OpenLLM-France/wikimedia huggingface dataset:
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Barbauld, Anna Letitia

Cousin's cross reference "... dau. of Dr. John Aikin (q.v.)" is actually to an entry about Barbauld's brother, namesake of their father. See Aikin, John.
​Barbauld, Anna Letitia (1743-1825).—Poetess, etc., dau. of Dr. John Aikin (q.v.), was b. at Kibworth-Hencourt, Leicestershire. Her f. kept an academy for boys, whose education she shared, and thus became acquainted with the classics. In 1773 she pub. a collection of miscellaneous poems, which was well received, and in the following year she married the Rev. R. Barbauld, a French Protestant and dissenting minister, who also conducted a school near Palgrave in Suffolk. Into this enterprise Mrs. B. threw herself with great energy, and, mainly owing to her talents and reputation, it proved a success and was afterwards ​carried on at Hampstead and Newington Green. Meantime, she continued her literary occupations, and brought out various devotional works, including her Hymns in Prose for Children. These were followed by Evenings at Home, Selections from the English Essayists, The Letters of Samuel Richardson, with a life prefixed, and a selection from the British novelists with introductory essay.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Barnard, Lady Anne

​Barnard, Lady Anne (Lindsay) (1750-1825).—Poet, e. dau. of the 5th Earl of Balcarres, married Andrew Barnard, afterwards Colonial Secretary at Cape Town. On the d. of her husband in 1807 she settled in London. Her exquisite ballad of Auld Robin Gray was written in 1771, and pub. anonymously. She confessed the authorship to Sir Walter Scott in 1823.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Barclay, Alexander

​Barclay, Alexander (1475?-1552).—Poet, probably of Scottish birth, was a priest in England. He is remembered for his satirical poem, The Ship of Fools (1509), partly a translation, which is of interest as throwing light on the manners and customs of the times to which it refers. He also translated Sallust's Bellum Jugurthinum, and the Mirrour of Good Manners, from the Italian of Mancini, and wrote five Eclogues. His style is stiff and his verse uninspired.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Barclay, John

​Barclay, John (1582-1621).—Satirist, s. of a Scotsman, who was Professor of Law at Pont-à-Mousson, Lorraine, came with his f. to England about 1603. He wrote several works in English and Latin, among which are Euphormionis Satyricon, against the Jesuits, and Argenis, a political romance, resembling in certain respects the Arcadia of Sidney, and the Utopia of More.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Barnes, William

​Barnes, William (1801-1886).—Poet and philologist, s. of a farmer, b. at Rushay, Dorset. After being a solicitor's clerk and a schoolmaster, he entered the Church, in which he served ​various cures. He first contributed to a newspaper, Poems in Dorset Dialect, separately pub. in 1844. Hwomely Rhymes followed in 1858, and a collected edition of his poems appeared in 1879. His philological works include Philological Grammar (1854), Se Gefylsta, an Anglo-Saxon Delectus (1849). Tiw, or a View of Roots (1862), and a Glossary of Dorset Dialect (1863). B.'s poems are characterised by a singular sweetness and tenderness of feeling, deep insight into humble country life and character, and an exquisite feeling for local scenery.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Pringle, Thomas

​PRINGLE, Thomas (1789-1834).—Poet, b. in Roxburghshire, studied at Edin., and became known to Scott, by whose influence he obtained a grant of land in South Africa, to which he, with his f. and brothers, emigrated. He took to literary work in Cape Town, and conducted two papers, which were suppressed for their free criticisms of the Colonial Government. Thereupon he returned and settled in London, where he pub. African Sketches. He also produced a book of poems, Ephemerides.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Prideaux, Humphrey

​PRIDEAUX, Humphrey (1648-1724).—Divine and scholar, belonged to an ancient Cornish family, was b. at Padstow, and ed. at ​Westminster School and at Oxf. He first attracted notice by his description of the Arundel Marbles (1676), which gained for him powerful patrons, and he rose to be Dean of Norwich. Among his other works are a Life of Mahomet (1697), and The Old and New Testament connected in the History of the Jews and Neighbouring Nations (1715-17), long an important work, of which many ed. were brought out.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Procter, Adelaide Ann

