1.
Portrait miniature
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A portrait miniature is a miniature portrait painting, usually executed in gouache, watercolour, or enamel. They were especially valuable in introducing people to other over distances. Soldiers and sailors might carry miniatures of their loved ones while traveling, the first miniaturists used watercolour to paint on stretched vellum. During the second half of the 17th century, vitreous enamel painted on copper became increasingly popular, in the 18th century, miniatures were painted with watercolour on ivory, which had now become relatively cheap. As small in size as 40 mm ×30 mm, portrait miniatures were used as personal mementos or as jewellery or snuff box covers. The portrait miniature developed from the manuscript, which had been superseded for the purposes of book illustration by techniques such as woodprints. Lucas Horenbout was another Netherlandish miniature painter at the court of Henry VIII and these might be paintings, or finished drawings with some colour, and were produced by François Clouet, and his followers. Following these men we find Simon Renard de St. André, others whose names might be mentioned were Joseph Werner, and Rosalba Carriera. The colours are opaque, and gold is used to heighten the effect and they are often signed, and have frequently also a Latin motto upon them. Hilliard worked for a while in France, and he is identical with the painter alluded to in 1577 as Nicholas Belliart. Hilliard was succeeded by his son Lawrence Hilliard, his technique was similar to that of his father, but bolder, Isaac Oliver and his son Peter Oliver succeeded Hilliard. Isaac was the pupil of Hilliard, Peter was the pupil of Isaac. The two men were the earliest to give roundness and form to the faces they painted and they signed their best works in monogram, and painted not only very small miniatures, but larger ones measuring as much as 10 in ×9 in. They copied for Charles I of England on a small scale many of his famous pictures by the old masters, other miniaturists at about the same date included Balthazar Gerbier, George Jamesone, Penelope Cleyn and her brothers. Samuel Cooper was a nephew and student of the elder Hoskins and he spent much of his time in Paris and Holland, and very little is known of his career. His work has a breadth and dignity, and has been well called life-size work in little. His portraits of the men of the Puritan epoch are remarkable for their truth to life and he painted upon card, chicken skin and vellum, and on two occasions upon thin pieces of mutton bone. The use of ivory was not introduced until long after his time and his work is frequently signed with his initials, generally in gold, and very often with the addition of the date
2.
Tiverton, Devon
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Tiverton is a town in the English county of Devon and the main commercial and administrative centre of the Mid Devon district. The built-up area had a population of 19,544 in 2011, the towns name is conjectured to derive from Twy-ford-ton or Twyverton, meaning the town on two fords, and was historically referred to as Twyford. The town stands at the confluence of the rivers Exe and Lowman, human occupation in the area dates back to the Stone Age, with many flint tools found in the area. Countess Gytha of Wessex controlled the town in 1066 and the Domesday Book indicates that William the Conqueror was its tenant-in-chief in 1086, Tiverton was also the seat of the court of the hundred of Tiverton. It was the site chosen by Henry I for a Norman castle, Tiverton Castle first built in 1106 as a motte-and-bailey type. Isabella also controlled the Port of Topsham, Devon, through much of Tivertons woollen exports were shipped. Every seven years there is a Perambulation of the Town Leat ceremony to clear the path of the Leat, the leat can be seen in Castle Street, where it runs down the centre of the road, and at Coggans Well, in Fore Street. Tiverton owes its growth and prosperity to the wool trade. Many wealthy wool merchants added to the towns heritage, peter Blundell, another wealthy merchant, who died in 1601, bequeathed the funds and land for Blundells School to educate local children. It was founded in Tiverton in 1604, and relocated to its present location on the outskirts of town in 1882, john Waldron founded Waldrons Almshouses, on Wellbrook Street, and his elaborate chest tomb survives in St Peters Church. In about 1600 there were two fires in the town, the first in 1596, allegedly started in a frying pan. The second, in 1612, was known as the fire because a dog fight had distracted people who were supposed to be looking after a furnace. During the English Civil War in 1645 Tiverton Castle, held by the Royalists, was the scene of a brief siege by Thomas Fairfaxs Parliamentarian forces. The Parliamentarian forces entered Tiverton under Major General Massey on 15 October and they left a defending force in the castle and church. Fairfax arrived from Cullompton on 17 October, set up his artillery, on Sunday Fairfax had several great pieces of artillery brought up, ready for a renewed barrage on Monday, which commenced at 7 a. m. The siege was ended when a shot broke one of the drawbridge chains. Fairfax then set up his quarters in Tiverton due to the inclement weather. He was joined there in December 1645 by Oliver Cromwell and they left to lay siege to Exeter in January 1646
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England
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England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west, the Irish Sea lies northwest of England and the Celtic Sea lies to the southwest. England is separated from continental Europe by the North Sea to the east, the country covers five-eighths of the island of Great Britain in its centre and south, and includes over 100 smaller islands such as the Isles of Scilly, and the Isle of Wight. England became a state in the 10th century, and since the Age of Discovery. The Industrial Revolution began in 18th-century England, transforming its society into the worlds first industrialised nation, Englands terrain mostly comprises low hills and plains, especially in central and southern England. However, there are uplands in the north and in the southwest, the capital is London, which is the largest metropolitan area in both the United Kingdom and the European Union. In 1801, Great Britain was united with the Kingdom of Ireland through another Act of Union to become the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. In 1922 the Irish Free State seceded from the United Kingdom, leading to the latter being renamed the United Kingdom of Great Britain, the name England is derived from the Old English name Englaland, which means land of the Angles. The Angles were one of the Germanic tribes that settled in Great Britain during the Early Middle Ages, the Angles came from the Angeln peninsula in the Bay of Kiel area of the Baltic Sea. The earliest recorded use of the term, as Engla londe, is in the ninth century translation into Old English of Bedes Ecclesiastical History of the English People. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, its spelling was first used in 1538. The earliest attested reference to the Angles occurs in the 1st-century work by Tacitus, Germania, the etymology of the tribal name itself is disputed by scholars, it has been suggested that it derives from the shape of the Angeln peninsula, an angular shape. An alternative name for England is Albion, the name Albion originally referred to the entire island of Great Britain. The nominally earliest record of the name appears in the Aristotelian Corpus, specifically the 4th century BC De Mundo, in it are two very large islands called Britannia, these are Albion and Ierne. But modern scholarly consensus ascribes De Mundo not to Aristotle but to Pseudo-Aristotle, the word Albion or insula Albionum has two possible origins. Albion is now applied to England in a poetic capacity. Another romantic name for England is Loegria, related to the Welsh word for England, Lloegr, the earliest known evidence of human presence in the area now known as England was that of Homo antecessor, dating to approximately 780,000 years ago. The oldest proto-human bones discovered in England date from 500,000 years ago, Modern humans are known to have inhabited the area during the Upper Paleolithic period, though permanent settlements were only established within the last 6,000 years
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London
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London /ˈlʌndən/ is the capital and most populous city of England and the United Kingdom. Standing on the River Thames in the south east of the island of Great Britain and it was founded by the Romans, who named it Londinium. Londons ancient core, the City of London, largely retains its 1. 12-square-mile medieval boundaries. London is a global city in the arts, commerce, education, entertainment, fashion, finance, healthcare, media, professional services, research and development, tourism. It is crowned as the worlds largest financial centre and has the fifth- or sixth-largest metropolitan area GDP in the world, London is a world cultural capital. It is the worlds most-visited city as measured by international arrivals and has the worlds largest city airport system measured by passenger traffic, London is the worlds leading investment destination, hosting more international retailers and ultra high-net-worth individuals than any other city. Londons universities form the largest concentration of education institutes in Europe. In 2012, London became the first city to have hosted the modern Summer Olympic Games three times, London has a diverse range of people and cultures, and more than 300 languages are spoken in the region. Its estimated mid-2015 municipal population was 8,673,713, the largest of any city in the European Union, Londons urban area is the second most populous in the EU, after Paris, with 9,787,426 inhabitants at the 2011 census. The citys metropolitan area is the most populous in the EU with 13,879,757 inhabitants, the city-region therefore has a similar land area and population to that of the New York metropolitan area. London was the worlds most populous city from around 1831 to 1925, Other famous landmarks include Buckingham Palace, the London Eye, Piccadilly Circus, St Pauls Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Trafalgar Square, and The Shard. The London Underground is the oldest underground railway network in the world, the etymology of London is uncertain. It is an ancient name, found in sources from the 2nd century and it is recorded c.121 as Londinium, which points to Romano-British origin, and hand-written Roman tablets recovered in the city originating from AD 65/70-80 include the word Londinio. The earliest attempted explanation, now disregarded, is attributed to Geoffrey of Monmouth in Historia Regum Britanniae and this had it that the name originated from a supposed King Lud, who had allegedly taken over the city and named it Kaerlud. From 1898, it was accepted that the name was of Celtic origin and meant place belonging to a man called *Londinos. The ultimate difficulty lies in reconciling the Latin form Londinium with the modern Welsh Llundain, which should demand a form *lōndinion, from earlier *loundiniom. The possibility cannot be ruled out that the Welsh name was borrowed back in from English at a later date, and thus cannot be used as a basis from which to reconstruct the original name. Until 1889, the name London officially applied only to the City of London, two recent discoveries indicate probable very early settlements near the Thames in the London area
5.
Maria Cosway
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Maria Luisa Caterina Cecilia Cosway was an Italian-English artist, who exhibited at the Royal Academy of Arts in London. She also worked in France, where she cultivated a large circle of friends and clients and she commissioned the first portrait of Napoleon to be seen in England. Her paintings and engravings are held by the British Museum, the New York Public Library and her work was included in recent exhibits at the National Portrait Gallery in London in 1995–96 and the Tate Britain in 2006. Cosway was a composer, musician, and society hostess with her husband. She is notable for sharing a romantic relationship with the widowed American statesman Thomas Jefferson in 1786 while he served in Paris as the American envoy to France. They kept up a correspondence until his death in 1826. Cosway founded a school in Paris, which she directed from 1803 to 1809. Soon after it closed, she founded a Catholic convent and girls school in Lodi, northern Italy and she was born in 1760 in Florence, Italy to Charles Hadfield, said to have been a native of Shrewsbury, England, and an Italian mother. Her father was an innkeeper at Livorno, where he had become very wealthy. The Hadfields operated three inns in Tuscany, frequented by British aristocrats taking the Grand Tour, one of eight children, Maria demonstrated artistic talent at a young age during her Roman Catholic convent education. She remained a devout Catholic all her life, four of the Hadfield children were killed by a mentally ill nursemaid, who was caught after being overheard talking about killing Maria. The nurse claimed that her young victims would be sent to Heaven after she killed them and she was sentenced to life in prison. Maria, her brothers Richard and George, and a younger sister Charlotte were the survivors, at her fathers death, Maria expressed a strong desire to become a nun. Three years later, her mother returned with her to England, Marias brother George Hadfield became an architect and designed Arlington House in Virginia. It later was owned by Robert E. Lee, noted as a Confederate general during the American Civil War, while still in Florence, Maria Hadfield studied art under Violante Cerroti and Johann Zoffany. From 1773 to 1778, she copied Old Masters at the Uffizi Gallery, for her work, she was elected to the Academia del Disegno in Florence in 1778. She also went to Rome, where she studied art under Pompeo Batoni and she studied with Anton Raphael Mengs, Henry Fuseli, and Joseph Wright of Derby. Two women artists, Angelica Kauffman and Mary Moser, were among the members of the Royal Academy of Arts in London in 1768
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Portrait
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A portrait is a painting, photograph, sculpture, or other artistic representation of a person, in which the face and its expression is predominant. The intent is to display the likeness, personality, and even the mood of the person, for this reason, in photography a portrait is generally not a snapshot, but a composed image of a person in a still position. A portrait often shows a person looking directly at the painter or photographer, nonetheless, many subjects, such as Akhenaten and some other Egyptian pharaohs, can be recognised by their distinctive features. The 28 surviving rather small statues of Gudea, ruler of Lagash in Sumeria between c.2144 -2124 BC, show a consistent appearance with some individuality. Some of the earliest surviving painted portraits of people who were not rulers are the Greco-Roman funeral portraits that survived in the dry climate of Egypts Fayum district. These are almost the only paintings from the world that have survived, apart from frescos, though many sculptures. Although the appearance of the figures differs considerably, they are considerably idealized, the art of the portrait flourished in Ancient Greek and especially Roman sculpture, where sitters demanded individualized and realistic portraits, even unflattering ones. During the 4th century, the portrait began to retreat in favor of a symbol of what that person looked like. In the Europe of the Early Middle Ages representations of individuals are mostly generalized, true portraits of the outward appearance of individuals re-emerged in the late Middle Ages, in tomb monuments, donor portraits, miniatures in illuminated manuscripts and then panel paintings. Moche culture of Peru was one of the few ancient civilizations which produced portraits and these works accurately represent anatomical features in great detail. The individuals portrayed would have been recognizable without the need for other symbols or a reference to their names. The individuals portrayed were members of the elite, priests, warriors. They were represented during several stages of their lives, the faces of gods were also depicted. To date, no portraits of women have been found, there is particular emphasis on the representation of the details of headdresses, hairstyles, body adornment and face painting. One of the portraits in the Western world is Leonardo da Vincis painting titled Mona Lisa. What has been claimed as the worlds oldest known portrait was found in 2006 in the Vilhonneur grotto near Angoulême and is thought to be 27,000 years old. Profile view, full view, and three-quarter view, are three common designations for portraits, each referring to a particular orientation of the head of the individual depicted. Such terms would tend to have greater applicability to two-dimensional artwork such as photography, in the case of three-dimensional artwork, the viewer can usually alter their orientation to the artwork by moving around it
7.
