Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 09.djvu/33

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page needs to be proofread.
*
15
*

GOLD LACE. 15 the thread have been tried, and for some purposes are successful ; but none have yet been discovered which give the thread the same degree of lustre as the above, which was lirst practiced in a ruder manner by the Hindus. Much of the so-called gold lace of commerce is made of an alloy known as Dutch metal. Silver Lace is made in the same manner as gold lace, e.ccpt th.Tt the gold coating is omitted. Both gold and silver lace are used extensively for military and other uniforms, ar.d for ornamental effects in women's apparel. GOLD LEAF. See Gold-Beating. GOLDMARK, gold'miirk, Karl (1832—). An Austrian ^•onipo^ci. He was born in Keszthely, Hungary, and, musically, was largely self-taught, although he had some instruction on the vio- lin from .Tansa in Vienna in 1844, and three years later took lessons in composition from Bohm. Firmly believing in his musical talent, he devoted himself almost entirely to composi- tion. Overcoming the most difficult obstacles, he so far succeeded as to give his first public concert in Vienna at the age of twenty-six years, a pianofoite concerto of his own being a feature of the programme. Outside of Germany he is better known through his orchestral suites and arrangements and smaller instrumental and vocal compositions than for his operas, although in his o^vn country, as well as in Germany, they are regarded as standard. His ])ublislied works include: Operas — Die Kiinigin von Saba, his chief operatic success (1875); Merlin (1886); Das Heimchen am Herd ( 189G, from Dickens's Cricket on the Hearth); Die Kriegsgefangene (1899); and several others not yet published or produced m public. The overtures to I'rumctheiis Hound and to Sappho are universal favorites. Other compositions are: Sturm und Drang (for piano- forte, op. r.|. Symphonies — IjihidUche Hoeli-rit; the Sakuntala overture (op. 13), a well-known concert work; and Iin Jriihliii<i: Scherzo in A (for orchestra) ; songs, choruses, etc. GOLD OF PLEASURE, False Flax {Came- lina). A genus of plants of the order Cruciferae. The common gold of pleasure (Catnelina sativa) {Ft. Cameline, Ger. Dof<cr) is an annual, one and a half to three feet high, with smooth, bright green, entire or slightly toothed leaves, the middle stem-leaves arrow-shaiied and embracing the stem, and terminal racemes and pear-shaped pouches. Notwithstanding its liigh-snunding Eng- lish name, the plant is of humble and homely appearance. It grows in fields and waste places of Europe and the north of Asia, but is not regarded as a native of America, although often found in fields, particularly of flax. Its seed is very commonly mixed with flaxseed imported from other lands In many parts of Germany, Belgium, and the south of Europe it is extensively cultivated for the sake of its seeds, which are rich in oil, and the oil cake of which, as well as the seeds, though inferior to linseed and lin- seed-oil cake, is also used for feeding cattle. The oil. although sweet and pure at first, is very apt to become rancid, and is less valued than that of rnpeseed or colza, with which it is often mixed. The value of the plant in agriculture depends much on its adaptation to poor sandy soils, although it prefers those of a better qual- ity; and on account of its rapid growth, to secondary cropping and green manuring. Since it readily scatters seed, it is likely to become a GOLDONL weed pest; it is not much cultivated in any part of . ierica. The stems, which are tough, lilinius, ami durable, are ised for tliatching and making brooms; their fibre is even used for coarse paper. See Camelina. GOLDONI, gol-do'ne. Carlo (1707-93). The most celebrated Italian writer of comedy. He was born in Venice, February 25, 1707, of a good family, which lost its property in his child- hood. His fatlicr, a jiliysician, took him to Perugia, where he first entered school. He was encouraged by his father in his strong taste for the literature of classic comedy, and was given an opportunity for practice on tlie amateur stage. But the boy showed no aptitude for such per- formances, and was sent to Pavia to study for the Church. Still less fitted, however, for being an ecclesiastic than for being an actor, he was finally expelled from college for writing scurri- lous satires. He studied law. and was admitted as an advocate, getting his degree from Padua in 1732, after his father's death. But the legal profession did not prove lucrative, and he re- linquished its practice to set about composing comic almanacs, which became highly popular. In this early part of his career he wrote a few tragedies, among them Belisario, and several of his minor comedies were represented, attracting public favor by their novelty as well as their merits. In 1736 he married the daughter of a notary of Genoa, and about 1740 was for a sliort time consul of Genoa at Venice. Financial difficulties, however, occasionally hampered him in literary work, until, having obtained an introduc- tion to Prince Lobkowitz, he was intrusted with the composition of an ode in honor of Maria Theresa, and with the organization of the theat- rical entertainments of the Austrian Army. Subsequently for a time he lived at Florence and Pisa. He returned to Venice in 1747 to write for a manager named Medebac. and five years later he made still more lucrative ar- rangements at the Theatre of Saint Luke, where much of his best work was done. In 1701 he was invited to France, where he was soon ap- pointed Italian master to the royal children, a situation which allowed him to devote himself tranquilly to his literary occupations. He began after a time to write in French, and J.e bournt biertfaisant, composed for the wedding of Louis XVI., excited the admiration even of Voltaire. On the breaking out of the Eevnlution Goldoni lost his pension, but after his death (February 6, 1793) it was restored to his widow. He left about one hundred and fifty comedies of very unequal merit, some of the most noted of which are: La donna di garbo ; La bottega del caff^.; 1,11 hirnndiern : U (liorritorr : II vecc/iic liiz:urro; and L'adulatore. His ambition was to dispense with some of the conventional accessories of the comic stage of his time, and elevate that branch of the national drama from the buffooneries into which it had fallen. In this he succeeded. He was a great admirer of Moli&re, and the larger part of his works are inimitable representations of the events of daily life, under both their simplest and their most comjilex aspects. Consult: the' .l/pmot>.<t of Carlo Ooldoni, trans, by John Black, with an essay bv Howells (Bos- ton, 1877) ; Gherardini, Vita di Carlo Ooldoni. prefixed to the collected comedies (Alilan. 1821) ; Molnienti, Carlo Goldoni (Venice, 1875) ; Galanti, Ooldoni e Venezia, nel sccolo X^ III. (Padua,