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Selkirk, Alexander

(Encyclopedia) Selkirk, AlexanderSelkirk, Alexandersĕlˈkərk [key], 1676–1721, Scottish sailor whose adventures suggested to Daniel Defoe the story of Robinson Crusoe (1719). In 1704, as a sailing…

Wyss, Johann David

(Encyclopedia) Wyss, Johann DavidWyss, Johann Davidyōˈhän däˈvĭt vēs [key], 1743–1818, Swiss author. His Swiss Family Robinson (1813, tr. 1814), an internationally popular classic for children,…

Defoe, Daniel

(Encyclopedia) Defoe or De Foe, DanielDefoe or De Foe, Danieldĭfōˈ, 1660?–1731, English writer, b. London. He was nearly sixty when he turned to writing novels. In 1719 he published his famous Life…

Juan Fernández

(Encyclopedia) Juan FernándezJuan Fernándezhwän fārnänˈdās [key], group of small islands, S Pacific, c.400 mi (640 km) W of Valparaiso, Chile. They belong to Chile and are constitutionally a special…

Wells, David Ames

(Encyclopedia) Wells, David Ames, 1828–98, American economist, b. Springfield, Mass., grad. Williams, 1847, and Lawrence Scientific School, Cambridge, Mass., 1851. Early in life he wrote several…

Brewer's: Robinson Crusoe

Alexander Selkirk was found in the desert island of Juan Fernandez, where he had been left by Captain Stradling. He remained on the island four years and four months, when he was rescued…

Grimaldi, Joseph

(Encyclopedia) Grimaldi, JosephGrimaldi, Josephgrĭmălˈdē [key], 1779–1837, English pantomime actor and clown. He made his debut at the age of three in Robinson Crusoe at Sadler's Wells, London. For…

Schnabel, Johann Gottfried

(Encyclopedia) Schnabel, Johann GottfriedSchnabel, Johann Gottfriedyōˈhän gôtˈfrēt [key]Schnabel, Johann Gottfried shnäˈbəl [key], b. 1692, d. after 1742, German author, whose pseudonym was Gisander…

Waterloo, city, United States

(Encyclopedia) Waterloo, city (1990 pop. 66,467), seat of Black Hawk co., NE Iowa, on the Cedar River; inc. 1868. Originally a center for sawmills and flour mills, Waterloo is a trade and industrial…

Brewer's: Crusoe

(A). A solitary man; the only inhabitant of a place. The tale of Defoe is well known, which describes Robinson Crusoe as cast on a desert island, where he employs the most admirable…