Regency era
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The Regency in Great Britain was a period when King George III was deemed unfit to rule and his son ruled as his proxy as Prince Regent. On the death of George III in 1820, the Prince Regent became George IV, the term Regency can refer to various stretches of time, some are longer period than the decade of the formal Regency which lasted from 1811–1820. The Regency era ended in 1837 when Queen Victoria succeeded William IV, the Regency is noted for its elegance and achievements in the fine arts and architecture. This era encompassed a time of social, political. War was waged with Napoleon and on other fronts, affecting commerce both at home and internationally as well as politics, despite the bloodshed and warfare the Regency was also a period of great refinement and cultural achievement, shaping and altering the societal structure of Britain as a whole. One of the greatest patrons of the arts and architecture was the Prince Regent himself, upper class society flourished in a sort of mini-Renaissance of culture and refinement. Naturally, this required dipping into the treasury and the Regent, in many ways there was a dark side to the beauty and fashion in England at this time. In the dingier, less affluent areas of London, thievery, womanising, gambling, the existence of rookeries, the population boom—the population increased from just under a million in 1801 to one and a quarter million by 1820—created a wild, roiling, volatile, and vibrant scene. The formation of the Regency after the retirement of George III saw the end of a pious and reserved society. This change was influenced by the Regent himself, who was entirely removed from the machinations of politics. Driving these changes was not only money and rebellious pampered youth, in 1814 The Times adopted steam printing. By this method it could now print 1,100 sheets every hour, not 200 as before—a fivefold increase in production capability,1811 George Augustus Frederick, Prince of Wales began his nine-year tenure as regent and became known as The Prince Regent. This sub-period of the Georgian era began the formal Regency, the Duke of Wellington held off the French at Fuentes dOnoro and Albuhera in the Peninsular War. The Prince Regent held a fete at 9,00 p. m, june 19,1811, at Carlton House in celebration of his assumption of the Regency. 1812 Spencer Perceval assassinated in the House of Commons, final shipment of the Elgin Marbles arrived in England. Sarah Siddons retired from the stage, shipping and territory disputes started the War of 1812 between the United Kingdom and the United States. The British were victorious over French armies at the Battle of Salamanca), charles John Huffam Dickens English writer and social critic of the Victorian era was born on 7 February 18121813 Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen was published. William Hedleys Puffing Billy, a steam locomotive, ran on smooth rails
8.
John Smart
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John Smart, was an English painter of portrait miniatures. He was a contemporary of Richard Cosway, George Engleheart, William Wood, Smart was born in Norfolk, but not much is known of his early life. It is recorded that in 1755 he was runner up to Richard Cosway in a competition for under-14s held by the Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures. In the same year he began attending the new drawing school of William Shipley in London, along with Cosway and he exhibited at the Society of Artists, in London, from 1762 onwards, and became its president in 1778. He went to India in 1788 and obtained a number of commissions in that country and he settled down in London in 1797, and died there in 1811. He was a man of habits, and a member of the Society of Sandemanians. Smart mainly painted watercolour miniatures on ivory, and often signed and dated his work. A number of his drawings and sketches survive. His work is different from that of Cosway, quiet and grey in its colouring, with the flesh tints elaborated with much subtlety. He possessed a knowledge of anatomy, and his portraits are drawn with greater anatomical accuracy. Many of his drawings still exist in the possession of the descendants of a great friend of his only sister. Several of his miniatures are in Australia and belong to a branch of the family. Smart taught portrait painting to Isabella Beetham, who was one of Britains finest silhouette artists in the 18th century, Smart married Edith Vere, and is believed to have had only one son, who died in Madras in 1809. This article incorporates text from a now in the public domain, Chisholm, Hugh. GC Williamson, The History of Portrait Miniatures, vol. ii
9.
George Engleheart
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George Engleheart was one of the greatest English painters of portrait miniatures, and a contemporary of Richard Cosway, John Smart, William Wood, and Richard Crosse. Engleheart is generally thought to have born in Kew, Surrey. His father was Francis Englehart, a German plaster modeller who emigrated to England as a child, the family name was changed to Engleheart after his father died. He married his first wife, Elizabeth Brown, in 1776, Elizabeth died in April 1779, aged only 26. Engleheart moved to 4 Hertford Street in Mayfair, London and he married his second wife, Ursula Sarah Browne in 1785, and the couple had four children, George, Nathaniel, Harry and Emma. In 1813, Engleheart retired full-time to his house in Bedfont. He had built the house on land he purchased in 1783, and his second wife, Ursula, died in 1817, and Engleheart soon after gave up the house and went to live with his son Nathaniel in Blackheath, then a village to the southeast of London. Engleheart died in Blackheath on 21 March 1829, and was buried at St. Annes Church and his nephew, John Cox Dillman Engleheart, was also an accomplished portrait miniaturist, painting during the Regency era. Engleheart entered the newly formed Royal Academy Schools on 3 November 1769 and he was a pupil of George Barret, R. A. and of Sir Joshua Reynolds. Engleheart started on his own account in 1773, and worked mainly in London for the whole of his career and he regularly exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1773 to 1822. He kept a detailed fee book from 1775 to 1813, which included detailed sketches of his miniatures, the book remains in the possession of his family to this day. Engleheart was a prolific artist, during the period of 39 years covered by the fee book and his fees ranged from 3 guineas in 1775, up to 25 guineas by 1811. His professional income for many years exceeded £1,200 per annum, Engleheart mainly painted watercolour on ivory, and his work can be categorised into three distinct periods. His initial paintings were small in size and it was common for artists of the period circa 1775 to paint on small ivories of approximately 1½ to 2 inches in height. Miniaturists at this time were still learning to exploit the potential of ivory. Hence, they found it difficult to paint large areas of ivory and it was still fashionable for ladies to wear portrait miniatures on bracelets around their wrists, and small miniatures helped facilitate this. Englehearts portraits of this era are sometimes signed ‘G. E. ’ The flesh tones are coloured by reddish tints over a pale ground, during the period circa 1780–1795, Engleheart developed his very distinctive style, with his draughtsmanship and use of colour becoming consistent and high quality. He still sometimes paints small sized miniatures, but he more frequently paints on ivories of around 2½ inches in height, the corners of the mouth are drawn with diagonal grey strokes
10.
Richard Crosse
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Richard Crosse was a leading English painter of portrait miniatures. He was a contemporary of John Smart, George Engleheart, Richard Cosway, Crosse was born on 24 April 1742 in Knowle, in the parish of Cullompton, Devon, to parents John and Mary Crosse. His father was a lawyer, and his family were members of the landed gentry, Crosse was, like one of his sisters, completely deaf and never able to speak. He had at least six siblings, Crosse fell in love with his cousin, Sarah Cobley, but she was already engaged to Benjamin Haydon - and it appears that he was deeply affected by his disappointment, leaving Crosse heartbroken. He is said to have felt the pain of unrequited love for the rest of his life. Crosse lived and worked in Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London from 1760 and his brother kept house and acted as liaison between Crosse and his clients. Crosse retired to Wells in the late 1790s, and lived with Miss Cobley’s brother, Crosse met Sarah Cobley again in 1807, when she decided to visit her brother after she learned she was suffering from a fatal illness. She arrived unexpectedly, and her brother was not able to get Crosse out of the house beforehand, on seeing Sarah after so many years, Crosse rushed up to her and embraced her with strong emotion. Crosse died in May 1810, at his old home in Knowle. Crosse began painting as a hobby, as was the fashion amongst the gentry, at the age of 16 he won a premium at the newly created Society for the Encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce in London. He then moved to London and, like Richard Cosway and John Smart, he studied at the new drawing school of William Shipley and he also studied at the Duke of Richmond’s Gallery. Crosse exhibited his work at the new London societies, at the Society of Artists 1760–1796, the Free Society 1761–1766, and he lived and worked in Henrietta Street, in Covent Garden, London from 1760. His brother acted as intermediary between Crosse and his clients, despite not being able to hear or speak, Crosse was very successful, and was highly regarded by his distinguished clientele. His clients included the Prince of Wales, and the Dukes of Cumberland and he painted his works mainly with watercolour on ivory, he also executed a few miniatures in enamel, a difficult and not always successful medium, as well as painting portraits in oil. Many of his miniatures are small in size, being less than 2 inches in height. The miniaturists of the period 1760–1780 were still learning to paint on ivory, rather than attempt to paint on large surfaces, many portrait miniaturists from this period used ivories of only 1½ to 2 inches in height. Ivory was used for miniatures, as it gives a beautiful luminosity to the tones of the sitters face. During the 1780s and 1790s Crosse did use some large sized ivories of 3.5 inches or more in height and his fees started at around 8 guineas for small works, and rose up to 30 guineas for his largest portraits
11.