​PROCTER, Adelaide Ann (1825-1864).—Poetess, eldest dau. of Bryan W. P. (q.v.). Many of her poems were first pub. in Household Words and All the Year Round, and afterwards coll. under the title of Legends and Lyrics (1858), of which many ed. appeared. In 1851 Miss P. became a Roman Catholic. She took much interest in social questions affecting women. She wrote the well-known songs, Cleansing Fires and The Lost Chord, and among her many hymns are, I do not ask, O Lord, that Life may be, and My God, I thank Thee who hast made.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Procter, Bryan Waller

​PROCTER, Bryan Waller ("Barry Cornwall") (1787-1874).—Poet, b. at Leeds, and ed. at Harrow, went to London and practised successfully as a solicitor. Thereafter he became a barrister, and was, 1832-61, a Commissioner of Lunacy. By 1823 he had produced four vols. of poetry and a tragedy, Mirandola (1821). His works include Dramatic Scenes (1819), A Sicilian Story, Marcian Colonna (1820), The Flood of Thessaly (1823), and English Songs (1832), which last will perhaps survive his other writings. P. was he friend of most of his literary contemporaries, and was universally beloved.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Priestly, Joseph

​PRIESTLEY, Joseph (1733-1804).—Chemist, theologian and political writer, s. of a draper at Fieldhead, Yorkshire, where he was b. Brought up as a Calvinist, he gradually became a modified Unitarian, and after attending a dissenting academy at Daventry he became minister to various congregations. About 1756 he pub. The Scripture Doctrine of Remission, denying the doctrine of atonement, and in 1761 succeeded Dr. Aiken as teacher of languages and belles-lettres in the dissenting academy at Warrington. About the same time he became acquainted with Franklin and Dr. Price (q.v.) and began to devote himself to science, the fruits of which were his History and Present State of Electricity (1767), and Vision, Light, and Colours. He also became a distinguished chemist, and made important discoveries, including that of oxygen. In 1773 he travelled on the Continent as companion to Lord Shelburne, where he was introduced to many men of scientific and literary eminence, by some of whom he was rallied upon his belief in Christianity. In reply to this he wrote Letters to a Philosophical Unbeliever (1774), and in answer to the accusations of Atheism brought against him at home he pub. (1777) Disquisition relating to Matter and Spirit. In 1780 he settled in Birmingham, in 1782 pub. his Corruptions of Christianity, and in 1786 his History of Early Opinions concerning Jesus Christ. He was one of those who wrote replies to Burke's Reflections on the French Revolution, one consequence of which was his election as a French citizen, and another the destruction of his chapel, house, papers, and instruments by a mob. Some years later he went to America, where he d. P. has been called the father of modern chemistry. He received many scientific and academic honours being a member of the Royal Society, of the Academies of France and of St. Petersburg, and an LL.D. of Edin. He was a man of powerful and original mind, of high character, and of undaunted courage in maintaining his opinions, which were usually unpopular.
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# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Prescott, William Hickling

​PRESCOTT, William Hickling (1796-1859).—Historian, b. at Salem, Massachusetts, the s. of an eminent lawyer, was ed. at Harvard, where he graduated in 1814. While there he met with an accident to one of his eyes which seriously affected his sight for the remainder of his life. He made an extended tour in Europe, and on his return to America he m., and abandoning the idea of a legal career, resolved to devote himself to literature. After ten years of study, he pub. in 1837 his History of Ferdinand and Isabella, which at once gained for him a high place among historians. It was followed in 1843 by the History of the Conquest of Mexico, and in 1847 by the Conquest of Peru. His last work was the History of Philip II., of which the third vol. appeared in 1858, and which was left unfinished. In that year he had an apoplectic shock, and another in 1859 was the cause of his death, which took place on January 28 in the last-named year. In all his works he displayed great research, impartiality, and an admirable narrative power. The great disadvantage at which, owing to his very imperfect vision, he worked, makes the first of these qualities specially remarkable, for his authorities in a foreign tongue were read to him, while he had to write on a frame for the blind. P. was a man of amiable and benevolent character, and enjoyed the friendship of many of the most distinguished men in Europe as well as in America.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Price, Richard

