Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume I.djvu/294

 270 ALDRICH ALEANDRO brated jurist, was born at Florence in 1499, and died in Rome in 1558. Being opposed to the duke Alexander de' Medici, he was banished from Florence in 1530. Of his three sons, GIO- VANNI was auditor rotse and cardinal, and is also known as an author; IPPOLITO became pope under the title of Clement VIII. ; and TOMMASO, born at Rome about 1540, was pa- pal secretary of briefs, and left a translation of the "Lives of the Philosophers" by Diogenes Laertius, and a commentary on Aristotle, De Physico Auditu. CINZIO PASSEBO, who died at the beginning of the 17th century, was the son of Silvestro's daughter, took the name of Aldobrandini, and was made cardinal. He was a friend of Tasso, who dedicated to him the Gerusalemme conquistata. His brother PIK- TBO was also a cardinal, and legate in France, where he composed the differences between Henry IV. and the duke of Savoy in 1601. The family disappeared in 1681. ALDKICII, Thomas Bailey, an American poet, born in Portsmouth, N. H., in 1836. After commencing a course of study preparatory to entering college, upon the death of his father he abandoned this purpose to enter the count- ing room of an uncle, a merchant in New York. Here he remained three years ; and it was during this period that he began to con- tribute verses to the New York journals. A collection of his poems was published in New York in 1855, the volume taking its name from the initial piece, " The Bells." Mr. Aldrich's most successful poem, "Babie Bell," which was published in 1856, was copied and repeated all over the country ; and perhaps it was the favor with which it was received that induced him to abandon mercantile pursuits for a lit- erary career. He became a frequent contribu- tor to "Putnam's Magazine," the "Knicker- bocker," and the weekly newspapers, for one of which he wrote "Daisy's Necklace, and What Came of It," a prose poem which was after- ward issued in a volume, and attained a wide popularity. In 1856 Mr. Aldrich joined the staff of the "Home Journal," which was then under the charge of N. P. Willis and George P. Morris, and continued in this position for three years. His pen was always busy during this period, and many of its products became popular favorites. The volumes published by him since 1855 are : " The Ballad of Babie Bell and other Poems " (1856) ; " The Course of True Love never did Run Smooth" (1858); "Pam- pinea and other Poems" (1861) ; " Out of his Head, a Romance in Prose " (1862) ; a collection of poems (1863) ; and a volume of poems pub- lished in Boston in 1865. Among his later works is " The Story of a Bad Boy," which is to some degree autobiographical. This attract- ed wide attention as a serial in " Our Young Folks," and was issued in book form in 1870. Mr. Aldrich has been chief editor of " Every Saturday" from its foundation, and has also made occasional prose contributions to the " Atlantic Monthly " and other magazines. ALDRIDGE, Ira, called the African Roscius, an American actor, born at Bellair, near Balti- more, Md., about 1810, died in Poland, Aug. 7, 1867. He was a mulatto, whose real name is said to have been Hewlett, and in his youth was apprenticed to a ship carpenter. From asso- ciation with the German population, which is very large on the western shore of Maryland, he learned to speak the German language fa- miliarly, and he also picked up a fair education. When Edmund Kean was in the United States, after the troubles which occurred during 1826 in consequence of the' Cox difficulties, Aldridge became his personal attendant, and is said to have accompanied him to England, where a natural talent for the stage was cultivated. He returned to the United States after a short ab- sence, and some time subsequent to 1830 ap- peared in Baltimore, at a theatre then known as the Mud theatre, which subsequently be- longed to Junius Brutus Booth, the tragedian. He appears not to have been successful. There is no account of his having appeared in any other city in America, whence after a short time he returned to England. He began his career in some of the minor theatres of London, and afterward performed in Ireland (with Kean) and all over Europe, being greatly ad- mired, especially in Germany, in Shakespearian characters. In 1861 he created a sensation at Versailles by his personification of Othello in English, the rest of the company speaking French. He was making a journey to Russia when he died. He married a white woman, but his domestic life was unhappy. Al.lKo AMMS. Ulysses (Ital. Ulisse Aldro- vandi), an Italian naturalist, born at Bologna, Sept. 11, 1522, died Nov. 10, 1607. He took his degree in medicine in 1553, was made lec- turer on natural history, and in 1568 persuaded the senate of Bologna to establish a botanic garden. He investigated meanwhile the phe- nomena of the external world with indefati- gable zeal, making journeys and employing collectors. He published works (in Latin) on birds, on insects, and on the lower animals, and after his death the profusion of materials which he had brought together was arranged in additional volumes. ALE. See BEEB, and BBEWING. ALEANDRO, Glrolamo, an Italian prelate and scholar, born Feb. 13, 1480, died Jan. 81, 1542. He was early distinguished for great and varied learning, and was associated with Aldus Ma- nutius and Erasmus at Venice. In 1508 Louis XII. called him to Paris, where he became rector of the university. He was afterward chancellor of the bishopric of Liege, in 1517 librarian of the Vatican at Rome, and in 1520 papal envoy to Germany to oppose Luther's heresy, which he did especially at the diet of Worms in the following year. Clement VII. made him archbishop of Brindisi and papal nuncio in France, and in company with Francis I. he was taken prisoner at Pavia in 1525, and ransomed. In 1531 he was again papal