Thomas Jefferson
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Thomas Jefferson was an American Founding Father who was the principal author of the Declaration of Independence and later served as the third President of the United States from 1801 to 1809. Previously, he was elected the second Vice President of the United States, Jefferson was primarily of English ancestry, born and educated in colonial Virginia. He graduated from the College of William & Mary and briefly practiced law and he became the United States Minister to France in May 1785, and subsequently the nations first Secretary of State in 1790–1793 under President George Washington. Jefferson and James Madison organized the Democratic-Republican Party to oppose the Federalist Party during the formation of the First Party System, as President, Jefferson pursued the nations shipping and trade interests against Barbary pirates and aggressive British trade policies. He also organized the Louisiana Purchase, almost doubling the countrys territory, as a result of peace negotiations with France, his administration reduced military forces. Jeffersons second term was beset with difficulties at home, including the trial of former Vice President Aaron Burr, American foreign trade was diminished when Jefferson implemented the Embargo Act of 1807, responding to British threats to U. S. shipping. In 1803, Jefferson began a process of Indian tribe removal to the newly organized Louisiana Territory. Jefferson mastered many disciplines, which ranged from surveying and mathematics to horticulture and he was a proven architect in the classical tradition. Jeffersons keen interest in religion and philosophy earned him the presidency of the American Philosophical Society and he shunned organized religion, but was influenced by both Christianity and deism. He was well versed in linguistics and spoke several languages and he founded the University of Virginia after retiring from public office. He was a letter writer and corresponded with many prominent and important people throughout his adult life. His only full-length book is Notes on the State of Virginia, Jefferson owned several plantations which were worked by hundreds of slaves. Most historians now believe that, after the death of his wife in 1782, he had a relationship with his slave Sally Hemings and fathered at least one of her children. Various modern scholars are more critical of Jeffersons private life, pointing out the discrepancy between his ownership of slaves and his political principles, for example. Presidential scholars, however, consistently rank Jefferson among the greatest presidents, Thomas Jefferson was born on April 13,1743, at the family home in Shadwell in the Colony of Virginia, the third of ten children. He was of English and possibly Welsh descent and was born a British subject and his father Peter Jefferson was a planter and surveyor who died when Jefferson was fourteen, his mother was Jane Randolph. Peter Jefferson moved his family to Tuckahoe Plantation in 1745 upon the death of a friend who had named him guardian of his children, the Jeffersons returned to Shadwell in 1752, where Peter died in 1757, his estate was divided between his sons Thomas and Randolph. Thomas inherited approximately 5,000 acres of land, including Monticello and he assumed full authority over his property at age 21
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Devon
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Devon, also known as Devonshire, which was formerly its common and official name, is a county of England, reaching from the Bristol Channel in the north to the English Channel in the south. It is part of South West England, bounded by Cornwall to the west, Somerset to the northeast, combined as a ceremonial county, Devons area is 6,707 km2 and its population is about 1.1 million. Devon derives its name from Dumnonia, which, during the British Iron Age, Roman Britain, the Anglo-Saxon settlement of Britain resulted in the partial assimilation of Dumnonia into the Kingdom of Wessex during the eighth and ninth centuries. The western boundary with Cornwall was set at the River Tamar by King Æthelstan in 936, Devon was constituted as a shire of the Kingdom of England thereafter. The north and south coasts of Devon each have both cliffs and sandy shores, and the bays contain seaside resorts, fishing towns. The inland terrain is rural, generally hilly, and has a low density in comparison to many other parts of England. Dartmoor is the largest open space in southern England at 954 km2, to the north of Dartmoor are the Culm Measures and Exmoor. In the valleys and lowlands of south and east Devon the soil is fertile, drained by rivers including the Exe, the Culm, the Teign, the Dart. As well as agriculture, much of the economy of Devon is linked with tourism, in the Brittonic, Devon is known as Welsh, Dyfnaint, Breton, Devnent and Cornish, Dewnens, each meaning deep valleys. One erroneous theory is that the suffix is due to a mistake in the making of the original letters patent for the Duke of Devonshire. However, there are references to Defenascire in Anglo-Saxon texts from before 1000 AD, the term Devonshire may have originated around the 8th century, when it changed from Dumnonia to Defenascir. Kents Cavern in Torquay had produced human remains from 30–40,000 years ago, Dartmoor is thought to have been occupied by Mesolithic hunter-gatherer peoples from about 6000 BC. The Romans held the area under occupation for around 350 years. Devon became a frontier between Brittonic and Anglo-Saxon Wessex, and it was absorbed into Wessex by the mid 9th century. This suggests the Anglo-Saxon migration into Devon was limited rather than a movement of people. The border with Cornwall was set by King Æthelstan on the east bank of the River Tamar in 936 AD, the arrival of William of Orange to launch the Glorious Revolution of 1688 took place at Brixham. Devon has produced tin, copper and other metals from ancient times, Devons tin miners enjoyed a substantial degree of independence through Devons Stannary Parliament, which dates back to the 12th century. The last recorded sitting was in 1748, agriculture has been an important industry in Devon since the 19th century
13.
Blundell's School
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Blundells School is a co-educational day and boarding independent school located in the town of Tiverton in the county of Devon, England. It was founded in 1604 under the will of Peter Blundell, one of the richest men in England at the time and it was known until the 19th century as Tiverton Grammar School. While the full boarding fees are £31,755 per year, the school offers scholarships and bursaries. The school has 350 boys and 225 girls, including 107 boys and 65 girls in the Sixth Form, the Good Schools Guide calls Blundells a distinguished rural school of ancient lineage. Peter Blundell, one of the wealthiest merchants of Elizabethan England and his will set aside considerable money and land to establish a school in his home town to maintain sound learning and true religion. Blundell asked his friend John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, to carry out his wishes, and appointed a number of local merchants and gentry as his first trustees. The Old Blundells School was built to be larger and grander than any other in the West Country, with room for 150 scholars and accommodation for a master. The Grade 1 listed building is now in the care of the National Trust, One ex-Blundells boy was the writer R. D. Blackmore —in Lorna Doone he used the Blundells triangular lawn as the stage for a fight between John Ridd and Robin Snell. The first Sidney Sussex scholar was nominated in 1610 and the first Blundells Balliol scholar in 1615, the links with these colleges still continue today, although without the closed scholarships. In 1645 Thomas Fairfax used the School for his headquarters during the siege of Tiverton Castle, in 1882 the school moved to the present Horsdon site, one mile from the original location. Reginald Blomfield, the architect and garden designer, was responsible for the 1901 additions to the school. The Schools War Memorial was carved by the schools teacher, Estcourt James Clack and is a replica of the Celtic Cross in Eyam churchyard. The clocktower contains a statue by Alain John, a pupil of the School and aspiring sculptor, in recent years Blundells has undergone some reorganisation and development. In 1989 Ondaatje Hall was opened, following a donation by OB Christopher Ondaatje for its construction, among its many facilities is a 150-seat professional theatre, which as well as putting on in-house productions is also used for public performances. Girls were admitted at 13 in 1993 making the school fully co-ed, in 1997 School House became a junior house for pupils aged 11–13. The current Headmaster is Andy Southgate, a change to the way the U6 boarders are housed took place when the old Westlake was sold off and the new Westlake was built on the site of the CCF parade ground. Opened in 2004, the new Westlake houses all boys and girls who are in their final year, Rugby is the main sport played at Blundells in the Autumn and Spring terms. The Blundells crest still proudly hangs in the room at Twickenham in recognition of this
14.
Joshua Reynolds
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Sir Joshua Reynolds RA FRS FRSA was an influential eighteenth-century English painter, specialising in portraits. He promoted the Grand Style in painting which depended on idealization of the imperfect and he was a founder and first president of the Royal Academy of Arts, and was knighted by George III in 1769. Reynolds was born in Plympton, Devon, on 16 July 1723 the third son of the Rev. Samuel Reynolds and his father had been a fellow of Balliol College, Oxford, but did not send any of his sons to the university. One of his sisters was Mary Palmer, seven years his senior, author of Devonshire Dialogue, in 1740 she provided £60, half of the premium paid to Thomas Hudson the portrait-painter, for Joshuas pupilage, and nine years later advanced money for his expenses in Italy. His other siblings included Frances Reynolds and Elizabeth Johnson, as a boy, he came under the influence of Zachariah Mudge, whose Platonistic philosophy stayed with him all his life. The work that came to have the most influential impact on Reynolds was Jonathan Richardsons An Essay on the Theory of Painting, having shown an early interest in art, Reynolds was apprenticed in 1740 to the fashionable London portrait painter Thomas Hudson, who had been born in Devon. Hudson had a collection of old master drawings, including some by Guercino, although apprenticed to Hudson for four years, Reynolds only remained with him until summer 1743. Having left Hudson, Reynolds worked for some time as a portrait-painter in Plymouth Dock and he returned to London before the end of 1744, but following his fathers death in late 1745 he shared a house in Plymouth Dock with his sisters. In 1749, Reynolds met Commodore Augustus Keppel, who invited him to join HMS Centurion, of which he had command, while with the ship he visited Lisbon, Cadiz, Algiers, and Minorca. From Minorca he travelled to Livorno in Italy, and then to Rome, while in Rome he suffered a severe cold, which left him partially deaf, and, as a result, he began to carry a small ear trumpet with which he is often pictured. Reynolds travelled homeward overland via Florence, Bologna, Venice, and he was accompanied by Giuseppe Marchi, then aged about 17. Apart from a brief interlude in 1770, Marchi remained in Reynolds employment as an assistant for the rest of the artists career. Following his arrival in England in October 1752, Reynolds spent three months in Devon, before establishing himself in London, where he remained for the rest of his life. He took rooms in St Martins Lane, before moving to Great Newport Street and he achieved success rapidly, and was extremely prolific. In 1760 Reynolds moved into a house, with space to show his works and accommodate his assistants. Alongside ambitious full-length portraits, Reynolds painted large numbers of smaller works, in the late 1750s, at the height of the social season, he received five or six sitters a day, each for an hour. By 1761 Reynolds could command a fee of 80 guineas for a full-length portrait, the clothing of Reynolds sitters was usually painted either by one of his pupils, his studio assistant Giuseppe Marchi, or the specialist drapery painter Peter Toms. Lay figures were used to model the clothes and he had an excellent vantage from his house, Wick House, on Richmond Hill, and painted the view in about 1780
15.
Johan Zoffany
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Johan Joseph Zoffany, RA was a German neoclassical painter, active mainly in England. His works appear in many prominent British National galleries such as the National Gallery, London and his name is sometimes spelled Zoffani or Zauffelij. Of Bohemian origin, Johan Zoffany was born in Frankfurt on 13 March 1733 and he undertook an initial period of study in a sculptors workshop in Ellwangen in the 1740s and later at Regensburg with the artist Martin Speer. In 1750, he travelled to Rome, entering the studio of Agostino Masucci, in autumn 1760 he arrived in England, initially finding work with the clockmaker Stephen Rimbault, painting vignettes for his clocks. He also was popular with the Austrian Imperial family and in 1776 was created Baron by the Empress Maria Theresa, Johan Zoffany was a Freemason and was initiated into the Craft on 19 December 1763 at The Old Kings Lodge No 28. He was a master of what has called the theatrical conversation piece. Zoffany has been described by one critic as the real creator, in the later part of his life, Zoffany was especially known for producing huge paintings with large casts of people and works of art, all readily recognizable by their contemporaries. Though Zoffany made several visits to continental Europe and India in his lifetime, he remained in Britain and he is buried in the churchyard of St Annes Church, Kew. The painter Thomas Gainsborough was, by that artists own request, in the comic opera The Pirates of Penzance, by Gilbert and Sullivan, the Major-General brags of being able to distinguish works by Raphael from works by Gerard Dou and Zoffany. Zoffany lived in Lucknow for a time, during his return to England, the survivors held a lottery in which the loser was eaten. William Dalrymple thus describes Zoffany as having been the first and last Royal Academician to have become a cannibal. Despite the high profile the artist enjoyed in his day, as painter in London and Vienna, Zoffany has, until very recently. In 1920 Lady Victoria Manners and Dr. G. C. Williamson published John Zoffany, R. A. his life and works. 1735–1810 – the first in-depth study of the artist and his work, privately printed, presumably at some cost and this was followed by Johan Zoffany, 1733–1810, Mary Websters short but authoritative illustrated guide for the exhibition at the National Portrait Gallery, London. In December 2009, the first full biography was published, Johan Zoffany, Artist, in 2011 Mary Webster published her long-awaited monograph on the artist, Johan Zoffany 1733–1810. A2014 book by David Wilson describes Zoffany’s relationship with Robert Sayer, in this way he helped to secure Zoffany’s international reputation. Sayer and the artist became longstanding friends as well as business associates, in 1781 Zoffany painted Robert Sayer in an important ‘conversation piece’. The Sayer Family of Richmond depicts Robert Sayer, his son, James, from his first marriage, on Sayer’s death in 1794 the house was to become the residence of a future king of Great Britain
16.