​PRICE, Richard (1723-1791).—Writer on morals, politics, land economics, s. of a dissenting minister, was b. at Tynton in Wales, ed. at a dissenting coll. in London, and was then for some years chaplain to a Mr. Streatfield, who left him some property. Thereafter he officiated as minister to various congregations near London. In 1758 his Review of the Principal Questions and Difficulties in Morals, a work of considerable metaphysical power, appeared; and it was followed in 1766 by a treatise on The Importance of Christianity. In 1769 his work on Reversionary Payments was pub., and his Northampton Mortality Table was about the same time constructed. These, though long superseded, were in their day most valuable contributions to economical science. His most popular work, Observations on Civil Liberty and the Justice and Policy of the War with America, appeared in 1776, had an enormous sale, and led to his being invited to go to America and assist in establishing the financial system of the new Government. This he declined chiefly on the score of age. Simplicity, uprightness, and toleration of opinions opposed to his own appear to have been marked traits in his character.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Prior, Matthew

​PRIOR, Matthew (1664-1721).—Poet, b. near Wimborne Minster, Dorset, s. of a joiner who, having d., he was ed. by an uncle, and sent to Westminster School. Befriended by the Earl of Dorset he proceeded to Camb., and while there wrote, jointly with Charles Montague, The Town and Country Mouse, a burlesque of Dryden's ​Hind and Panther. After holding various diplomatic posts, in which he showed ability and discretion, he entered Parliament in 1700, and, deserting the Whigs, joined the Tories, by whom he was employed in various capacities, including that of Ambassador at Paris. On the death of Queen Anne he was recalled, and in 1715 imprisoned, but after two years released. In 1719 a folio ed. of his works was brought out, by which he realised £4000, and Lord Harley having presented him with an equal sum, he looked forward to the peace and comfort which were his chief ambition. He did not, however, long enjoy his prosperity, dying two years later. Among his poems may be mentioned Solomon, which he considered his best work, Alma, or the Progress of the Mind, The Female Phaeton, To a Child of Quality, and some prose tales. His chief characteristic is a certain elegance and easy grace, in which he is perhaps unrivalled. His character appears to have been by no means unimpeachable, but he was amiable and free from any trace of vindictiveness.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Prynne, William

​PRYNNE, William (1600-1669).—Controversial writer, b. near Bath, ed. at Oxf., studied law at Lincoln's Inn, of which he became a bencher, but soon became immersed in the writing of controversial pamphlets. After the Unloveliness of Lovelocks and Health's Sicknesse (1627-30) appeared his best known controversial work, Histrio-Mastix, or a Scourge for Stage Players (1633), a bitter attack on most of the popular amusements of the day. It was punished with inhuman severity. P. was brought before the Star Chamber, fined £5000, pilloried, and had both his ears cut off. Undeterred by this he issued from his prison a fierce attack upon Laud and the hierarchy, for which he was again fined, pilloried, and sanded on both cheeks with the letters S. L. (seditious libeller). Removed to Carnarvon Castle he remained there until liberated in 1641 by the Long Parliament. He soon after became a member of the House, and joined with extreme, but not inexcusable, rancour ​in the prosecution of Laud. After this he turned his attention to the Independents, whom he hated scarcely less than the Prelatists, and was among those expelled from the House of Commons by Cromwell, whom he had opposed in regard to the execution of the King with such asperity that he again suffered imprisonment, from which he was released in 1652. He supported the Restoration, and was by Charles II. appointed Keeper of the Records in the Tower. Here he did good service by compiling the Calendar of Parliamentary Writs and Records. He pub. in all about 200 books and pamphlets.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Praed, Winthrop Mackworth

​PRAED, Winthrop Mackworth (1802-1839).—Poet, s. of a sergeant-at-law, was b. in London, ed. at Eton and Camb., and called to the Bar 1829. He sat in Parliament for various places, and was Sec. to the Board of Control 1834-35. He appeared to have a brilliant career before him, when his health gave way, and he d. of consumption in 1839. His poems, chiefly bright and witty skits and satirical pieces, were pub. first in America 1844, and appeared in England with a memoir by Derwent Coleridge in 1864. His essays appeared in 1887.
# A Library Primer (1899)/Chapter XVIII

Books of moderate size should stand up on the shelves. Large books keep better if they are laid on their sides; when they stand, the weight of the leaves is a pull on the binding which tends to draw the books out of shape, and sometimes breaks them. Books which stand up should never be permitted to lean over, but should be kept always perfectly erect; the leaning wrenches them out of shape, and soon breaks the binding. A row of books which does not comfortably fill a shelf should be kept up at one end by a book support. There are several good supports on the market. The Crocker is excellent; so is the one described in the Library Bureau catalog.
L.B. book supports. (Reduced.)
Books as they come from the dealer are not always perfect. To make sure that their purchases are in good condition some libraries collate all their books as soon as received, that is, look them through with care for missing pages, and injuries of any kind. Imperfect volumes are returned. But save with very expensive books this labor is unnecessary, and doesn't pay. The time spent on it easily amounts to more than the cost of replacing the very few books which may by chance be later found imperfect. In fact, any responsible dealer will usually replace an imperfect copy with a good one even if the former bears a library mark, and has been handled a little.
Use care in cutting pages. Don't cut them with anything but a smooth, dull edge. Cut them at the top close to the fold in the back.
The worst enemies of books are careless people.
Another enemy is damp. It is bad for the binding; it is very bad for the paper.
Gas, with heat, is very destructive to books, especially to the bindings.
Books should occasionally be taken from their shelves and wiped with a soft cloth. The shelves should at the same time be taken down and cleaned thoroughly.
Don't hold a book by one of its covers.
Don't pile up books very high.
Don't rub dust into them instead of rubbing it off.
Don't wedge books tightly into the shelves.
Those who use a public library are all desirous that its books be clean and neat, and with a little encouragement will take pretty good care of them. There are exceptions, of course, and especially among the children. These must be looked after and reasoned with.
Don't cover your books. The brown paper cover is an insult to a good book, a reproach to every reader of it, an incentive to careless handling, and an expense without good return.
A few simple rules like the following can be brought in an unobtrusive way to the attention of those who use the library. Always be sure that the library sets a good example in its handling of books.
Keep books dry.
Do not handle them when the hands are moist; of course never when the hands are soiled.
Use them to read, and for nothing else.
Never mark in them.
Do not turn down their pages.
Do not lay them face downwards.
Do not strap them up tightly.
Never let them fall.
Open them gently.
The book you are reading will go to others. Pass it on to them neat and clean, hoping that they will do the same by you.
# A Library Primer (1899)/Chapter XXIV

Many books can be very properly put in any one of several different classes. In which one a given book should be placed will often be decided by noting where other like books have been placed. Books by authors of the same name will often fall into the same class, and to each of these a different author-number must be given. You must have at hand, then, a list of the books already classified, to see at once, in classifying the next book, what kinds of books and books by what authors are in each class. Every book in the library, as soon as it has been classified, and has received its proper author-number, should be entered in a list in the order first of its class-number, next of its author-number. This list is called the shelf-list. It is commonly kept on sheets, but many librarians believe it best kept on cards; a card for each different book. It is a catalog of all the books in the library arranged in the order in which they stand on the shelves. It is a subject-index of the library. It is indispensable in the work of properly placing, class-numbering, and author-numbering new books. It is a list from which it is very easy to check over the library and learn what books are missing or out of place. It includes usually only the class- and author-number, author's name, brief title, and accession number. This last enables one to refer at once from the brief entry of a certain book in the shelf-list to the full information in the accession book. There are advantages in adding to the shelf-list record the publisher and price. As soon as a book has received its class- and author-numbers, which together are sometimes called the "call-number," as being the mark to be used by the public in calling for a book, these numbers, or combinations of numbers and letters, should be written in the accession book in a column left for the purpose, on the line given up to the description of the book in hand. This enables one to refer at once from the accession entry of a given book to the shelf-list entry of the same book.
| Book No. | Accession No. | Vol. | Author | Title |
| qG62 | 88390 | | Goodrich | British eloquence |
| M11 | 540 | 2 | Macauley | Speeches |
| | 820 | | | |
| W72 | 49408 | | Windham | |
Shelf list sheet. (Reduced; actual size. 10 x 25 cm.)
090 Slater
S11 Book Collecting
3528
Shelf-list card. (Reduced; actual size, 5 x 12½ cm.)
# A Library Primer (1899)/Chapter XXIII

