1860-1913. English writer, who called himself
Baron Corvo. A Roman Catholic convert,
frustrated in his desire to enter the
priesthood, he wrote the novel Hadrian VII
1904, in which the character of the title
rose from being a poor writer to become pope.
In Desire and Pursuit of the Whole 1934 he
wrote about his homosexual fantasies and
friends, earning the poet Auden's description
of him as `a master of vituperation'.