Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's HandbookBrewer, Ebenezer Cobham
General
Character Sketches of Romance, Fiction and the Drama, Vol. 1: A Revised American Edition of the Reader's Handbook
Brewer, Ebenezer Cobham
Allusions; Fiction -- Dictionaries; Literature -- Dictionaries
Cockney (_Nicholas_), a rich city grocer, brother of Barnacle.
Priscilla Tomboy, of the West Indies, is placed under his charge for
her education.
_Walter Cockney_, son of the grocer, in the shop. A conceited young
prig, not yet out of the quarrelsome age. He makes boy-love to
Priscilla Tomboy and Miss La Blond; but says he will "tell papa" if
they cross him.
_Penelope Cockney_, sister of Walter.--_The Romp_ (altered from
Bickerstaff's _Love in the City_).
Coelebs' Wife, a bachelor's ideal of a model wife. Coelebs is the hero
of a novel, by Mrs. Hannah Moore, entitled _Coelebs in Search of a
Wife_ (1809).
In short, she was a walking calculation,
Miss Edgworth's novels stepping from their covers,
Or Mrs. Trimmer's books on education.
Or "Coelebs' wife" set out in quest of lovers.
Byron, _Don Juan_, i. 16 (1819).
COEUR DE LION, Surname of Richard of England (1157-1199.) Also
conferred upon Louis VIII. of France.
COFFIN (_Long Tom_), the best sailor character ever drawn. He is
introduced in _The Pilot_, a novel by J. Fenimore Cooper. Cooper's
novel has been dramatized by E. Fitzball, under the same name, and
Long Tom Coffin preserves in the burletta his reckless daring, his
unswerving fidelity, his simple-minded affection, and his love for the
sea.
COGIA HOUSSAIN, the captain of forty thieves, outwitted by Morgiana,
the slave. When, in the guise of a merchant, he was entertained by
Ali Baba, and refused to eat any salt, the suspicions of Morgiana was
aroused, and she soon detected him to be the captain of the forty
thieves. After supper she amused her master and his guest with
dancing; then playing with Cogia's dagger for a time, she plunged it
suddenly into his heart and killed him.--_Arabian Nights_ ("Ali Baba
or the Forty Thieves").
COL'AX. Flattery personified in _The Purple Island_ (1633), by Phineas
Fletcher. Colax "all his words with sugar spices ... lets his tongue
to sin, and takes rent of shame ... His art [_was_] to hide and not
to heal a sore." Fully described in canto viii. (Greek, _kolax_, "a
flatterer or fawner.")
COLBRAND or COLEBROND (_2 syl_.), the Danish giant, slain in the
presence of King Athelstan, by Sir Guy of Warwick, just returned
from a pilgrimage, still "in homely russet clad," and in his hand a
"hermit's staff." The combat is described at length by Drayton, in his
_Polyolbion_, xii.
One could scarcely bear his axe ...
Whose squares were laid with plates, and riveted with steel,
And armed down along with pikes, whose hardened points
... had power to tear the joints
Of cuirass or of mail.
Drayton, _Polyolbion_, xii. (1613).
COLDSTREAM (_Sir Charles_), the chief character in Charles Mathew's
play called _Used up_. He is wholly _ennuyé_, sees nothing to admire
in anything; but is a living personification of mental inanity and
physical imbecility.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account