No More Learning

, 1777 ; died in Boston, 1846. He held
many important public positions; was president
of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences,
and a member of various learned associations
at home and abroad. He published a paper
on the Adoption of a Uniform Orthography
for the Indian Languages) (1820); a (Vocab-
ulary of Words and Phrases Peculiar to the
United States) (1816); a (Greek Dictionary)
(1826); and wrote many pamphlets on scien-
tific and political questions.
Pico, Giovanni, Count of Mirandola (pē’ko).
An Italian scholar and philosopher; born at
Mirandola, Feb. 24, 1463; died at Florence,
Nov. 17, 1494. A prominent figure of his time,
he displayed more learning than depth or ori-
ginality of thought. He wrote (Heptaplus,' an
allegorical explanation of the creation ; (Philo-
sophical, Cabalistic, and Theological Conclus-
ions) (1486); (Of the Dignity of Man); etc.
(Works, Bologna, 1496 ; often republished. )
Picot, Georges (pē-kõ'). A French historian;
born at Paris, Dec. 24, 1838. He succeeded
Thiers as member of the Institute in 1878, and
on the death of Jules Simon in 1896 became
permanent secretary of the Academy of Sci-
He wrote: (Elections to the States-
General in the Provinces from 1302 to 1614)
(1874); (The Parliament of Paris under Charles
VIII. (1877); Judiciary Reform in France)
(1881); (A Social Duty and Workmen's Homes)
(1885); History of the States-General and
their Influence on the Government of France
from 1355 to 1614) (4 vols. , 1872), his principal
work, which twice won the Gobert prize of the
Academy (2d ed. 5 vols. , 1888).
Piedagnel, François Alexandre (pyā-dän-
yel'). A French verse-writer; born at Cher-
bourg, Dec. 27, 1831. He published three vol-
umes of poems: (Yesterday) (1882); (On the
Road) (1886); (April (1887). He wrote also :
Jules Janin) (1874); (J. F. Millet: Recollec-
tions of Barbizon (1878).
Pierce, Henry Niles. An American Epis-
copal bishop and author; born in Pawtucket,
R. I. , 1820. He spent many years in the West
as a missionary, and was consecrated bishop
in 1870. He has published many essays, ser-
mons, and reviews; and a volume of poems,
( The Agnostic, etc. (1884).
Pierpont, John. A Unitarian clergyman and
poet ; born in Litchfield, Conn. , April 6, 1785;
died in Medford, Mass. , Aug. 27, 1866. Among
his works is (Airs of Palestine, and Other Po-
ems) (1840). One of his best-known poems
is (Warren's Address at the Battle of Bunker
Hill.
Piers Plowman. Assumed name of William
Longland or Langland. An English satirical
writer of the 14th century. His work (The
Vision of Piers Plowman religious and
moral allegory, in rhyme - is a picture of the
disorders in church and State prevailing at his
time.
Pietsch, Ludwig (pētsh). A German traveler
and designer; born at Dantzic, Dec. 25, 1824.
He wrote : (The World and Art' (2 vols, 1867);


## p. 430 (#446) ############################################

430
PIGAULT-LEBRUN
PINKERTON
:
(Travels in the East) (1870); From Berlin to
Paris : War Pictures) (1871); “Morocco) (1878);
(Pilgrimage to Olympia in 1876) (1879); (How
I Became an Author) (2 vols. , 1892-94).
Pigault-Lebrun (pē-go'lė-brün'), pseudo-
nym of Antoine P. de L'Epinoy. A French
novelist and dramatist ; born at Calais, April 8,
1753; died at La Celle Saint Cloud, July 24,
1835. He wrote more than 70 volumes of
stories, among them (The Child of the Car-
nival' (1792), “The Barons of Felsheim (1798),
(Spanish Madness) (1801); and several come-
dies, as (The Pessimist) (1789), (Rivals of
Themselves) (1798), Love and Reason (1799).
He wrote also Literary and Critical Miscel-
lanies) (2 vols. , 1816).
Pignotti, Lorenzo (pen-yot'tē). An Italian
poet and historian; born at Figlina, Tuscany,
1739; died at Pisa, 1812. Among his writings
are poems (On the Grave of Shakespeare
(1778); (The Shade of Pope (1791). He wrote
a book of Fables) (1779), which were very
popular; and a History of Tuscany' (9 vols. ,
1813).
