Jacques (ä-mē-o'). A French author
(1513-93), famous for his translations from the
Greek, which, owing to their elegant style, are
considered classical literature. They are : the
(Theagenes and Chariclea) of Heliodorus ;
(Seven Books of Diodorus Siculus); the
(Daphnis and Chloe) of Longus; the Parallel
2
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18
ANACREON
ANDERSON
(
Lives) and the (Morals) of Plutarch. The
most noteworthy among these is the translation
of Plutarch's Lives, which was used by Cor-
neille as a source for his antique tragedies,
and by Shakespeare (in its English version by
Sir Thomas North) for some of his plays.
Anacreon (a-nak're-on). A renowned lyric
poet of Greece; born at Teos in Ionia, 562 (? )
B. C. ; died 477 B. C. He enjoyed the pat-
ronage of Polycrates, autocrat of Samos; and
while at his court, composed most of the odes
in praise of wine and women which won for
him pre-eminence among singers. A few of
his authentic compositions have come down
to us : under his name as many as 68 extant
poems circulate, but the authorship of many
of these is extremely doubtful. *
Anagnos, Mrs. Julia Rowana (Howe)
(a-näg'nos). An American poet and littérateur,
daughter of Julia Ward Howe; born in 1844;
died in 1886. In 1870 she married M. Anagnos,
superintendent of the Perkins Institute for the
Blind, Boston, Mass. She wrote (Stray Chords)
(1883) and Philosophiæ Quæstor) (1885).
Anaxagoras (an-aks-ag'ō-ras). A famous
Greek philosopher of the Ionic school; born
at Clazomena, 500 (? ) B. C. ; died. 428 B. C.
He explained eclipses and advanced physical
science. In philosophy, he taught that the uni-
verse is regulated by an eternal self-existent
and infinitely powerful principle, called by him
mind; matter he seems to have asserted to be
eternal, what is called generation and destruc-
tion being merely the temporary union and
separation of ever existing elements; he dis-
proved the doctrine that things may have
arisen by chance. Fragments of his “Treatise
on Nature) are still in existence.
Anaximander (an-aks-i-man'der). A Greek
philosopher of the Ionian school; born at
Miletus, about 611 B. C. ; died about 547 B. C.
He was a friend and pupil of Thales of Miletus,
and is said to have written the first philo-
sophical work in Greek prose. His system of
philosophy declared that the principle, or sub-
stance, out of which all things arise and to
which they return, is immortal and imperish-
able," being in nature intermediate between
air and water. He is reputed to have in-
vented the sun-dial.
Anaximenes (an-aks-im'e-nēz). A Greek
philosopher of the Ionian school; born at
Miletus, and lived in the 6th century B. C. He
was probably a pupil of Anaximander. He
held that air is the original substance, from
which, by thickening and thinning, all other
elements, as fire, water, earth, are produced.
But little is known of him, there being extant
but a single fragment of his lost work (On
Nature.
Ancelot, Jacques Arsène Polycarpe (ons-
lõ'). A French dramatist (1794-1854), whose
first success the tragedy (Louis IX.
(1819). In 1841 he was elected a member
of the Academy. His works include: (Fiesco)
(1824), a successful imitation of Schiller's play;
(Maria Padilla) (1838); Marie of Brabant,
an epic (1825); (Six Months in Russia, a
medley of prose and verse (1827); (The Man
of the World,' a novel (1827); (Familiar Epis-
tles) (1842), satires of great elegance of style.
His wife Marguerite Louise Virginie, née Char-
don (1792–1875), was frequently his co-laborer
and also the author of plays and novels. Of
the former, Marie, or the Three Epochs)
(1836) is the best ; of the latter, (Renée de
Varville) (1853) and (The Banker's Niece)
(1853) found most favor.
Anczyc, Vladislav Ludvig (än'tsich). A
Polish dramatist (1823-83), who lived mostly at
Cracow, and wrote national plays which be-
came very popular. The best among them
are : (The Peasant-Aristocrats) (1851); (The
Inhabitants Lobsov) (1854); The Raftsmen'
(1875); “The Peasants' Emigration (1876); be-
sides which he wrote (Tyrtæus,' a poetical tale
(1883), and many juvenile works, partly under
the pseudonym “Kasimir Góralczyk. ”
Andersen, Hans Christian (än'der-sen). An
eminent Danish poet and story writer; born
at Odense, April 2, 1805; died Aug. 4, 1875.