George IV of the United Kingdom
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George IV was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and of Hanover following the death of his father, George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten years later. From 1811 until his accession, he served as Prince Regent during his fathers mental illness. George IV led an extravagant lifestyle that contributed to the fashions of the Regency era and he was a patron of new forms of leisure, style and taste. He commissioned John Nash to build the Royal Pavilion in Brighton and remodel Buckingham Palace and he even forbade Caroline to attend his coronation and asked the government to introduce the unpopular Pains and Penalties Bill in a desperate, unsuccessful attempt to divorce her. For most of Georges regency and reign, Lord Liverpool controlled the government as Prime Minister and his ministers found his behaviour selfish, unreliable and irresponsible. At all times he was much under the influence of favourites, taxpayers were angry at his wasteful spending at a time when Britons were fighting in the Napoleonic Wars. He did not provide leadership in time of crisis, nor act as a role model for his people. Liverpools government presided over Britains ultimate victory, negotiated the peace settlement, after Liverpools retirement, George was forced to accept Catholic emancipation despite opposing it. His only child, Princess Charlotte, died before him in 1817 and so he was succeeded by his younger brother, George was born at St Jamess Palace, London, on 12 August 1762, the first child of King George III of the United Kingdom and Queen Charlotte. As the eldest son of a British sovereign, he automatically became Duke of Cornwall and Duke of Rothesay at birth, he was created Prince of Wales, on 18 September of the same year, he was baptised by Thomas Secker, Archbishop of Canterbury. His godparents were the Duke of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, the Duke of Cumberland, George was a talented student, and quickly learned to speak French, German and Italian, in addition to his native English. He was a witty conversationalist, drunk or sober, and showed good, the Prince of Wales turned 21 in 1783, and obtained a grant of £60,000 from Parliament and an annual income of £50,000 from his father. It was far too little for his needs – the stables alone cost £31,000 a year and he then established his residence in Carlton House, where he lived a profligate life. Animosity developed between the prince and his father, who desired more frugal behaviour on the part of the heir apparent, the King, a political conservative, was also alienated by the princes adherence to Charles James Fox and other radically inclined politicians. Soon after he reached the age of 21, the prince became infatuated with Maria Fitzherbert and she was a commoner, six years his elder, twice widowed, and a Roman Catholic. Despite her complete unsuitability, the prince was determined to marry her, nevertheless, the couple went through a marriage ceremony on 15 December 1785 at her house in Park Street, Mayfair. Legally the union was void, as the Kings consent was not granted, however, Fitzherbert believed that she was the princes canonical and true wife, holding the law of the Church to be superior to the law of the State. For political reasons, the union remained secret and Fitzherbert promised not to reveal it, the prince was plunged into debt by his exorbitant lifestyle
17.
Prince of Wales
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Charles, Prince of Wales is the eldest child and heir apparent of Queen Elizabeth II. Known alternatively in South West England as Duke of Cornwall and in Scotland as Duke of Rothesay, he is the heir apparent in British history. He is also the oldest person to be next in line to the throne since Sophia of Hanover, Charles was born at Buckingham Palace as the first grandchild of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth. After earning a bachelor of degree from Trinity College, Cambridge. In 1981, he married Lady Diana Spencer and they had two sons, Prince William later to become Duke of Cambridge, and Prince Harry, in 1996, the couple divorced, following well-publicised extramarital affairs. Diana died in a car crash in Paris the following year, in 2005, Charles married Camilla Parker Bowles. Charles has sought to raise awareness of the dangers facing the natural environment. As an environmentalist, he has received awards and recognition from environmental groups around the world. His support for alternative medicine, including homeopathy, has been criticised by some in the medical community and he has been outspoken on the role of architecture in society and the conservation of historic buildings. Subsequently, Charles created Poundbury, a new town based on his theories. He has authored a number of books, including A Vision of Britain, A Personal View of Architecture in 1989 and he was baptised in the palaces Music Room by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Geoffrey Fisher, on 15 December 1948. When Prince Charles was aged three his mothers accession as Queen Elizabeth II made him her heir apparent. As the monarchs eldest son, he took the titles Duke of Cornwall, Duke of Rothesay, Earl of Carrick, Baron of Renfrew, Lord of the Isles and Prince. Charles attended his mothers coronation at Westminster Abbey on 2 June 1953, seated alongside his grandmother, as was customary for upper-class children at the time, a governess, Catherine Peebles, was appointed and undertook his education between the ages of five and eight. Buckingham Palace announced in 1955 that Charles would attend school rather than have a private tutor, Charles then attended two of his fathers former schools, Cheam Preparatory School in Berkshire, England, followed by Gordonstoun in the north-east of Scotland. He reportedly despised the school, which he described as Colditz in kilts. Upon his return to Gordonstoun, Charles emulated his father in becoming Head Boy and he left in 1967, with six GCE O-levels and two A-levels in history and French, at grades B and C, respectively. Tradition was broken again when Charles proceeded straight from school into university
18.
Maria Fitzherbert
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Though Fitzherbert had been disinherited by her first husband, her nephew-in-law persuaded Pope Pius VII to declare the marriage sacramentally valid. Fitzherbert was born at Tong, Shropshire and she was the eldest child of Walter Smythe of Brambridge, Hampshire, younger son of Sir John Smythe, 3rd Baronet, of Acton Burnell, Shropshire. Her mother was Mary Ann Errington of Beaufront, Northumberland, maternal half-sister of Charles William Molyneux and she was educated in Paris at a French convent. Fitzherbert married Edward Weld,16 years her senior, a rich Catholic landowner of Lulworth Castle in July 1775, Weld died just three months later after a fall from his horse and having failed to sign his new will. His estate went to his younger brother Thomas, father of Cardinal Weld and his widow was left effectively destitute, had little or no financial support from the Weld family and was obliged to remarry as soon as she could. She married a second time, three years later, to Thomas Fitzherbert of Swynnerton, Staffordshire and she was ten years younger than he. They had a son who died young and she was widowed again on 7 May 1781. He left her an annuity of £1000 and a house in Park Street. The twice widowed Fitzherbert soon entered London high society, in spring,1784, she was introduced to a youthful admirer, George, Prince of Wales, six years her junior. The prince became infatuated with her and pursued her endlessly until she agreed to marry him. Secretly, and – as both parties were well aware – against the law, they went through a form of marriage on 15 December 1785, in the room of her house in Park Street. Her uncle, Henry Errington, and her brother, Jack Smythe, were the witnesses and this invalid marriage ceremony was performed by one of the princes Chaplains in Ordinary, the Reverend Robert Burt, whose debts were paid by the prince to release him from the Fleet Prison. The marriage was not valid under English law because it had not received the approval of King George III. Had approval been sought, it not have been granted for many reasons including, for example. His brother, Prince Augustus Frederick, contracted a marriage with Lady Augusta Murray in 1793 without the Kings consent and had two children with her. On 23 June 1794, Fitzherbert was informed by letter that her relationship with the Prince was over, according to King George III it was the only way out of a hole, his heir apparents debts of £600,000 would be paid the day he wed. So the Prince married Caroline on 8 April 1795. to my Maria Fitzherbert, my wife, the wife of my heart and soul. Although by the laws of the country she could not avail herself publicly of that name, still such she is in the eyes of Heaven, was, is, however, this did not lead to a reunion
19.
France
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France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
20.
Madame du Barry
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Jeanne Bécu, comtesse du Barry was the last Maîtresse-en-titre of Louis XV of France and one of the victims of the Reign of Terror during the French Revolution. Jeanne Bécu was born at Vaucouleurs, in the present-day Meuse department in Lorraine, France, as the daughter of Anne Bécu. Jeannes father was possibly Jean Baptiste Gormand de Vaubernier, a known as frère Ange. Little Jeanette was well liked by Dumonceauxs mistress Francesca, who pampered her in all luxury, dumonceaux funded Jeanettes education at the Couvent de Saint-Aure. At the age of fifteen, Jeanne left the convent, for she had come of age, for some reason – possibly due either to La Frédériques jealousy of the formers beauty or because Dumonceauxs passion for Anne revived – both mother and daughter were thrown out. They then moved into the small household of Annes husband. Jeanne had to some sort of income to help herself live. Later, Jeanne worked as a assistant in a haberdashery shop named À la Toilette, owned by Madame Labille. Labilles daughter, the famed painter Adélaïde Labille-Guiard, became a good friend of Jeanne. As reflected in art from the time, Jeanne was an attractive blonde woman with thick golden ringlets. Her beauty came to the attention of Jean-Baptiste du Barry, a high-class pimp/procurer nicknamed le roué, Du Barry owned a casino, and Jeanne came to his attention in 1763 when she was entertaining in Madame Quisnoys brothel-casino. She introduced herself as Jeanne Vaubernier, Du Barry installed her in his household and made her his mistress. As Mademoiselle Lange, Jeanne immediately became a sensation in Paris and she had many lovers from the kings ministers to his courtiers. The dashing yet old Maréchal de Richelieu became one of her recurring lovers, because of this, Jean du Barry saw her as a means of influence over Louis XV, who became aware of her in 1768 while she was on an errand at Versailles. The errand involved the duc de Choiseul, Minister of Foreign Affairs, in any case, Jeanne could not qualify as a maîtresse-en-titre unless she had a title, this was solved by her marriage on 1 September 1768 to du Barrys brother, Comte Guillaume du Barry. The marriage ceremony included a false birth certificate created by Jean du Barry himself, Jeanne was now installed above the Kings quarters in Lebels former rooms. She lived a life, unable to be seen with the King since no formal presentation had taken place as yet. Comte du Barry constantly pestered Jeanne and urged her to speak of presentation with the king, Louis XV, in turn, asked her to find a proper sponsor to be able to have one
21.
Louis XV of France
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Louis XV, known as Louis the Beloved, was a monarch of the House of Bourbon who ruled as King of France and Navarre from 1 September 1715 until his death. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five, Cardinal Fleury was his chief minister from 1726 until the Cardinals death in 1743, at which time the young king took sole control of the kingdom. During his reign, Louis returned the Austrian Netherlands, territory won at the Battle of Fontenoy of 1745, Louis also ceded New France in North America to Spain and Great Britain at the conclusion of the Seven Years War in 1763. He incorporated the territories of Lorraine and Corsica into the kingdom of France and he was succeeded by his grandson Louis XVI in 1774. French culture and influence were at their height in the first half of the eighteenth century, however, many scholars believe that Louis XVs decisions damaged the power of France, weakened the treasury, discredited the absolute monarchy, and made it more vulnerable to distrust and destruction. Evidence for this view is provided by the French Revolution, which broke out 15 years after his death, norman Davies characterized Louis XVs reign as one of debilitating stagnation, characterized by lost wars, endless clashes between the Court and Parliament, and religious feuds. A few scholars defend Louis, arguing that his negative reputation was based on propaganda meant to justify the French Revolution. Jerome Blum described him as a perpetual adolescent called to do a mans job, Louis XV was born in the Palace of Versailles on 15 February 1710 during the reign of Louis XIV. His grandfather, Louis Le Grand Dauphin, had three sons with his wife Marie Anne Victoire of Bavaria, Louis, Duke of Burgundy, Philippe, Duke of Anjou, and Charles, Duke of Berry. Louis XV was the son of the Duke of Burgundy and his wife Marie Adélaïde of Savoy, the eldest daughter of Victor Amadeus II, Duke of Savoy. At birth, Louis XV received a title for younger sons of the French royal family. In April 1711, Louis Le Grand Dauphin suddenly died, making Louis XVs father, the Duke of Burgundy, at that time, Burgundy had two living sons, Louis, Duke of Brittany and his youngest son, the future Louis XV. A year later, Marie Adélaïde, Duchess of Burgundy, contracted smallpox and her husband, said to be heartbroken by her death, died the same week, also having contracted smallpox. Within a week of his death, it was clear that the two children had also been infected. The elder son was treated by bloodletting in an unsuccessful effort to save him. Fearing that the Dauphin would die, the Court had both the Dauphin and the Duke of Anjou baptised, the Dauphin died the same day,8 March 1712. His younger brother, the Duke of Anjou, was treated by his governess, Madame de Ventadour. The two year old Dauphin survived the smallpox, on 1 September 1715, Louis XIV died of gangrene, having reigned for 72 years
22.
Andrew Plimer
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Andrew Plimer was a British artist, whose brother was Nathaniel Plimer, also a painter of miniatures. He and older brother Nathaniel trained as clockmakers but both ran away home and travelled for over two years in Wales and the west of England with a troupe of Gypsies. About 1781 they settled in London where Andrew took up work as a manservant to Richard Cosway and his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy from 1768 to 1810 and in 1819. His most famous painting is of the three daughters of Sir John Rushout and his brother Nathaniel Plimer also became a pupil of Cosway and a painter of miniatures. Plimer married on 21 February 1801, Joanna Louisa, daughter of John and Frances Knight of Wicken, the couple had one son who died in infancy and four daughters. Plimer died in Western Cottages, Western Road, Brighton, Sussex and his wifes younger sister Mary Ann Knight, another miniaturist, was a pupil and friend of Plimer. A History of the Portrait Miniature - Victoria and Albert Museum, george Charles Williamson - Andrew & Nathaniel Plimer, miniature painters, their lives and their works,1903, from the Internet Archive
23.