Piis, Pierre Antoine Augustin (pēs). A
French dramatist ; born at Paris, 1755; died
1832.
Among his very numerous dramatic
pieces were : Aristotle in Love, vaudeville
(1780); “Summer Loves) (1781); (Two Sedan-
Chairmen' (1781); Marriage in Extremis)
(1782), a comedy in one act. His miscella-
neous writings included : Carlo-Robertiad
(1784), a satire on ballooning; (Easter Eggs
for my Critics) (1786).
Pike, Albert. An American lawyer, journal-
ist, and poet; born in Boston, Dec. 29, 1809;
died in Washington, D. C. , April 2, 1891. Early
in life he went West, entered journalism, and
later practiced law in Arkansas. He served as
captain of cavalry in the Mexican War, and was
a brigadier-general in the Confederate army
during the Civil War. His chief works are :
(Prose Sketches and Poems) (1834); "Hymns
to the Gods) (1839); Nugæ) (1854); Morals
and Dogma of Freemasonry) (1870).
Pike, Mrs. Mary Hayden (Green). An
American novelist; born in Eastport, Me. , Nov.
30, 1825. She will be best remembered as the
author of "Ida May) (1854), a novel dealing
with slavery and Southern life, which had a
large sale. She also published “Caste(1856),
and Bond and Free) (1858).
Pilch, Frederick Henry. An American verse-
writer; born at Newark, N. J. , March 5, 1842;
died at Bloomfield, N. J. , Dec. 3, 1889. He con-
tributed verses to the magazines, and published
a collection of Homespun Verses) (1889).
Pilkington, Mary. An English story-writer;
born at Cambridge, 1766; died 1839. Among
her very numerous writings were: Edward
Barnard; or, Merit Exalted' (1797); (Mentorial
Tales for Young Ladies) (1802); « The Sorrows
of Cæsar; or, Adventures of a Foundling Dog!
(1813); “The Shipwreck; or, Misfortune the
Inspirer of Virtuous Sentiments) (1819)
Pillet, Fabien (pē-vā'). A French journal-
ist; born at Lyons, 1772; died at Passy, 1855.
He published several volumes of dramatic criti.
cism, and a collection of Oddities, Stories,
Anecdotes, Epigrams, etc. , relating to the
stage (1838).
Pilpay or Pilpai (pil-pā'). The supposed
author of fables in India, which have been so
extensively used by other Oriental countries
and in Europe. *
Pindar (pin'där). The greatest of the Greek
lyric poets; born at Cynoscephala near Bæo-
tian Thebes, 522 B. C. ; died at Argos, about
450 B. C. The Alexandrine scholars divided
his poems into 17 books, comprising Hymns,
Pæans, Dithyrambs, Encomia, Songs of Victory.
There are now extant, apart from mere frag-
ments, only four books, all songs of victory
(epinikia) celebrating the victors in the Olym-
pian, Pythian, Nemean, and Isthmian games. *
Pindemonte, Ippolito (pēn'dā-mon'tā). An
Italian poet; born at Verona, Nov. 13, 1753;
died there, Nov. 18, 1828. His first essays in
verse were tragedies, which had little success;
he then turned to lyric and descriptive poetry,
and achieved a distinguished reputation. His
works are : (Poems of the Fields) (1788), among
the best of their kind in Italian literature;
(Various Poems) (1798); (Epistles in Verse)
(1805); a translation of Homer's Odyssey (1809
22 ); Discourses) (1819: Sermoni, after the
manner of Horace's “Satires,' called also Ser-
mones).
Pinero, Arthur Wing. A distinguished
English dramatist; born in London in 1855.
