Literary notes about Proprietor (AI summary)
The term proprietor appears in literature as a flexible marker of ownership and authority, whether referring to the owner of an estate, business, or even a pivotal social role. In some narratives it denotes an individual who controls physical property or trade, as with the proprietor of a hotel [1] or that of a coffee house [2], while in economic and political discourse it signifies secure possession and the rights vested in ownership [3], [4]. It may also serve to underscore a character's social status or influence, in contexts ranging from the whimsical, where one is dubbed proprietor of knights [5], to more serious business or landholding roles in classic treatises and memoirs [6], [7].
- Mr. MacDougall was the proprietor of the principal hotel of York.
— from Toronto of Old by Henry Scadding - Soon the proprietor returned with a small can of chicory.
— from All About Coffee by William H. Ukers - In the present state of Europe, the proprietor of a single acre of land is as perfectly secure in his possession as the proprietor of 100,000.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - The proprietor of stock is properly a citizen of the world, and is not necessarily attached to any particular country.
— from An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations by Adam Smith - “And so I’m proprietor of some knights,” said I, as we rode off.
— from A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain - “Stuart,” she said, “was only my keeper; my real name is Ranson, and I am the mistress of a rich landed proprietor.
— from The Memoirs of Jacques Casanova de Seingalt, 1725-1798. Complete by Giacomo Casanova - The proprietor was at home and, learning of my arrival, he invited General Hurlbut and me to dine with him.
— from Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, Complete by Ulysses S. Grant