National Portrait Gallery, London
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The National Portrait Gallery is an art gallery in London housing a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856, the gallery moved in 1896 to its current site at St Martins Place, off Trafalgar Square, and adjoining the National Gallery. It has been expanded twice since then, the National Portrait Gallery also has regional outposts at Beningbrough Hall in Yorkshire and Montacute House in Somerset. It is unconnected to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh, the gallery is a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. The gallery houses portraits of important and famous British people, selected on the basis of the significance of the sitter. The collection includes photographs and caricatures as well as paintings, drawings, one of its best-known images is the Chandos portrait, the most famous portrait of William Shakespeare although there is some uncertainty about whether the painting actually is of the playwright. Not all of the portraits are exceptional artistically, although there are self-portraits by William Hogarth, Sir Joshua Reynolds, some, such as the group portrait of the participants in the Somerset House Conference of 1604, are important historical documents in their own right. Portraits of living figures were allowed from 1969, the three people largely responsible for the founding of the National Portrait Gallery are commemorated with busts over the main entrance. At centre is Philip Henry Stanhope, 5th Earl Stanhope, with his supporters on either side, Thomas Babington Macaulay, 1st Baron Macaulay and it was Stanhope who, in 1846 as a Member of Parliament, first proposed the idea of a National Portrait Gallery. It was not until his attempt, in 1856, this time from the House of Lords. With Queen Victorias approval, the House of Commons set aside a sum of £2000 to establish the gallery, as well as Stanhope and Macaulay, the founder Trustees included Benjamin Disraeli and Lord Ellesmere. It was the latter who donated the Chandos portrait to the nation as the gallerys first portrait, Carlyle became a trustee after the death of Ellesmere in 1857. For the first 40 years, the gallery was housed in locations in London. The first 13 years were spent at 29 Great George Street, there, the collection increased in size from 57 to 208 items, and the number of visitors from 5,300 to 34,500. In 1869, the moved to Exhibition Road and buildings managed by the Royal Horticultural Society. Following a fire in buildings, the collection was moved in 1885. This location was unsuitable due to its distance from the West End, condensation. Following calls for a new location to be found, the government accepted an offer of funds from the philanthropist William Henry Alexander, Alexander donated £60,000 followed by another £20,000, and also chose the architect, Ewan Christian
24.
James Gillray
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James Gillray was a British caricaturist and printmaker famous for his etched political and social satires, mainly published between 1792 and 1810. Gillray has been called the father of the cartoon, with his works satirizing George III, prime ministers. He was born in Chelsea, London and his father, a native of Lanark, had served as a soldier, losing an arm at the Battle of Fontenoy, and was admitted, first as an inmate, and afterwards as an outdoor pensioner, at Chelsea Hospital. Gillray commenced life by learning letter-engraving, at which he became adept. This employment, however, proved irksome to James, so he wandered about for a time with a company of strolling players and his caricatures are almost all in etching, some also with aquatint, and a few using stipple technique. None can correctly be described as engravings, although this term is loosely used to describe them. Hogarths works were the delight and study of his early years, paddy on Horseback, which appeared in 1779, is the first caricature which is certainly his. Two caricatures on Admiral Rodneys naval victory at the Battle of the Saintes, Gillray lived with Miss Humphrey during the entire period of his fame. It is believed that he several times thought of marrying her, and that on one occasion the pair were on their way to the church and we live very comfortably together, we had better let well alone. There is no evidence, however, to support the stories which scandalmongers invented about their relations, Gillrays plates were exposed in Humphreys shop window, where eager crowds examined them. One of his prints, Very Slippy-Weather, shows Miss Humphreys shop in St. Jamess Street in the background. Gillrays eyesight began to fail in 1806 and he began wearing spectacles but they were unsatisfactory. Unable to work to his previous standards, James Gillray became depressed and started drinking heavily. He produced his last print in September 1809, as a result of his heavy drinking Gillray suffered from gout throughout his later life. His last work, from a design by Bunbury, is entitled Interior of a Barbers Shop in Assize Time, while he was engaged on it he became mad, although he had occasional intervals of sanity, which he employed on his last work. The approach of madness may have been hastened by his intemperate habits, in July 1811 Gillray attempted to kill himself by throwing himself out of an attic window above Humphreys shop in St Jamess Street. Gillray lapsed into insanity and was looked after by Hannah Humphrey until his death on 1 June 1815 in London, he was buried in St Jamess churchyard, Piccadilly. A number of his most trenchant satires are directed against George III, during the French Revolution, Gillray took a conservative stance, and he issued caricature after caricature ridiculing the French and Napoleon, and glorifying John Bull
25.
Italy
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Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a unitary parliamentary republic in Europe. Located in the heart of the Mediterranean Sea, Italy shares open land borders with France, Switzerland, Austria, Slovenia, San Marino, Italy covers an area of 301,338 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate and Mediterranean climate. Due to its shape, it is referred to in Italy as lo Stivale. With 61 million inhabitants, it is the fourth most populous EU member state, the Italic tribe known as the Latins formed the Roman Kingdom, which eventually became a republic that conquered and assimilated other nearby civilisations. The legacy of the Roman Empire is widespread and can be observed in the distribution of civilian law, republican governments, Christianity. The Renaissance began in Italy and spread to the rest of Europe, bringing a renewed interest in humanism, science, exploration, Italian culture flourished at this time, producing famous scholars, artists and polymaths such as Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo, Michelangelo and Machiavelli. The weakened sovereigns soon fell victim to conquest by European powers such as France, Spain and Austria. Despite being one of the victors in World War I, Italy entered a period of economic crisis and social turmoil. The subsequent participation in World War II on the Axis side ended in defeat, economic destruction. Today, Italy has the third largest economy in the Eurozone and it has a very high level of human development and is ranked sixth in the world for life expectancy. The country plays a prominent role in regional and global economic, military, cultural and diplomatic affairs, as a reflection of its cultural wealth, Italy is home to 51 World Heritage Sites, the most in the world, and is the fifth most visited country. The assumptions on the etymology of the name Italia are very numerous, according to one of the more common explanations, the term Italia, from Latin, Italia, was borrowed through Greek from the Oscan Víteliú, meaning land of young cattle. The bull was a symbol of the southern Italic tribes and was often depicted goring the Roman wolf as a defiant symbol of free Italy during the Social War. Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus states this account together with the legend that Italy was named after Italus, mentioned also by Aristotle and Thucydides. The name Italia originally applied only to a part of what is now Southern Italy – according to Antiochus of Syracuse, but by his time Oenotria and Italy had become synonymous, and the name also applied to most of Lucania as well. The Greeks gradually came to apply the name Italia to a larger region, excavations throughout Italy revealed a Neanderthal presence dating back to the Palaeolithic period, some 200,000 years ago, modern Humans arrived about 40,000 years ago. Other ancient Italian peoples of undetermined language families but of possible origins include the Rhaetian people and Cammuni. Also the Phoenicians established colonies on the coasts of Sardinia and Sicily, the Roman legacy has deeply influenced the Western civilisation, shaping most of the modern world
26.
Female education
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Female education is a catch-all term for a complex set of issues and debates surrounding education for girls and women. It includes areas of gender equality and access to education, while the feminist movement certainly promoted the importance of the issues attached to female education the discussion is wide-ranging and by no means narrowly defined. It may include, for example, AIDS education, universal education, meaning state-provided primary and secondary education independent of gender is not yet a global norm, even if it is assumed in most developed countries. In some Western countries, women have surpassed men at many levels of education, for example, in the United States in 2005/2006, women earned 62% of associate degrees, 58% of bachelors degrees, 60% of masters degrees, and 50% of doctorates. Education for disabled women has also improved, in 2011, Giusi Spagnolo became the first woman with Down Syndrome to graduate college in Europe. Improving girls educational levels has been demonstrated to have clear impacts on the health and economic future of young women, the infant mortality rate of babies whose mothers have received primary education is half that of children whose mothers are illiterate. In the poorest countries of the world, 50% of girls do not attend secondary school, yet, research shows that every extra year of school for girls increases their lifetime income by 15%. Improving female education, and thus the potential of women, improves the standard of living for their own children. Yet, many barriers to education for girls remain, in some African countries, such as Burkina Faso, girls are unlikely to attend school for such basic reasons as a lack of private latrine facilities for girls. Education increases a level of health and health awareness. It can lead to rates of barrier and chemical contraceptive use. It has been shown, in addition, to increase communication with their partners and their employers. Education and Violence Against Women In Pakistan, a relationship was found between the formal level of education a woman attains and the likelihood of violence against that woman. The researcher used snowball convenient sampling, a method where participants are referred. Ethical and privacy issues made this the most convenient method, an informant played a major role in gathering information that was then cross-checked. The sample of victims of violence was made up of married women from ages 18–60 both from rural and urban communities, the study described different forms of physical violence that are already present and provided an idea of what women go through, even across communities. Education in this study was stressed to be the solution and a necessity in eliminating violence, a discussion of political and social barriers is needed. The relationship is a lot more complicated than it seems, women can be illiterate, immigrant Latina Women are a highly affected group by domestic violence
27.
Monticello
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Monticello was the primary plantation of Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, who began designing and building Monticello at age 26 after inheriting land from his father. The current Nickel features a depiction of Monticello on the reverse, situated on the summit of an 850-foot -high peak in the Southwest Mountains south of the Rivanna Gap, the name Monticello derives from the Italian for little mount. Cabins for field slaves were farther from the mansion, at Jeffersons direction, he was buried on the grounds, in an area now designated as the Monticello Cemetery. The cemetery is owned by the Monticello Association, a society of his descendants through Martha Wayles Skelton Jefferson, after Jeffersons death, his daughter Martha Jefferson Randolph sold the property. In 1834 it was bought by Uriah P. Levy, a commodore in the U. S. Navy and his nephew Jefferson Monroe Levy took over the property in 1879, he also invested considerable money to restore and preserve it. In 1923, Monroe Levy sold it to the Thomas Jefferson Foundation and it has been designated a National Historic Landmark. In 1987 Monticello and the nearby University of Virginia, also designed by Jefferson, were designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Jeffersons home was built to serve as a house, which ultimately took on the architectural form of a villa. It has many antecedents, but Jefferson went beyond them to create something very much his own. He consciously sought to create a new architecture for a new nation, work began on what historians would subsequently refer to as the first Monticello in 1768, on a plantation of 5,000 acres. Jefferson moved into the South Pavilion in 1770, where his new wife Martha Wayles Skelton joined him in 1772, Jefferson continued work on his original design, but how much was completed is of some dispute. In constructing and later reconstructing his home, Jefferson used both free workers and enslaved laborers, after his wifes death in 1782, Jefferson left Monticello in 1784 to serve as Minister of the United States to France. His decision to remodel his own home may date from this period, in 1794, following his service as the first U. S. Secretary of State, Jefferson began rebuilding his house based on the ideas he had acquired in Europe. The remodeling continued throughout most of his presidency, although generally completed by 1809, Jefferson continued work on the present structure until his death in 1826. Jefferson added a hallway and a parallel set of rooms to the structure, more than doubling its area. He removed the second full-height story from the house and replaced it with a mezzanine bedroom floor. The interior is centered on two rooms, which served as an entrance-hall-museum, where Jefferson displayed his scientific interests. The most dramatic element of the new design was an octagonal dome, the dome room has now been restored to its appearance during Jeffersons lifetime, with Mars yellow walls and a painted green floor
28.