A lawyer's son, he studied for the law, then
became an actor, and ultimately left the stage
for dramatic authorship. His first comedy,
(Two Can Play at That Game,' was produced
in 1877, and has been followed by (Two Hun-
dred a Year) (1877); (The Money Spinner)
(1880); (The Magistrate) (1885); (Dandy Dick)
(1887); (Sweet Lavender) (1888); (The Prof.
ligate) (1889); "Lady Bountiful' (1891); “The
Second Mrs. Tanqueray) (1893), conceded to
be his most powerful work; (The Notorious
Mrs. Ebbsmith) (1895); (The Benefit of the
Doubt) (1896); "The Princess and the Butter-
fly) (1897),
Pinheiro-Chagas, Manuel (pēn-yâ'ro-shä'-
gäs). A Portuguese poet and miscellaneous
writer; born at Lisbon, 1842. Among his works
are: A Poem of Youth,' (The Angel of the
Hearth); some novels, as (The Court of John
V. , (The Red Mask,) Death's Guerrillas )
(1872), "The Viscountess's Secret'; dramas,
(Senhorita de Valfor) (1867), Helen,' (The
Jewish Woman, During the Battle) (1870);
some volumes of political comment and satire,
as Ministers of State, Priests, and Kings,
(Critical Essays, Portuguese Scenes and Fan-
cies, (Celebrated Portuguese, Madrid: Im-
pressions of Travel.
Pinkerton, Allan G. A famous American
detective; born at Glasgow, Scotland, 1819;


## p. 431 (#447) ############################################

PINKNEY – PLANCHÉ
431
died in Chicago, 1884. lle became involved
in the Chartist outbreak in Birmingham, and
emigrated to the United States in 1842. He
founded his detective agency in Chicago in
1850, and was in charge of the United States
secret service during the Civil War. His works
include: «The Molly Maguires) (1877); (The
Spy of the Rebellion (1883); (Thirty Years a
).
rard Coate. An American
; born at London, 1802; died
d. , 1828. He wrote a volume
5; republished 1838 and 1844).
Lynch Salisbury (Thrale)
Englishwoman, chiefly noted
up with Dr. Johnson. She was
onshire, Jan. 27, 1741; died
e received a good education,
763 Henry Thrale, a brewer
citurn and wholly absorbed
no allowed her little liberty.
. cquainted with Dr. Johnson
spent much time at their
with them. After Thrale's
Mr. Piozzi, a cultivated Ital.
siderable note; Johnson re-
nd left her with reproaches,
isidered it a social descent,
ince have echoed their sen-
she has written other things,
Dr. Johnson and her (Auto-
e works now read.
(pē-rôn'). A French poet;
ily 9, 1689; died at Paris, Jan.
n epigrammatist he holds the
in French literature. He wrote
jes, comedies, and comic operas,
wise none is now valued except the
medy' Metromania' (The Poetic Craze). His
pungent epigrams made him many enemies;
and when he was elected to the Academy,
Louis XIV. was prevailed upon to nullify the
choice. Hence the witty couplet proposed for
his epitaph :-
«ci git Piron, qui ne fut rien,
Pas même académicien; »
that is, “Here lies Piron, who was nothing, not
even Academician. ) *
Pisan, Christine de (pē-zän'). A French
poet; born at Venice, 1364; died about 1431.
Among her poems are : An Epistle to the
God of Loves) (1399); (Feats of Arms and of
Chivalry) (1404); Life and Good Ways of the
Wise King Charles V. (of France) (1404);
Lamentations over the Evils of the Civil War)
(1410); Moral Sayings.
Pisemskij, Aleksei Teofilaktovich (pē-zem'-
skē). A Russian novelist; born at Ramene in
the government of Kostroma, March 20, 1820;
died January 1881. His greatest novel is (A
Thousand Souls) (1858); he wrote also (The
Stormy Sea) (1863), «The Men of 1840) (1868),
(In the Whirlpool (1871). Some of his short
stories are in every way admirable, among them
(The Wood Demon) and (Pietershik. '
Pithou, Pierre (pē-tö'). A notable French
jurisconsult and historical writer; born at
Troyes, Nov. I, 1539; died at Nogent-sur-Seine,
Nov. I, 1596. Among his writings are: Me.
moirs of he Counts of Champagne) (1572);
(Reasons why the Bishops of France were
able to give absolution to Henry of Bourbon,
King of France (1593); (Comparison of Mo-
saic and Roman Laws) (1673).
Pitre, Giuseppe (pē-trā'). An Italian collector
of folk-lore; born at Palermo, Rec. 23, 1843.
He compiled and edited a "Library of Sicilian
Popular Traditions) (19 vols. , 1870-95), and
was editor of Archives for the Study of Pop-
ular Traditions, founded 1882. He is author
of a “Bibliography of Italian Folk-Lore Litera-
ture) (1894).