The books in a given group or class should stand on the shelves in the alphabetical order of their authors' names, though this is not necessary in a small library. This result is best secured by adding to the class-mark of every book another mark, called an author-number or book-number or book-mark, made up of the first letter of the author's name and certain figures. Books bearing these author-numbers, if arranged first alphabetically by the letters, and then in the numerical order of the numbers following the letters, will always stand in the alphabetical order of the authors' names. Different books by the same author are distinguished from one another by adding other figures to the author-number, or by adding to the author-numbers the first letter of the title of each book.
These book-marks cannot be chosen arbitrarily. They should be taken from the printed set of them worked out by Mr Cutter, and called the Cutter author-tables. (See Library Bureau catalog.)
In a very small library the books in a given class can be distinguished one from another by writing after the class-number of each book the number of that book in its class. If the class-mark of religion, for example, is 20, the books successively placed in that class will bear the numbers 20.1, 20.2, 20.3, etc.
Fiction should have author-numbers only. The absence of a class-number will sufficiently distinguish it from other classes.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Wycherley, William

​Wycherley, William (1640?-1716).—Dramatist, was b. at Clive, near Shrewsbury, where his f. had an estate. He was at the Inner Temple in 1659, and at Oxf. in 1660. Part of his youth had been spent in France, where he became a Roman Catholic, but at the Restoration he returned to Protestantism. He wrote four comedies, Love in a Wood, The Gentleman Dancing Master, The Country Wife, and The Plain Dealer, all produced in the reign of Charles II., and nothing of consequence afterwards, a vol. of poems doing little to add to his reputation. About 1679 he m. the widowed Countess of Drogheda, who d. in 1681, and he entered into a second marriage eleven days before his death. In his later years he formed a friendship with Pope, then a boy of 16. W. was one of the founders of the Comedy of Manners. The merit of his plays lies in smart and witty dialogue rather than in construction. The Plain Dealer, his best, is founded upon Molière's Misanthrope. His plays are notoriously coarse.
# A Short Biographical Dictionary of English Literature/Wyatt, Sir Thomas

​Wyatt, Sir Thomas (1503-1542).—Poet, s. of Sir Henry W., a servant of Henry VII., and ed. at St. John's Coll., Camb., came to Court and was frequently employed by Henry VIII. on diplomatic missions. He is said to have been an admirer of Anne Boleyn before her marriage, and on her disgrace was thrown into the Tower for a short time. In 1537 he was knighted, and two years later was against his will sent on a mission to the Emperor Charles V. On the death in 1540 of Thomas Cromwell, to whose party he be longed, W. was accused of misdemeanours during his embassy and again imprisoned in the Tower, where he wrote a defence which resulted in his release. In 1542 he was sent to meet the Spanish Ambassador at Falmouth, and conduct him to London, but on the way caught a chill, of which he d. W. shares with the Earl of Surrey ​(q.v.) the honour of being the first real successor of Chaucer, and also of introducing the sonnet into England. In addition to his sonnets, which are in a more correct form than those of Surrey, W. wrote many beautiful lyrics; in fact he may be regarded as the reviver of the lyrical spirit in English poetry which, making its appearance in the 13th century, had fallen into abeyance. In the anthology known as Tottel's Miscellany, first pub. in 1557, 96 pieces by W. appear along with 40 by Surrey, and others by different hands. W. has less smoothness and sweetness than Surrey, but his form of the sonnet was much more difficult as well as more correct than that invented by the latter, and afterwards adopted by Shakespeare, and his lyrical gift is more marked.