Arranged marriage
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Arranged marriage is a type of marital union where the bride and groom are selected by their families. Arranged marriages were common throughout the world until the 18th century. Typically, marriages were arranged by parents, grandparents or other relatives, some historical exceptions are known, such as courtship and betrothal rituals during the Renaissance period of Italy and Gandharva marriages in the Vedic period of India. In China, arranged marriages - sometimes called blind marriages - were the norm before the mid 20th century, a marriage was a negotiation and decision between parents and other older members of two families. The boy and girl were typically told to get married, without a right to consent, arranged marriages were the norm in Russia before the early 20th century, most of which were endogamous. Until the first half of the 20th century, arranged marriages were common in migrant families in the United States and these marriages among immigrants were typically arranged by parents, or relatives from the country of their origin. Similar historical dynamics are claimed in other parts of the world, in most other parts of the world, arranged marriages continue to varying degrees and increasingly in quasi-arranged form, along with autonomous marriages. Similarly, Broude and Greene, after studying 142 cultures worldwide, have reported that 130 cultures have elements of arranged marriage, extreme examples of forced arranged marriage have been observed in some societies, particularly in child marriages of girls below age 12. Illustrations include vani which is seen in some tribal / rural parts of Pakistan. Arranged endogamous marriage, is one where a third party finds and selects the bride and groom from a social, economic. Consanguineous marriage, is a type of arranged endogamous marriage and it is one where the bride and groom share a grandparent or near ancestor. Examples of these include first cousin marriages, uncle-niece marriages, second cousin marriages, the most common consanguineous marriages are first cousin marriages, followed by second cousin and uncle-niece marriages. Non-consanguineous arranged marriage is one where the bride and groom do not share a grandparent or near ancestor and this type of arranged marriages is common in Hindu and Buddhist South Asia, Southeast Asia, East Asia and Christian Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa. Consanguineous marriages are against the law in parts of United States. Consanguineous arranged marriages were common in Jewish communities before the 20th century, child marriage, particularly those below the age of 12, does not prepare or provide the individual much opportunity to make an informed, free choice about matrimony. These child marriages are arranged marriages. Child marriages is primarily seen in areas of poverty, by marrying their daughter to a good family the parents improve their social status by establishing a social bond between each other. According to Warner, in nations with the highest rates of child marriages, the nations with the highest rates of arranged child marriages are, Niger, Chad, Mali, Bangladesh, Guinea, Central African Republic, Afghanistan, Yemen, and Pakistan
29.
Jefferson in Paris
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Jefferson in Paris is a 1995 Franco-American historical drama film, directed by James Ivory, and previously entitled Head and Heart. It was the first portrayal in film of Sally Hemings, set in the period 1784–1789, the film portrays Jefferson when he was US minister to France at Versailles before the French Revolution. French liberals and intellectuals hope he will lead them away from the corruption of the court of King Louis XVI and Marie-Antoinette, although deploring the poverty of the common people, he embraces the riches of French culture and civilization. It is his first time abroad, and he takes advantage of the opportunity to extend his knowledge of liberal arts, a lonely widower, Jefferson develops a close friendship with Maria Cosway, a beautiful Anglo-Italian painter and musician. He becomes attracted to Sally Hemings, the maid and companion of his younger daughter Polly. Three-quarters white in ancestry, she is his late wifes half-sister and their father had taken Sallys slave mother as a concubine after he was widowed for the third time, Sally is the sixth of their children. Sallys enslaved brother James Hemings is also in Paris, learning to be a French chef for Jefferson at Monticello, when George Washington offers Jefferson the post of Secretary of State, he accepts and prepares to sail home with his family. But James, having enjoyed his freedom in Paris, is unwilling to return to the United States and urges Sally to remain with him. It is only when Jefferson promises he will give James and Sally, the film was shot on location in Paris, at the Desert de Retz and the Palace of Versailles. The scenes at the Desert reenact the actual visit made by Jefferson, many of French supporting cast are members of Comédie-Française. It premiered at the 1995 Cannes Film Festival, antonio Sacchinis opera Dardanus appears in the film. Also Marc-Antoine Charpentier Leçons de ténèbres, performed by William Christie and Les Arts Florissants with Jean-Paul Fouchécourt, Sandrine Piau, Sophie Daneman, arcangelo Corellis La Folia is performed by Nolte, Scacchi, and Paltrow, however, the soundtrack CD is re-dubbed by others. Although Gwyneth Paltrow studied harpsichord for the film, her playing is dubbed by Jory Vinikour, including pieces by Jacques Duphly, scacchis performance of Maria Cosways song, Mormora, was dubbed. The film was budgeted at $14 million and it grossed $2,473,668 in the US. George Washington de Lafayette Jean-Pierre Aumont, reporter In her review in the New York Times, Janet Maslin called the film an extraordinary spectacle. The rare contemporary film thats both an entertainment and an education, despite some glaring misimpressions that are sure to spark heated debate, the biggest problem with is at the basic editing level, with such abrupt jumps between diverse scenes that the films momentum remains choppy. Overshadowed by its own ambition and not-quite-ironic pageantry, Jefferson in Paris doesnt quite come to life, casting Nick Nolte as a Founding Father may sound like this films riskiest choice, but in fact it makes solid sense. Beyond having the physical stature for the imposing, sandy-haired Jefferson, Mr. Nolte captures the mans vigor
30.
Pall Mall, London
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Pall Mall /ˌpæl ˈmæl/ is a street in the St Jamess area of the City of Westminster, Central London. It connects St Jamess Street to Trafalgar Square and is a section of the regional A4 road, the streets name is derived from pall-mall, a ball game played there during the 17th century. The area was built up during the reign of Charles II with fashionable London residences and it became known for high-class shopping in the 18th century, and gentlemens clubs in the 19th. The Reform, Athenaeum and Travellers Clubs have survived to the 21st century, the War Office was based on Pall Mall during the second half of the 19th century, and the Royal Automobile Clubs headquarters have been on the street since 1908. The street is around 0.4 miles long and runs east in the St Jamess area, from St Jamess Street across Waterloo Place, to the Haymarket, the street numbers run consecutively from north-side east to west and then continue on the south-side west to east. It is part of the A4, a road running west from Central London. London Bus Route 9 runs westwards along Pall Mall, connecting Trafalgar Square to Piccadilly, Pall Mall was constructed in 1661, replacing an earlier highway slightly to the south that ran from the Haymarket to the royal residence, St Jamess Palace. When St. Jamess Park was laid out by order of Henry VIII in the 16th century, in 1620, the Privy Council ordered the High Sheriff of Middlesex to clear a number of temporary buildings next to the wall that were of poor quality. Pall-mall, a game similar to croquet, was introduced to England in the early-17th century by James I. The game, already popular in France and Scotland, was enjoyed by James sons Henry, in 1630, St Jamess Field, Londons first pall-mall court, was laid out to the north of the Haymarket – St James road. After the Restoration and King Charles IIs return to London on 29 May 1660, Samuel Pepyss diary entry for 2 April 1661 records that he. Went into St. Jamess Park, where I saw the Duke of York playing at Pelemele and this new court suffered from dust blown over the wall from coaches travelling along the highway. In July 1661 posts and rails were erected, stopping up the old road, the court for pall-mall was very long and narrow, and often known as an alley, so the old court provided a suitable route for relocating the eastern approach to St Jamess Palace. A grant was made to Dan ONeale, Groom of the Bedchamber, the grant was endorsed Our warrant for the building of the new street to St Jamess. A new road was built on the site of the old pall-mall court and it was named Catherine Street, after Catherine of Braganza, wife of Charles II, but was better known as Pall Mall Street or the Old Pall Mall. The pall-mall field was a place for recreation and Pepys records several other visits. By July 1665 Pepys used Pell Mell to refer to the street as well as the game, in 1662, Pall Mall was one of several streets thought fitt immediately to be repaired, new paved or otherwise amended under the Streets, London and Westminster Act 1662. The paving commissioners appointed to oversee the work included the Earl of St Albans, the terms of the act allowed commissioners to remove any building encroaching on the highway, with compensation for those at least 30 years old
31.
Marylebone
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Marylebone is an affluent inner-city area of central London, England, located within the City of Westminster and part of the West End. It is sometimes written as St. Marylebone, Marylebone is roughly bounded by Oxford Street to the south, Marylebone Road to the north, Edgware Road to the west and Great Portland Street to the east. The area east of Great Portland Street up to Cleveland Street and this stream rose further north in what is now Swiss Cottage, eventually running along what is now Marylebone Lane, which preserves its curve within the grid pattern. The church and the area later became known as St Mary at the Bourne which, over time, became shortened to its present form. It is a common misunderstanding that the name is a corruption of Marie la Bonne, the manor of Tyburn is mentioned in the Domesday Book as a possession of Barking Abbey valued at 52 shillings, with a population no greater than 50. Early in the 13th century it was held by Robert de Vere, 3rd Earl of Oxford. Tyburn manor remained with the Crown until the part was sold in 1611 by James I, who retained the deer park, to Edward Forest. Forests manor of Marylebone then passed by marriage to the Austen family, the deer park, Marylebone Park Fields, was let out in small holdings for hay and dairy produce. The Harley heiress Lady Margaret Cavendish Harley married William, 2nd Duke of Portland, such place names in the neighbourhood as Cavendish Square and Portland Place reflect the Dukes of Portland landholdings and Georgian-era developments there. In 1879 the fifth Duke died without issue and the estate passed through the line to his sister, Lucy Joan Bentinck. A large part of the area directly to the west was constructed by the Portman family and is known as the Portman Estate, both estates have aristocratic antecedents and are still run by members of the aforementioned families. The Crown repurchased the northern part of the estate in 1813, mansfield Street is a short continuation of Chandos Street built by the Adam brothers in 1770, on a plot of ground which had been underwater. Most of its houses are fine buildings with exquisite interiors, which if put on the market now would have a price in excess of £10 million. Immediately across the road at 61 New Cavendish Street lived Natural History Museum creator Alfred Waterhouse, Queen Anne Street is an elegant cross-street which unites the northern end of Chandos Street with Welbeck Street. The painter JMW Turner moved to 47 Queen Anne Street in 1812 from 64 Harley Street, now divided into numbers 22 and 23, the building is one of the finest surviving Adam houses in London, and now lets rooms. Wimpole Street runs from Henrietta Place north to Devonshire Street, becoming Upper Wimpole en route – the latter where Arthur Conan Doyle opened his practice at number 2 in 1891. Today, at the end of Wimpole at Wigmore can be found a sandwich shop named Barretts. Bentinck Street leaves Welbeck Street and touches the middle of winding Marylebone Lane, more recently, Cambridge spies Anthony Blunt and Guy Burgess lived at 5 Bentinck Street during the Second World War
32.
John Soane
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Sir John Soane RA was an English architect who specialised in the Neo-Classical style. The son of a bricklayer, he rose to the top of his profession, becoming professor of architecture at the Royal Academy and he received a knighthood in 1831. His best-known work was the Bank of England, a building which had an effect on commercial architecture. He also designed Dulwich Picture Gallery, which, with its galleries, was a major influence on the planning of subsequent art galleries. The museum is described in the Oxford Dictionary of Architecture as one of the most complex, intricate, Soane was born in Goring-on-Thames on 10 September 1753. He was the surviving son of John Soan and his wife Martha. The e was added to the surname by the architect in 1784 on his marriage and his father was a builder or bricklayer, and died when Soane was fourteen in April 1768. He was educated in nearby Reading in a school run by William Baker. After his fathers death Soanes family moved to nearby Chertsey to live with Soanes brother William,12 years his elder, William Soane introduced his brother to James Peacock, a surveyor who worked with George Dance the Younger. Soane began his training as an architect age 15 under George Dance the Younger and joining the architect at his home and office in the City of London at the corner of Moorfields and Chiswell Street. Dance was a member of the Royal Academy and doubtless encouraged Soane to join the schools there on 25 October 1771 as they were free. There he would have attended the lectures delivered by Thomas Sandby. Dances growing family was probably the reason that in 1772 Soane continued his education by joining the household, Soane, a non-swimmer, was going to be with the party but decided to stay home and work on his design for a Triumphal Bridge. By 1777, Soane was living in his own accommodation in Hamilton Street, in 1778 he published his first book Designs in Architecture. He sought advice from Sir William Chambers on what to study, must discover their true beauties, and the secrets by which they are produced. Using his traveling scholarship of £60 per annum for three years, plus an additional £30 travelling expenses for each leg of the journey, Soane set sail on his Grand Tour, his ultimate destination being Rome, at 5,00 am,18 March 1778. His travelling companion was Robert Furze Brettingham, they travelled via Paris and they finally reached Rome on 2 May 1778. Soane wrote home my attention is taken up in the seeing and examining the numerous
33.