Pitre Chevalier, name assumed by Pierre
Michel François Chevalier. A French journal-
ist and historical writer; born 1812; died 1863.
He wrote several volumes of poems; also
"Studies on Brittany) (6 vols. 1839-42); An-
cient Brittany) (1844); Modern Brittany)
(1844); History of the War of the Cossacks
against Poland) (1859).
Pixérécourt, René Charles Guilbert de
(pex-ā-rā-kör'). A French dramatist ; born at
Nancy, Jan. 22, 1773; died July 27, 1844. He
wrote dramas, among them (Seligo; or, The
Generous Negro) (1793), (The Castle in the
Apennines; or, The Mysteries of Udolfo) (1798);
several very successful comedies, as (The Doc-
tor in Love,' (The Living Manikin; or, The
Wooden Husband, (Marcellus; or, The Sup-
posititious Heir) (1801); and many melodramas,
comic operas, etc.
Placentius, John Leo (plä-sen'shus). A Bel.
gian versifier, writing in Latin; born about
1500, at St. Trond (Liège); died about 1550.
Among his writings are: (Catalogue of all
Bishops of Tongres, Liège, etc. , a fabulous his-'
tory (1529); two comedies, one in prose, the
other in verse; an alliterative poem, Battle
of the Pigs, by P. Porcius, Poet' (Pugna Por-
corum, per P. Porcium, Poetam), in which every
word in the 253 verses begins with the letter p.
It was printed at Basle, 1552, in conjunction
with Hugbald's (Eclogue on Baldheads) (De
Calvis), in which every word begins with c.
Planard, François Antoine Eugène (plä-
när'). A French dramatist; born at Millau,
in Aveyron, Feb. 4, 1783; died at Paris, Nov.
13, 1853
Besides the novel (Almedan) (1825),
and some occasional verse, he wrote many
comedies, as (The Marrier of Old Women)
(1808); (The Family Portrait) (1809); (The
Supposititious Niece) (1813); (The Lucky
Meeting) (1821): and several libretti of comic
operas, among them (Last Wills and Love
Letters,' music by Auber; (The Manikin of
Bergamo, music by Fétis; Mina,' music by
Ambroise Thomas.
Planché, James Robinson (plon-shā'). An
English playwright, archæologist, and herald ;
born in London, Feb. 27, 1796; died May 29,
(


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432
PLATEN-HALLERMUND- PLUMPTRE
1880. He was an expert on the subject of
archæology and costumes; one of the founders
of the British Archäological Association; and
is credited with the authorship of 200 plays
and librettos, original and adapted. Among
his miscellaneous works are: Lays and Le-
gends of the Rhine) (1826-27); History of
British Costume) (1834); "Pursuivant of Arms)
(1851), a treatise on heraldry which procured
for him the appointment of Rouge Croix Pur-
suivant; (Popular Fairy Tales);(Recollections)
(2 vols. , 1872), chiefly literary and theatrical.
Platen-Hallermund, August, Count von
(plät'en-hälſler-mönd). An eminent German
poet ; born at Ansbach, Oct. 24, 1796; died at
Syracuse in Sicily, Dec. 5, 1835.
His principal
works are : (Sonnets from Venice) (1824); (The
Fateful Fork) (1826), an Aristophanic comedy
ridiculing the reigning literary fashions of the
time ;(The Romantic Edipus) (1828), a comedy
with the same subject: then followed a num-
ber of lyric poems and odes, with the drama
(The League of Cambrai, and the epic story
(The Abassides,' written in 1830. His (Songs
of Poland) (1830) gave expression to his deep
hate for the Czar; though privately circulated
they were not published till after the poet's
death. *
Plato (plā'to). The renowned Greek philos-
opher; born at Athens, probably 427 B. C. ;
died there, 347 B. C. His writings seem to
have come down to us complete. They consist
of 44 separate works in 64 books, and are all
written in dialogue form. These dialogues are
classed in three series, marking three periods in
the philosopher's life. First, those written dur-
ing the life of Socrates or during the year or
two next following his death: in these Plato is
thoroughly under the Socratic influence, and
the discussion is ever on conduct, the founda-
. tions of morality. The dialogues of this period
are: the "Apology, Lysis, Charmides,
(Laches, (Protagoras, Menon' (Gorgias,' (Io,
(Euthyphro,' (Crito,' etc. In the second pe-
riod the object of research is the objective
ground of cognition : to this belong (Theætetus,
(The Sophist, (The Politician, (Parmenides.
