- Industry: Library & information science
- Number of terms: 49473
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Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, to encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks. It was founded in 1971 by Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital library. Most of the items in its collection are the full texts of public domain books. The ...
English philanthropist, the founder of the Foundling Hospital, born at Lyme Regis; a man of varied ventures by sea and land; settled in London; was touched by the sufferings of the poor, where, with warm support from Hogarth, he founded the said institution; his charity so impoverished him that he ended his days as an object of charity himself, being dependent on a small annuity raised by subscription (1667-1751).
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Younger brother of the preceding, a dramatist, whose merits were superior, but outshone by those of his brother (1625-1709).
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An English traveller and wit, who, in his "Crudities," quaintly describes his travels through France and Italy (1577-1617).
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A banker, born in Edinburgh, his father having been Lord Provost of that city; joint-founder and eventually sole manager of the London banking house, Coutts & Co.; left a fortune of £900,000 (1735-1822).
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Archbishop of Canterbury, born in Nottinghamshire; educated at Jesus College, Cambridge; recommended himself to Henry VIII. by favouring his divorce, writing in defence of it, and pleading for it before the Pope, the latter in vain, as it proved; on his return was elevated to the archbishopric, in which capacity he proved a zealous promoter of the Reformation, by having the Bible translated and circulated, and by the suppression of monasteries; pronounced sentence of divorce of Catharine, and confirmed the king's marriage with Anne Boleyn; by these and other compliances he kept the favour of Henry, but on the accession of Mary he was committed to the Tower and persuaded to recant, and even signed a recantation, but on being called to recant in public, and refusing to do so, he was dragged to the stake, thrust his right hand into the flames, and exclaimed, "Oh, this unworthy hand" (1489-1566).
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An American sculptor, studied at Rome under Thorwaldsen; his "Orpheus in Search of Eurydice" brought him into notice, and was followed by an array of works of eminent merit; died in London from a tumour on the brain, after being struck with blindness (1814-1857).
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An English landscape painter, born in Sheffield; simple, pleasantly-suggestive, and faithfully-painted scenes from nature were the subjects of his art; was employed a good deal in book illustrations (1811-1869).
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Minister of Henry VIII., and malleus monachorum, the "mauler of the monks," born at Putney; the son of a blacksmith; led a life of adventure for eight or nine years on the Continent; settled in England about the beginning of Henry's reign; came under notice of Wolsey, whose confidant he became, and subordinate agent in suppressing the smaller monasteries; on his master's fall rose into favour with Henry by suggesting he should discard the supremacy of the Pope, and assume the supremacy of the Church himself; attained, in consequence, the highest rank and authority in the State, for the proposal was adopted, with the result that the Crown remains the head of ecclesiastical authority in England to this day; the authority he thus acquired he employed in so high-handed a fashion that he lost the favour of both king and people, till on a sudden he was arrested on charges of treason, was condemned to death, and beheaded on Tower Hill (1485-1540).
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General, born in Linlithgowshire; being hand-idle at home, entered the Russian service against the Turks; returning at the request of Charles II., was appointed commander-in-chief in Scotland; suppressed a rising of the Covenanters at Pentland in 1666; never once shaved his beard after the execution of Charles I. (1599-1685).
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A distinguished animal-painter, born in Canterbury; struggled with adversity in early life: rose to be supreme in his own department of art; he has written an account of his career; b. 1803.
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