West
2 of the 7 encyclopedias on this shelf carry an entry for West. Both are reproduced below, so you can see where they agree and where they differ.
Collier's New Encyclopedia (1921)
BENJAMIN, an painter; born in Springfield, Pa., Oct. 10, 1738, of Quaker parents. After several years of portrait painting in Lancaster, Philadelphia, and New York City, he went to Rome, Italy, in 1760, and proceeded to England in 1763, where he made his permanent residence. One of his earliest friends was Dr. Drummond, Archbishop of York, who introduced him to George III., by whose order he executed his picture of "The Departure of Regulus from Rome," and whose patronage he enjoyed for about 40 years. On the death of Sir Joshua Reynolds, in 1792, West, who had been a member of the Royal Academy from its foundation, was elected president; which chair he enjoyed, with the exception of a short interval, till the close of his life. His "Death of General Wolfe" was among the first of his productions that attracted public notice, especially for the rational innovation on which he had ventured in it, of painting historical personages in a modern dress. Among his later works were "Death on the Pale Horse," and "Christ Healing the Sick." There is in the Pennsylvania Hospital, in Philadelphia, a copy (with some alterations) of "Christ Healing the Sick," which was presented to it by West. He died in London, March 11, 1820.
Aiton's Encyclopedia (1910)
one of the cardinal points of the compass. The name appears to be related to a group of words denoting an abode or house. West, therefore, seems to have reference to the home of the sun at night. In architecture, the west front of a cathedral is the main portal, situated at the foot of the cross farthest removed from the choir. In American history the West has receded rapidly toward the Pacific. The term was applied to the Ohio Valley, then to the states in the Mississippi Valley, and now it refers more particularly to the section west of the Mississippi, or even to the Pacific States. The word is entirely relative, England is in the west with reference to central Europe.