The dialogues of the third period deal with
the problem of reducing to philosophical unity
the data of the several sciences,- physics, eth-
ics, politics, etc. : to this class belong Phæ-
drus,' “Symposium, Phædo,) (Philebus, (The
Republic,) (Timæus, (The Laws. No better
guide to the full sense and spirit of Plato's
dialogues need be wished than Jowett's trans-
lation, as revised by Jowett shortly before his
death. *
Plautus, Titus Maccius (plâ'tus or plou'-
tus). A celebrated Roman comic poet; born
at Sarsina in Umbria, about 254 (? ) B. C. ; died
at Rome about 184 B. C. According to Varro,
130 comedies passed current in his time as
written by Plautus; but of these Varro consid-
ered only 21 genuine. Twenty of these are
extant. In their plots, leading incidents, and
characters, and even in the outlines of the
dialogues, they are borrowed from Greek origi-
nals; but Plautus fairly makes this borrowed
material his own. Lessing declared Plautus's
"Captives to be “the best constructed drama
in existence”; and the greatest of modern
dramatists, as Shakespeare and Molière, did
not scruple to draw on the Roman poet for
motives of their comedies. *
Plavistshikoff, Peter Alexiévich (pläv-
ist'she-kof). A Russian dramatist; born at
Moscow, 1760; died there, 1812. Besides lyric
and didactic poems, he wrote these dramatic
pieces: (Ruric, Founder of the Russian Mon-
archy); (Takmass Kuli Khan, Prince of Si-
beria); Yemmak, Conqueror of Siberia); (The
Landless Peasant); (The American Savages.
Pliny the Elder, or the Naturalist (Caiu
Plinius Secundus) (plin'ē). A celebrated Ro.
man compiler of encyclopædic knowledge; born
at Novum Comum, the modern Como, 23
A. D. ; died 79 A. D. He wrote a Natural His-
tory) in 37 books, compiled, as the author states
in the preface, from more than 2,000 volumes.
He begins with physics and astronomy, which
occupy books I and 2; books 3-6 treat of
geography; books 7-19 treat of man, the ani-
mal kingdom, and plants; in books 20-32
the author notes the medicinal properties of
plants; the remaining books are devoted to
mineralogy and the medicinal uses of minerals,
and to fine art and anecdotes of artists. *
Pliny the Younger (Caius Publius Cæcilius
Secundus, Minor). A Roman orator, nephew
of Pliny the Elder; born at Comum, A. D. 61;
died about 113. Of his writings, one oration
is extant, (The Panegyric, addressed to the
emperor Trajan on the occasion of Pliny's in-
vestiture with the insignia of the consulship;
and his "Letters, including the correspondence
between him and Trajan while Pliny was pro-
prætor of Bithynia. *
Plotinus (plo-ti'nus). An Alexandrine, the
most celebrated representative of Neo-Plato-
nism ; born at Lycopolis in Egypt, 205 A. D. ;
died at Minturnæ in Campania, 270. His writ-
ings were collected by his disciple Porphyrius,
and divided into six parts, each part subdivided
into nine books. The doctrine of Plotinus starts
from the basis of Plato's doctrine of ideas; but
with that he combines many foreign elements
of supernaturalism, mysticism, and extravagant
idealism.
Plouvier, Édouard (plöv-yā'). A French
dramatist and story-writer; born at Paris, Aug.
2, 1821 ; died there, Nov. 12, 1876. Among his
stories are: (The Christmas Tree) (1854 );
( The Beauty with Golden Hair) (1861). He
wrote a volume of songs, "Sunday Refrains'
(1856); and the comedies (The Steeple-Chase )
(1851), Winter Night's Dream' (1854), CA
Household Crisis) (1858), (The Dragooness
(1874); also (The Late Capt. Octave) (1859).