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington
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His defeat of Napoleon at the Battle of Waterloo in 1815 put him in the top rank of Britains military heroes. Wellesley was born in Dublin, belonging to the Protestant Ascendancy in Ireland and he was commissioned as an ensign in the British Army in 1787, serving in Ireland as aide-de-camp to two successive Lords Lieutenant of Ireland. He was also elected as a Member of Parliament in the Irish House of Commons and he was a colonel by 1796, and saw action in the Netherlands and in India, where he fought in the Fourth Anglo-Mysore War at the Battle of Seringapatam. He was appointed governor of Seringapatam and Mysore in 1799 and, as a newly appointed major-general, following Napoleons exile in 1814, he served as the ambassador to France and was granted a dukedom. During the Hundred Days in 1815, he commanded the army which defeated Napoleon at Waterloo. Wellesleys battle record is exemplary, he participated in some 60 battles during the course of his military career. Wellington is famous for his defensive style of warfare, resulting in several victories against numerically superior forces while minimising his own losses. He is regarded as one of the greatest defensive commanders of all time, after ending his active military career, Wellington returned to politics. He was twice British prime minister as part of the Tory party, from 1828 to 1830 and he oversaw the passage of the Catholic Relief Act 1829, but opposed the Reform Act 1832. He continued as one of the figures in the House of Lords until his retirement. As such, he belonged to the Protestant Ascendancy and his biographers mostly follow the contemporary newspaper evidence in saying that he was born 1 May 1769, the day that he was baptised. He was most likely born at his parents townhouse,24 Upper Merrion Street, Dublin, but his mother Anne, Countess of Mornington, recalled in 1815 that he had been born at 6 Merrion Street, Dublin. He spent most of his childhood at his familys two homes, the first a house in Dublin and the second Dangan Castle,3 miles north of Summerhill on the Trim Road in County Meath. In 1781, Arthurs father died and his eldest brother Richard inherited his fathers earldom and he went to the diocesan school in Trim when at Dangan, Mr Whytes Academy when in Dublin, and Browns School in Chelsea when in London. He then enrolled at Eton, where he studied from 1781 to 1784, moreover, Eton had no playing fields at the time. In 1785, a lack of success at Eton, combined with a shortage of funds due to his fathers death, forced the young Wellesley. Until his early twenties, Arthur showed little sign of distinction and his mother grew concerned at his idleness, stating. A year later, Arthur enrolled in the French Royal Academy of Equitation in Angers, where he progressed significantly, becoming a good horseman and learning French, upon returning to England in late 1786, he astonished his mother with his improvement
34.
Victoria and Albert Museum
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The Victoria and Albert Museum, London, is the worlds largest museum of decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 4.5 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and named after Queen Victoria and Prince Albert and these include the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum and the Royal Albert Hall. The museum is a public body sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media. Like other national British museums, entrance to the museum has been free since 2001, the V&A covers 12.5 acres and 145 galleries. Its collection spans 5,000 years of art, from ancient times to the present day, from the cultures of Europe, North America, Asia and North Africa. The museum owns the worlds largest collection of sculpture, with the holdings of Italian Renaissance items being the largest outside Italy. The departments of Asia include art from South Asia, China, Japan, Korea, the East Asian collections are among the best in Europe, with particular strengths in ceramics and metalwork, while the Islamic collection is amongst the largest in the Western world. Overall, it is one of the largest museums in the world, New 17th- and 18th-century European galleries were opened on 9 December 2015. These restored the original Aston Webb interiors and host the European collections 1600–1815, at this stage the collections covered both applied art and science. Several of the exhibits from the Exhibition were purchased to form the nucleus of the collection, by February 1854 discussions were underway to transfer the museum to the current site and it was renamed South Kensington Museum. In 1855 the German architect Gottfried Semper, at the request of Cole, produced a design for the museum, but it was rejected by the Board of Trade as too expensive. The site was occupied by Brompton Park House, this was extended including the first refreshment rooms opened in 1857, the official opening by Queen Victoria was on 22 June 1857. In the following year, late night openings were introduced, made possible by the use of gas lighting, in these early years the practical use of the collection was very much emphasised as opposed to that of High Art at the National Gallery and scholarship at the British Museum. George Wallis, the first Keeper of Fine Art Collection, passionately promoted the idea of art education through the museum collections. From the 1860s to the 1880s the scientific collections had been moved from the museum site to various improvised galleries to the west of Exhibition Road. In 1893 the Science Museum had effectively come into existence when a director was appointed. The laying of the stone of the Aston Webb building on 17 May 1899 was the last official public appearance by Queen Victoria. It was during this ceremony that the change of name from the South Kensington Museum to the Victoria, the exhibition which the museum organised to celebrate the centennial of the 1899 renaming, A Grand Design, first toured in North America from 1997, returning to London in 1999
35.
Midshipman
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A midshipman is an officer cadet or a commissioned officer candidate of the junior-most rank, in the Royal Navy, United States Navy, and many Commonwealth navies. Commonwealth countries which use the rank include Canada, Australia, Bangladesh, Namibia, New Zealand, South Africa, India, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, and Kenya. Beginning in the 18th century, an officer candidate was rated as a midshipman. After serving at least three years as a midshipman or masters mate, he was eligible to take the examination for lieutenant, promotion to lieutenant was not automatic, and many midshipmen took positions as masters mates for an increase in pay and responsibility aboard ship. Midshipman began to mean an officer cadet at a naval college, trainees now spent around four years in a college and two years at sea prior to promotion to commissioned officer rank. Between the mid-19th and mid-20th centuries, time at sea declined to less than a year as the age was increased from 12 to 18. Ranks equivalent to midshipman exist in other navies. Using US midshipman or pre-fleet board UK midshipman as the basis for comparison, using post-fleet board UK midshipman for comparison, the rank would be the most junior commissioned officer in the rank structure, and similar to a US ensign in role and responsibility. Today, these ranks all refer to cadets, but historically they were selected by the monarchy. The first published use of the term midshipman was in 1662, the word derives from an area aboard a ship, amidships, but it refers either to the location where midshipmen worked on the ship, or the location where midshipmen were berthed. By the 18th century, four types of midshipman existed, midshipman, midshipman extraordinary, midshipman, by 1794, all midshipmen were considered officer candidates, and the original rating was phased out. Beginning in 1661, boys who aspired to become officers were sent by their families to serve on ships with a letter of service from the crown, and were paid at the same rate as midshipmen. Their official rating was volunteer-per-order, but they were known as Kings letter boys. Beginning in 1677, Royal Navy regulations for promotion to lieutenant required service as a midshipman, by the Napoleonic era, the regulations required at least three years of services as a midshipman or masters mate and six years of total sea time. Sea time was earned in various ways, most boys served this period at sea in any lower rating, either as a servant of one of the ships officers, a volunteer, or a seaman. By the 1730s, the rating volunteer-per-order was phased out and replaced with a system where prospective midshipmen served as servants for officers. For example, a captain was allowed four servants for every 100 men aboard his ship, the school was unpopular in the Navy, because officers enjoyed the privilege of having servants and preferred the traditional method of training officers via apprenticeship. Volunteers were paid £6 per year, by 1816, the rating of midshipman ordinary was phased out, and all apprentice officers were rated as midshipmen
36.
Isaac Smith (Royal Navy officer)
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Isaac Smith was a Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy and cousin of the wife of Captain James Cook, with whom he sailed on two voyages of exploration in the South Pacific. Smith was the first European to set foot in eastern Australia, Smith was born in London in 1752, the eldest of seven children of Charles and Hannah Smith and cousin to James Cooks wife Elizabeth. Smith sailed with Cook to Tahiti, then to New Zealand, on 28 April 1770 he became the first European to set foot on eastern Australian soil, Cook telling him Jump out, Isaac as the ships boat touched the shore at Botany Bay. A month later on 23 May 1770, Smith was promoted to midshipman following James Magras suspension on suspicion of having assaulted Cooks clerk, Cooks lieutenant Zachary Hicks died from tuberculosis in May 1771, and was replaced by the masters mate Charles Clerke. In turn, Smith was promoted to fill Clerkes former role and served with distinction for the remainder of the voyage. Cook singled him out in a letter to the Secretary of the Admiralty in 1772, noting that Smith had been of use to me in assisting to make Surveys. Smith sailed again with Cook in 1772, as mate aboard the HMS Resolution. He assisted first mate Joseph Gilbert in drawing Cooks maps and survey charts during the voyage, Smiths wider artistic talents were also demonstrated by the production of a small watercolour of icebergs, painted while Resolution sailed close to Antarctica in 1773. On Resolution′s return to England in 1775, Smith was promoted to lieutenant and given command of the elderly 16-gun sloop HMS Weazel, in December 1787, he was promoted to post-captain in command of the 36-gun frigate HMS Perseverance. The future Admiral John Surman Carden was a member of Smiths crew from 1787 to 1793, despite this achievement and continued commendation from his superiors, Smiths active service days were drawing to a close. In 1794 he contracted hepatitis, and his ill health prevented him from performing his duties. In either 1804 or 1807 he applied for and received a promotion to the superannuated post of Rear Admiral and returned to England to retire. In initial retirement Smith shared a house in Clapham with his cousin, Cooks widow Elizabeth, until in the 1820s he inherited Merton Abbey in Merton, Surrey, from his brother in law. He then divided his time between two homes, until his death on 2 July 1831 at the age of 78. His will left a sum of £700 to the church of St Mary the Virgin in Merton, a memorial to Smith, originally financed by Elizabeth Cook, stands in the church grounds. The Journals of Captain James Cook on His Voyages of Discovery, I, The Voyage of the Endeavour 1768-1771. Rigby, Nigel, van der Merwe, Pieter, Captain Cooks War and Peace, The Royal Navy Years 1755-1768. University of New South Wales Press, parliament Street, London, J. B. Nichols & Son
37.
HMS Endeavour
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The navy renamed and commissioned her as His Majestys Bark the Endeavour. She departed Plymouth in August 1768, rounded Cape Horn, and she then set sail into the largely uncharted ocean to the south, stopping at the Pacific islands of Huahine, Bora Bora, and Raiatea to allow Cook to claim them for Great Britain. In September 1769, she anchored off New Zealand, the first European vessel to reach the islands since Abel Tasmans Heemskerck 127 years earlier. In April 1770, Endeavour became the first ship to reach the east coast of Australia, Endeavour then sailed north along the Australian coast. She narrowly avoided disaster after running aground on the Great Barrier Reef and he then beached her on the mainland for seven weeks to permit rudimentary repairs to her hull. On 10 October 1770, she limped into port in Batavia in the Dutch East Indies for more substantial repairs, her crew sworn to secrecy about the lands they had visited. She resumed her journey on 26 December, rounded the Cape of Good Hope on 13 March 1771. Largely forgotten after her voyage, Endeavour spent the next three years sailing to and from the Falkland Islands. As of 2016 her wreck had not been located but was thought to be one of a cluster of five in Newport Harbor. Relics, including six of her cannon and an anchor, are displayed at maritime museums worldwide, a replica of Endeavour was launched in 1994 and is berthed alongside the Australian National Maritime Museum in Sydney Harbour. The US space shuttle Endeavour is named after the ship and she is depicted on the New Zealand fifty-cent coin and she was ship-rigged and sturdily built with a broad, flat bow, a square stern, and a long box-like body with a deep hold. A flat-bottomed design made her well-suited to sailing in waters and allowed her to be beached for loading and unloading of cargo. Her hull, internal floors, and futtocks were built from white oak, her keel and stern post from elm. Plans of the ship also show a double keelson to lock the keel, floors, some doubt exists about the height of her standing masts, as surviving diagrams of Endeavour depict the body of the vessel only, and not the mast plan. If correct, this would produce an oddly truncated mast a full 9 feet shorter than the standards of the day,1794 at the top of this page. The replica standing mizzen is built to this shorter measurement and stepped in the hold on the keelson, on 16 February 1768, the Royal Society petitioned King George III to finance a scientific expedition to the Pacific to study and observe the 1769 transit of Venus across the sun. The Royal Society suggested command be given to Scottish geographer Alexander Dalrymple, whose acceptance was conditional on a brevet commission as a captain in the Royal Navy. However, First Lord of the Admiralty Edward Hawke refused, going so far as to say he would cut off his right hand than give command of a navy vessel to someone not educated as a seaman
38.
