Flat-head Nails
Nails of malleable cast iron with extra-large heads, and from 1 1/2 to 6 inches long, suitable for chaplets. They are also useful in a foundry for many other purposes. See CHAPLET.
Only in The Encyclopedia of Founding
Single-source entries: F (30)
These 13 listings are so strange that each appears in only one of the 7 encyclopedias we compared. They include such classics as Flathead, Flaubert, Flavia Gens.
Flathead
or SALISH, INDIANS, in the State of Washington, a tribe inhabiting the region between lat. 48° and 50° N., and lon. 117° and 121° W. They are so named on account of a practice formerly prevalent among them, of flattening the heads of their infants by artificial means. The custom, it is said, has been abandoned by this tribe, though it still exists among several neighboring tribes, to whom the name of Flathead is not generally given. They are short of stature, and badly formed, with wide mouth, thick nose and lips, and large nostrils.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Flaubert
GUSTAV (flō-bar'), a French novelist; born in Rouen, France, Dec. 12, 1821. His greatest novel was his first, "Madame Bovary" (1857). He next wrote a historical novel, "Salammbo," the scene laid in the most flourishing period of Carthage; "The History of a Young Man" (1869)"; "The Temptation of St. Anthony" (1874), and "Three Stories" (1877). The posthumous novel "Bouvard and Pécuchet" (1881) is a satire on humanity in general. His comedy "The Candidate" (1874) failed on the stage. He died in Rouen, May 8, 1880.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Flavia Gens
Celebrated as the house to which the emperor Vespasian belonged. During the later period of the Roman empire the name Flavius descended from one emperor to another, Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, being the first in the series. 2026 Editor's Note: While the Flavia gens rose to imperial prominence under Vespasian, the name became so widespread during the later Empire that it often functioned as a title rather than a hereditary surname. This proliferation was driven by freedmen adopting the name of their patrons and government officials replacing their original names with the dynastic Flavius . Notable later members included Titus Flavius Titianus , a consul and procurator who was executed during the reign of Caracalla. (Ed: BR 2026-07-21)
Only in 1000 Classical Characters
Flax Brake
a machine for removing the woody and cellular portion of flax from the fibrous. Also a machine for shortening flax staple to adapt it to be worked by a given class of machines.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Flaxman
JOHN, an English sculp tor and draughtsman; born in York, England, July 6, 1755. His father was a figure-molder. The son, from his earliest years, exhibited and cultivated his talent for designing, and was also attracted by the picturesque conceptions of Greek mythology. He began to study at the Royal Academy in 1770, earning for some time a living by making designs for Wedgwood, the potter, and other persons. He went to Italy in 1787, and during the seven years he spent there, his wife accompanying him, he acquired the highest reputation by three series of designs, the illustrations to Homer, Æschylus, and Dante. He was chosen A. R. A. in 1797, and Professor of Sculpture in 1810. The monument to Lord Mansfield in Westminster Abbey, the group of "Cephalus and Aurora," "Psyche," the group of the "Archangel Michael and Satan," are among his best works. The monuments to Nelson Howe, and Reynolds in St. Paul's are by his hand. One of his latest and finest productions is the "Shield of Achilles." He died in London, Dec. 7, 7, 1826. The sculptures and sketches of Flaxman are exhibited in a gallery, called the "Flaxman Hall," at University College, London.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Flaxman, John
John (1755-1826), an English sculptor. He was born at York and died at London. Flaxman assisted his father in the manufacture of plaster casts and images for sale in a shop in Covent Garden . He learned to read Greek and Latin out of a desire to read up on the figures he was making. At fifteen years of age he won attention from the Royal Academy by exhibiting a wax model of Neptune. He then went to Italy to study. He was elected a member of the Royal Academy in 1800. Flaxman designed ornaments for Wedgewood's noted wares, and also the statues of Nelson, Howe, and Reynolds in St. Paul's. He designed a series of figures to illustrate the Odyssey, Dante, and Aeschylus. He is remembered best as the designer of Achilles' shield, which gives his conception of the shield as it is described by Homer. The Flaxman Museum of University College, London, contains a number of original models and drawings. Flaxman's lectures on sculpture, delivered in the Royal Academy, appeared in book form after his death, and have passed through successive editions.
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Fleece
ORDER OF GOLDEN Hebrew word parsh; Sept. psyllos; Vulg. pulex, which is probably correct. The Hebrew word, according to Gesenius, is from an obsolete quadrilateral root, parash = to leap (1 Sam. xxiv: 14; xxvi: 20).
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Flemish School
a school of paint ing highly recommended to the lovers of the art by the invention, or at least the first practice, of painting in oil. It has been generally attributed to John Van Eyck, in the beginning of the 15th century, who was, it is said, accustomed to varnish his distemper pictures with a composition of oils, which was pleasing on account of the luster it gave them. In course of practice he came to mix his colors with oil, instead of water, which rendered them brilliant without the trouble of varnishing. From this and subsequent experiments arose the art of painting in oil. The attention of the Italian painters was soon excited. John of Bruges was the founder of painting as a profession in Flanders. The chief masters of the school were Memling, Weyden, Rubens, Vandyck, Snyders, and the younger Teniers.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Flensborg
one of the most populous towns of Slesvig, at the extremity of the Flensborg Fjord, an inlet from the Baltic, forty miles N. W. of Kiel. It was taken from the Danes by the Germans in 1866. Pop. about 60,000.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Fletcher
. See Beaumont Fleur-de-lis, or Flower-de-Luce. See Iris
Only in Aiton's Encyclopedia
Fletcher
JOHN. See BEAUMONT,
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia
Fletcher
DUNCAN UPSHAW, a United States Senator from Florida, born in Sumter county, Ga., in 1859. He graduated from Vanderbilt University in 1880 and afterward studied law at that institution. He was admitted to the bar in 1881 and engaged in practice in Jacksonville, Fla. He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 1893, and for two years following was mayor of Jacksonville. He was appointed United States senator by the governor of the State in 1909, and was elected senator by the legislature in the same year. He was re-elected in 1914. He was chairman of the Senate Committee on Commerce.
Only in Collier's New Encyclopedia