Plumptre, Anna. An English miscellaneous
writer, sister of James; born 1760; died at Nor-
wich, 1818. She wrote: (Antoinette,' a novel;
:
:
(


## p. 433 (#449) ############################################

PLUMPTRE-POGODIN
433
(Life of Kotzebue) (1801); Narrative of a
Three Years' Residence in France) (1810);
(Narrative of a Residence in Ireland (1817);
many other narratives of observations in for-
eign countries, as South Africa (1806), the Otto-
man Empire, Brazil, Japan, etc. ; and several
stories.
Plumptre, James. An English dramatic and
miscellaneous writer ; born 1770; died Jan. 23,
1832, at Great Gransden in Huntingdonshire,
where he was rector of a church. Among his
writings are: (The Coventry Act,' comedy
(1793); “Osway,' tragedy (1795); “The Lakers,
comic opera (1798); A Popular Commentary
on the Bible (1827).
Plutarch (plöſtärk). A celebrated Greek
moralist, practical philosopher, and biographer;
born at Chæronea in Baotia ; the time of his
birth and death cannot be determined, but he
appears to have been living at an advanced age
at the death of Trajan, 117 A. D. He wrote
(Parallel Lives) of notable men of Greece and
Rome: and a great many (Moral Treatises,
including (The Education of Children); (The
Right Way of Hearing '; Precepts about
Health); (Cessation of Oracles); 'The Pythian
Responses”; (The Retarded Vengeance of the
Deity); “The Dæmon of Socrates); (The Vir-
tues of Women'; "On the Fortune of the Ro-
mans); (Political Counsels); “On Superstition);
(On Isis and Osiris); (On the Face of the
Moon's Disk); (On the Opinions Accepted by
the Philosophers. *
Pocci, Franz, Count von (pot'che). A Ger.
man poet, musician, and designer; born at
Munich, March 7, 1807; died there, May 7,
1876. Besides several light musical dramas he
wrote an opera, (The Alchemist, and a num-
ber of songs and sonatas; a volume of Poems)
(1843); Hunting Songs) (1843); (Student
Songs); several books for children, admirable
alike for literary form and artistic illustration,
-eg. , (The Little Rose Garden,' a prayer-
book (3d ed. 1868); (A Little Book of Prov-
erbs.
Pocock, Edward. An English Orientalist;
born at Oxford, 1604; died 1691. He wrote,
or rather edited, with a most learned and elab-
orate commentary, (Specimen of the History
of the Arabians) (1649); and a similar work,
(Moses's Gate (1655), one of the writings of
Maimonides.
Pocock, Isaac. An English playwright; born
at Bristol, 1782; died 1835. Among his most
successful productions were : John of Paris,'
comic opera (1814); (Zembuca; or, The Net-
Maker, holiday piece (1815); (The Robber's
Wife,' romantic drama (1829); King Arthur
and the Knights of the Round Table, Christ-
mas spectacle (1834).
Poe, Edgar Allan. An American poet and
story-writer; born in Boston, Jan. 19, 1809; died
in Baltimore, Md. , Oct. 7, 1849. Left an or.
phan in early childhood, he was adopted by
John Allan of Richmond, Va. , and at the age
of 19 left this home and published his first vol.
ume of verse at Boston. He was a cadet at
the United States Military Academy, 1830-31 ;
and subsequently was editor of the Southern
Literary Messenger, 1835-37; of the Gentle-
man's Magazine, 1839-40; of Graham's Maga-
zine, 1841-42; and of the Broadway Journal,
1845. He also contributed to the Evening
Mirror, Godey's Lady's Book, the Whig Review,
and other periodicals. He projected a maga-
zine to be called Literary America, and to aid
it, lectured in New York city and through the
South, 1848-49. He died under distressing con-
ditions at Baltimore in 1849. A complete list
of his works in book form includes : (Tamer-
lane and Other Poems) (Boston, 1827); (Al
Aaraf, Tamerlane, and Minor Poems) (Balti-
more, 1829); Poems) (2d ed. , including many
poems now first published, New York, 1831).
The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym, of
Nantucket) (New York, 1838); (The Conchol-
ogist's First Book) (Philadelphia, 1839); (Tales
of the Grotesque and Arabesque (Philadelphia,
1840); 'The Prose Romances of Edgar A. Poe)
(Philadelphia, 1843); (The Raven and Other
Poems) (New York, 1845); (Mesmerism : In
Articulo Mortis) (London, 1846); (Eureka, a
Prose Poem (New York, 1848). After his
death there were republished (The Literati :
Some Honest Opinions about Autorial Merits
and Demerits, with Occasional Words of Per-
sonality, etc. , edited by R. W. Griswold (New
York, 1850); ( Tales of Mystery, Imagination, and
Humor ; and Poems, edited by Henry Vizetelly
(London, 1852). A collected edition was issued
in 3 vols. , 1850, 4th vol. 1856. The definitive
edition is the one edited by E. C. Stedman
and G. E. Woodberry (10 vols. , Chicago, 1894-
95). *
(
Poggio Bracciolini, Gian Francesco (pod'-
jē-o brätch-e-o-le'ne). An eminent Italian hu-
manist; born at Castel Terranuova, near Flor-
ence, Feb. II, 1380 ; died at Florence, Oct.
30, 1459. By his untiring research of the mon-
astery libraries of Switzerland and Germany,
he brought to light MSS. supposed to have
been lost, of works of the ancient classics, as
Quintilian, Valerius Flaccus, Ascanius, Statius,
Ammianus, and many others. He translated
into Latin several of the Greek classics. His
own writings are: (Facetiæ, a work of the
same questionable character as others of the
same title - the book had 26 editions at the
end of the 15th century; (Of the Variances of
Fortune); a History of Florence); (The
Miseries of Human Life); (The Infelicity of
Princes); "On Marriage in Old Age); Dia-
logue Against Hypocrites.
Pogodin, Michail Petrovich (põ-go'din). A
Russian historian; born at Moscow, Nov. 23,
1800; died there, Dec. 20, 1875. He wrote:
(On the Origin of the Russians) (1823); (Char-
acter of Ivan the Terrible) (1828); (Complicity
of Godunov in the Murder of Demetrius)
(1829); (Marfa Posadniza, a tragedy (1831);
(Stories (3 vols. , 1833); History of the Pseudo-
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434
POINSINET - POLO
:
Demetrius) (1835); “Russian History) (7 vols. ,
1846-54: the work was left untinished); Re-
searches on the Historic Basis of Serfdom!
(1858); (The First Seventeen Years of the
Reign of Peter the Great' (1875).
Poinsinet, Antoine Alexandre Henri
(p wan-se-nā'). A French dramatic writer;
born at Fontainebleau, 1735; died at Cordova,
1769. His first work was a parody of the
opera (Tithonus and Aurora); then followed
(The False Dervish, comic opera (1757);
(The Little Philosopher,' comedy (1760); “San-
cho Panza in his Island, opera-bouffe (1762);
(Tom Jones,' lyric comedy (1764); Erme-
linda, lyric tragedy (1767); (The Sick Ogre,'
spectacular piece; 'Lot and his Daughters. ?
Poitevin, Prosper (pwät-van'). A French
lexicographer and writer; born about 1804;
died at Paris, Oct. 27, 1884. He wrote : Ali
Pasha and Vasiliki,' a poem (1833); and some
comedies, among them "A Night at Potiphar's)
(1841), «The Husband in Spite of Himself
(1842). His works on lexicography and lin-
guistics are numerous; among them (Universal
Dictionary of the French Language) (2 vols. ,
1854-60), and (General and Historical Gram-
mar of the French Language) (2 vols. , 1856).
Pol, Vincenty (põl). A Polish poet; born
at Lublin, April 20, 1807; died at Cracow,
Dec. 2, 1872. He wrote the patriotic (Songs
of Janusz! (1833); (Song of Our Country)
(1843), which won for its author unbounded
popularity; Pictures from Life and from
Travel' (1847), probably his finest work; “The
Starost of Kisla' (1873), a narrative poem on
the chase.
Polevoj, Nikolaj Alexéjevitsh (po-lev'oi).
A Russian novelist, dramatist, and literary
critic; born at Irkutsk, July 4, 1796; died at
St. Petersburg, March 6, 1846. His dramatic
compositions are Ugolino,' (Parasha, (Little
Grandfather of the Russian Fleet': they have
a place in the repertoire of Russian theatres.
He wrote also History of the Russian Peo-
ple) (6 vols. , 1829-33).
Politian (Angelo Ambrogini) (pā-lish'än).
A celebrated Italian humanist; born at Monte-
pulciano in Tuscany, July 1454; died at Flor-
ence, 1494. At 15 he wrote epigrams in Latin,
at 17 in Greek, and at 18 published an edition
of Catullus. He was professor of Greek and
Roman literature at Florence, 1480. His trans-
lations from Greek into Latin, especially that
of the Iliad, were much admired by his contem-
poraries. Among the Greek works translated
by him were those of Epictetus, Herodian, Hip-
pocrates, and Galen, Plutarch's Eroticus, and
Plato's (Charmides. Among his original works
are : A Brief Account of the Conspiracy of the
Pazzi! (1478); Miscellanea' (1489), a collection
of his essays in philology and criticism ; several
poems in elegant Latin, among them (Manto,
in praise of Virgil; (Ambra, an idyllic sketch
of Tuscan landscape; (The Countryman,' cele-
brating the delights of rural life wrote in
Italian the stanzas called (The Joust,' on Giuli-
ano de' Medici's victory in a tournament; and
(Orpheus, a lyric drama.
Polko, Elise (põl’ko). A German story-
writer; born at Leipsic, Jan. 31, 1822. She
wrote an interesting series of (Musical Tales)
(first installment 1852); also (A Woman's Life)
(1854); "In the Artist World); (Reminiscences
of Felix Mendelssohn Bartholdy) (1868); (Con-
versations) (1872);' From the Year 1870); New
Story-Book) (1884).
Pollard, Edward Albert. An American
journalist and author ; born in Virginia, Feb.
27, 1828; died at Lynchburg, Va. , Dec. 12, 1872.
As editor of the Richmond Examiner during
the Civil War, he was an earnest advocate of
the Confederate cause, but an active opponent
of Jefferson Davis. Among his numerous works
are: Black Diamonds) (1859); “Southern His-
tory of the War) (1862); (The Lost Cause)
(1866); “The Life of Jefferson Davis) (1869).
Pollard, Josephine. An American writer of
juvenile literature; born in New York city in
1843; died in 1892. Her works include : (The
Gypsy Books) (1873-74); "Elfin Land) (1882),
poems; (Gellivor, a Christmas Legend (1882);
i The Boston Tea Party) (1882).
Pöllnitz, Karl Ludwig (pėl'nits). A Ger-
man adventurer, known as a writer of memoirs;
born 1692; died 1775. He was at one time mas.
ter of ceremonies at the court of Frederick the
Great. He wrote La Saxe Galante) (1737 :
the private life of Augustus of Saxony), and
Memoirs of his own life and times (1734).
Pollock, Walter Herries. An English edi.
tor, poet, and author, son of Sir W. F. Pollock;
born in London in 1850. He was admitted to
the bar in 1874, has delivered lectures at the
Royal Institution, and from 1884 to 1894 acted
as editor of the Saturday Review. Among his
miscellaneous literary and poetical publications
are : Lectures on French Poets); ' The Picture's
Secret,' a novel; (Songs and Rhymes, Eng.
lish and French); a translation of De Musset's
(Nights); “Old and New, verse; (Fencing' in
the (Badminton Library. '
Pollok, Robert. A Scotch poet; born at
Moorhouse in Renfrewshire, about 1798; died
at Shirley-Commor, near Southampton, Sept.
17, 1827. His poem (The Course of Time)
(1827) is noted. He wrote also (Tales the
Covenanters) (1833).
Polo, Gaspar Gil. See Gil Polo.
Polo, Marco. A famous Italian traveler;
born at Venice, 1254; died there, 1324. He
accompanied his father and his uncle, Venetian
traders, 1271, on their second journey to the
court of Kublai, the Khan of Tartary. Marco
won the favor of Kublai, and was taken into
his service: he was employed on various im-
portant missions to the remotest parts of the
Khan's dominions, and thus collected informa-
tion regarding the countries and their inhab-
itants. The three Venetians started on their
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POLO DE MEDINA- PONGERVILLE
435
return home, 1292, by way of Cochin-China,
Sumatra, Ceylon, Ormus, Trebizond, and Con-
stantinople, reaching Venice in 1295. Marco
commanded a Venetian galley in the war with
Genoa, and was taken prisoner, 1298; while in
prison he dictated to Rusticiano of Pisa an
account of his travels, which Rusticiano wrote
out in French, and nine years later revised
and amended. The title of the book is simply
(The Book of Marco Polo. About 80 MS.