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Like the works already published, these latest volumes of the Biographical Dictionary deal with theatre people of every ilk, ranging from dressers and one-performance actors to trumpeter John Shore (inventor of the tuning fork) and the incomparable Sarah Siddons. Also prominent is Susanna Rowson, a novelist, actress, and early female playwright. Although born into a British military family, Rowson often wrote plays that dealt with patriotic American themes and spent much of her career on the American stage. The theatrical jewel of these volumes is the "divine Sarah" Siddons: "She raised the tragedy to the skies," wrote William Hazlitt, and "embodied to our imagination the fables of mythology, of the heroic and dignified mortals of elder time." She endured much tragedy herself, including a crippling debilitating illness and the deaths of five of her seven children. Siddons played major roles in both comedy and tragedy, not the least of which was a performance as Hamlet.
This dictionary contains data not only on the origins of French surnames in Québec and Acadia, a great many of which eventually spread to many parts of North America, but also on those which arrived in the United States directly from various French-speaking European and Caribbean countries. In addition to providing the etymology of the original surnames, it also lists the multifarious variants that have developed over the last four centuries. A unique feature of this work in comparison to other onomastics dictionaries is the inclusion of genealogical information on most of the Francophone migrants to this continent, something which has been rendered possible not only by the excellent record-keeping in French Canada since the very beginnings of the colony, but also through the explosion of such data on the internet in the last couple of decades. In sum, this dictionary serves the dual purpose of providing information on the meanings of French family names on the North American continent, as well as on the migrants who brought them there.
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Following author Tobias Wabbel’s research and investigation throughout Europe, this book solves the mystery of the treasure of the Knights Templar. The most up-to-date archeological and historical information is discussed, from the history of the Knights Templar and the history of the Israelites and the Ark of the Covenant, to medieval literature and Gothic cathedral architecture. Disproving common theories—the Knights Templar never guarded the pilgrimage ways in Palestine, there is no Priory of Sion, there is no bloodline from Jesus to the present day, and there is no authentic Shroud of Turin—the book also proves the existence of the sacred Ark of the Covenant, also known as the treasure of the Knights Templar, which is still hidden in France. Wabbel researched iconography in the architecture of cathedrals and chapels, and found more evidence in texts and inscriptions that led to his theory on the location of the Templar treasure. Both a travel guide to the secrets of the treasure of the Knights Templar and a fascinating read, this book will shake commonly held beliefs on this interconnected history and renew the interest in it.