Armenians
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Armenians are an ethnic group native to the Armenian Highlands. Armenians constitute the population of Armenia and the de facto independent Nagorno-Karabakh Republic. There is a diaspora of around 5 million people of full or partial Armenian ancestry living outside of modern Armenia. The largest Armenian populations today exist in Russia, the United States, France, Georgia, Iran, Germany, Ukraine, Lebanon, Brazil and Syria. With the exceptions of Iran and the former Soviet states, the present-day Armenian diaspora was formed mainly as a result of the Armenian Genocide, most Armenians adhere to the Armenian Apostolic Church, a non-Chalcedonian church, which is also the worlds oldest national church. Christianity began to spread in Armenia soon after Jesus death, due to the efforts of two of his apostles, St. Thaddeus and St. Bartholomew, in the early 4th century, the Kingdom of Armenia became the first state to adopt Christianity as a state religion. The unique Armenian alphabet was invented in 405 AD by Mesrop Mashtots, historically, the name Armenian has come to internationally designate this group of people. It was first used by neighbouring countries of ancient Armenia, the earliest attestations of the exonym Armenia date around the 6th century BC. In his trilingual Behistun Inscription dated to 517 BC, Darius I the Great of Persia refers to Urashtu as Armina (in Old Persian, Armina and Harminuya. In Greek, Αρμένιοι Armenians is attested from about the same time, xenophon, a Greek general serving in some of the Persian expeditions, describes many aspects of Armenian village life and hospitality in around 401 BC. He relates that the people spoke a language that to his ear sounded like the language of the Persians and it is also further postulated that the name Hay comes from one of the two confederated, Hittite vassal states—the Ḫayaša-Azzi. Movses Khorenatsi, the important early medieval Armenian historian, wrote that the word Armenian originated from the name Armenak or Aram, the Armenian Highland lies in the highlands surrounding Mount Ararat, the highest peak of the region. In the Bronze Age, several states flourished in the area of Greater Armenia, including the Hittite Empire, Mitanni, soon after Hayasa-Azzi were Arme-Shupria, the Nairi and the Kingdom of Urartu, who successively established their sovereignty over the Armenian Highland. Each of the nations and tribes participated in the ethnogenesis of the Armenian people. Under Ashurbanipal, the Assyrian empire reached the Caucasus Mountains, yerevan, the modern capital of Armenia, was founded in 782 BC by king Argishti I. T. Gamkrelidze and V. Ivanov proposed the Indo-European homeland around the Armenian Highland, eric P. Hamp in his 2012 Indo-European family tree, groups the Armenian language along with Greek and Ancient Macedonian in the Pontic Indo-European subgroup. In Hamps view the homeland of this subgroup is the northeast coast of the Black Sea and he assumes that they migrated from there southeast through the Caucasus with the Armenians remaining after Batumi while the pre-Greeks proceeded westwards along the southern coast of the Black Sea. However, fresh genetics studies explain Armenian diversity by several mixtures of Eurasian populations that occurred between ~3,000 and ~2,000 b. c
39.
Leslie Stephen
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Sir Leslie Stephen KCB was an English author, critic, historian, biographer, and mountaineer, and father of Virginia Woolf and Vanessa Bell. Stephen was born at Kensington Gore in London, and son of Sir James Stephen and his father was Colonial Undersecretary of State and a noted abolitionist. He was the fourth of five children, his siblings including James Fitzjames Stephen and his family had belonged to the Clapham Sect, the early 19th century group of mainly evangelical Christian social reformers. At his fathers house he saw a deal of the Macaulays, James Spedding, Sir Henry Taylor. He recounted some of his experiences in a chapter in his Life of Fawcett as well as in less formal Sketches from Cambridge. These sketches were reprinted from the Pall Mall Gazette, to the proprietor of which, George Murray Smith, the family connections included that of William Makepeace Thackeray. His brother, Fitzjames had been a friend of Thackerays and assisted in the disposition of his estate when he died in 1863 and his sister Caroline met Thackerays daughters, Anny and Minny when they were mutual guests of Julia Margaret Cameron. This led to an invitation to visit from Leslie Stephens mother, Lady Stephen and they also met at George Murray Smiths house at Hampstead. Minny and Leslie became engaged on December 4,1866 and married on June 19,1867. After the wedding they travelled to the Swiss Alps and northern Italy, and on return to England lived at the Thackeray sisters home at 16 Onslow Gardens with Anny, in the spring of 1868 Minny miscarried but recovered sufficiently for the couple to tour the eastern United States. Minny miscarried again in 1869, but became pregnant again in 1870 and on December 7 gave birth to their daughter, Laura was premature, weighing three pounds. In March 1873 Thackeray and the Stephens moved to 8 Southwell Gardens, the couple travelled extensively, and by 1875 Minny was pregnant again, but this time was in poor health. On November 27 she developed convulsions, and died the day of eclampsia. After Minnys death, Leslie Stephen continued to live with Anny, Leslie Stephen and his daughter were also cared for by his sister, the writer Caroline Emelia Stephen, although Leslie described her as Silly Milly and her books as little works. Meanwhile, Anny was falling in love with her younger cousin Richmond Ritchie, Ritchie became a constant visitor and they became engaged in May 1877, and were married on August 2. At the same time Leslie Stephen was seeing more and more of Julia Duckworth and his second marriage was to Julia Prinsep Duckworth. Julia had been born in India and after returning to England she became a model for Pre-Raphaelite painters such as Edward Burne-Jones, in 1867 she had married Herbert Duckworth by whom she had three children prior to his death in 1870. Leslie Stephen and Julia Duckworth were married on March 26,1878 and they had four children, Vanessa married Clive Bell Thoby Virginia married Leonard Woolf Adrian In May 1895, Julia died of influenza, leaving her husband with four young children aged 11 to 15
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Dictionary of National Biography
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The Dictionary of National Biography is a standard work of reference on notable figures from British history, published from 1885. The updated Oxford Dictionary of National Biography was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes and he approached Leslie Stephen, then editor of the Cornhill Magazine, owned by Smith, to become editor. Stephen persuaded Smith that the work should focus on subjects from the UK and its present, an early working title was the Biographia Britannica, the name of an earlier eighteenth-century reference work. The first volume of the Dictionary of National Biography appeared on 1 January 1885, in May 1891 Leslie Stephen resigned and Sidney Lee, Stephens assistant editor from the beginning of the project, succeeded him as editor. While much of the dictionary was written in-house, the DNB also relied on external contributors, by 1900, more than 700 individuals had contributed to the work. Successive volumes appeared quarterly with complete punctuality until midsummer 1900, when the series closed with volume 63, the year of publication, the editor and the range of names in each volume is given below. The supplements brought the work up to the death of Queen Victoria on 22 January 1901. The dictionary was transferred from its original publishers, Smith, Elder & Co. to Oxford University Press in 1917, until 1996, Oxford University Press continued to add further supplements featuring articles on subjects who had died during the twentieth century. The supplements published between 1912 and 1996 added about 6,000 lives of people who died in the century to the 29,120 in the 63 volumes of the original DNB. In 1993 a volume containing missing biographies was published and this had an additional 1,000 lives, selected from over 100,000 suggestions. Consequently, the dictionary was becoming less and less useful as a reference work, in 1966, the University of London published a volume of corrections, cumulated from the Bulletin of the Institute of Historical Research. There were various versions of the Concise Dictionary of National Biography, the last edition, in three volumes, covered everyone who died before 1986. In the early 1990s Oxford University Press committed itself to overhauling the DNB, the new dictionary would cover British history, broadly defined, up to 31 December 2000. The research project was conceived as a one, with in-house staff co-ordinating the work of nearly 10,000 contributors internationally. Following Matthews death in October 1999, he was succeeded as editor by another Oxford historian, Professor Brian Harrison, in January 2000. The new dictionary, now known as the Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, was published on 23 September 2004 in 60 volumes in print at a price of £7500, most UK holders of a current library card can access it online free of charge. In subsequent years, the print edition has been able to be obtained new for a lower price. At publication, the 2004 edition had 50,113 biographical articles covering 54,922 lives, a small permanent staff remain in Oxford to update and extend the coverage of the online edition
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Art UK
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Art UK is a registered charity in the United Kingdom, previously known as the Public Catalogue Foundation. Originally the paintings were made accessible through a series of affordable book catalogues, later the same images and information were placed on a website in partnership with the BBC, originally called Your Paintings, hosted as part of the BBC website. The renaming in 2016 coincided with the transfer of the website to a stand-alone site, works by some 40,000 painters held in over 3,000 collections are now on the website. Future plans include a project to cover sculptures in public collections. The catalogues and website allow readers to see an illustration, normally in colour and this information has significant educational benefits and constitutes the building blocks for later art historical research. Revenue from catalogue sales made by collections is dedicated to the conservation and restoration of oil paintings in their care, the collections of bodies such as Arts Council England, English Heritage and the Government Art Collection are included. However the Royal Collection is not included, Art UK receives funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and other sources. Of the 210,000 oil paintings in public ownership in the UK, many are held in storage or civic buildings without routine public access. Since 2003, The Public Catalogue Foundation has been working to rectify this through a series of colour catalogues. Before these were completed it was clear that a website was the best way to reach the wider public, the Oil Paintings in Public Ownership book series is published by The PCF mainly on a collection or county-by-county basis. Each county catalogue contains a photograph and basic information about each painting. All paintings are reproduced regardless of quality or condition, the PCF’s first catalogue was published in June 2004, and the series is now complete in 85 volumes. In January 2009 a partnership with the BBC was announced with the aim to place the entire catalogue of publicly owned oil paintings online by 2012. On 4 October 2012 it was announced that the project had photographed every painting that it intended to and all 210,000 would shortly be available. The Public Catalogue Foundation worked with the BBC to put all of the UKs publicly owned oil paintings online, in a section of the BBC website, Your Paintings, the PCF completed the digitisation of the entire national collection and celebrated their success in February 2013. An innovative crowdsourcing project, Your Paintings Tagger, also went online in 2011, the high-quality digital files, however, have not been made available to the public, and paintings on the BBC site can only be saved as a personal collection on the site, not downloaded. In March 2013 the BBC revealed that a painting by Anthony van Dyck had been discovered because of the Your Paintings website. Olivia, the subject of the painting, who died in 1663, was a lady-in-waiting to queen consort Henrietta Maria and she had married Endymion Porter, who was a patron of Anthony van Dyck
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Houghton Library
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Houghton Library, on the south side of Harvard Yard adjacent to Widener Library, is Harvard Universitys primary repository for rare books and manuscripts. It is part of the Harvard College Library, the system of Harvards Faculty of Arts. Harvards first special collections library began as the Treasure Room of Gore Hall in 1908, the Treasure Room moved to Widener Library after that library was completed in 1915. Funding for Houghton was raised privately, with the largest portion coming from Arthur A. Houghton Jr. in the form of shares of stock in Corning Glass Works. Construction was largely completed by the fall of 1941, and the library opened on February 28,1942. S, eliot, E. E. Cummings, Henry James, William James, James Joyce, John Updike and many others. Houghton also holds the letters of Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who commanded the 54th Massachusetts during the Civil War, Houghton has five main curatorial departments, Early Books and Manuscripts, which includes a large collection of Medieval and Renaissance manuscripts and over 2,500 incunabula. Modern Books & Manuscripts New Acquisitions Blog Printing & Graphic Arts which documents the history, the Harvard Theatre Collection covering the history of the performing arts. Alices Adventures in Wonderland at 150 Houghton Library Blog Department of Modern Books & Manuscripts new acquisitions blog
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Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cosway, Richard". Encyclopædia Britannica. 7 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press.
Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "
