One day in 1925 a friend asked A. J. A. Symons if he had read Fr. Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh. He hadn't, but soon did, and found himself entranced by the novel -- "a masterpiece"-- and no less fascinated by the mysterious person of its all-but-forgotten creator. The Quest for Corvo is a hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of the strange Frederick Rolfe, self-appointed Baron Corvo, an artist, writer, and frustrated aspirant to the priesthood with a bottomless talent for self-destruction. But this singular work, subtitled "an experiment in biography," is also a remarkable self-portrait, a study of the obsession and sympathy that inspires the biographer's art.

The Quest for Corvo

Biographies & Memoirs

Symons, A.J.A.

Arts & Literature

Penguin??Books

The Quest For Corvo: An Experiment In Biography

'What had happened to the lost manuscripts, what train of chances took Rolfe to his death in Venice? The Quest continued' One summer afternoon A.J.A. Symons is handed a peculiar, eccentric novel that he cannot forget and, captivated by this unknown masterpiece, determines to learn everything he can about its mysterious author. The object of his search is Frederick Rolfe, self-titled Baron Corvo - artist, rejected candidate for priesthood and author of serially autobiographical fictions - and its story is told in this 'experiment in biography': a beguiling portrait of an insoluble tangle of talents, frustrated ambitions and self-destruction.

The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography

Penguin Classic

First published in the United States in 1934, this extraordinary tale follows A.J.A. Symons's eight-year quest to uncover the life story of Frederick Rolfe - a.k.a. the Baron Corvo, a lonely, arrogant genius - and construct something remarkable of it. The author of the brilliant novel Hadrian the Seventh, Corvo was by turns a gifted painter, teacher, student of the priesthood, historian, and inventor of a process of "deep sea photography." He also had a veritable genius for making enemies and lived out his last years as a penniless exile. With letters (many of them masterpieces of invective), excerpts from his novels, and accounts of unusual interviews with Corvo's friends, fans, and enemies, Symons chronicles a passionate investigation into Corvo's secret life - and produces an uproariously comic, ultimately tragic, and stunningly rendered work of art.

Literature & Fiction

Ecco Pr

The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography (New York Review Books Classics)

NYRB Classics

One day in 1925 a friend asked A. J. A. Symons if he had read Fr. Rolfe's "Hadrian the Seventh." He hadn't, but soon did, and found himself entranced by the novel -- "a masterpiece"-- and no less fascinated by the mysterious person of its all-but-forgotten creator. "The Quest for Corvo" is a hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of the strange Frederick Rolfe, self-appointed Baron Corvo, an artist, writer, and frustrated aspirant to the priesthood with a bottomless talent for self-destruction. But this singular work, subtitled "an experiment in biography," is also a remarkable self-portrait, a study of the obsession and sympathy that inspires the biographer's art.

Literary Licensing, LLC

After having it recommended to him by friend, A.J.A. Symons read Frederick Rolfe's Hadrian the Seventh in 1925 and found himself entranced by the novel and by its mysterious and all-but-forgotten author. This book is a hilarious and heartbreaking portrait of the strange Frederick Rolfe, an artist, writer, and frustrated aspirant to the priesthood with a talent for self-destruction, but it is also a self-portrait, a study of the obsession and sympathy that inspires the biographer's art. Siguiendo la recomendación de un amigo, en 1925 A.J.A. Symons leyó Hadrian the Seventh y quedó anonadado por la obra y por su misterioso y prácticamente olvidado autor. Este libro es un retrato graciosísimo y desgarrador del excéntrico Frederick Rolfe, artista, escritor, y aspirante frustrado al seminario con un verdadero talento para la destrucción propia., pero es también un auto-retrato, un estudio de la obsesión y la simpatía que inspiran el arte del biógrafo.

En busca del barón Corvo: Un experimento biográfico (Libros Del Asteroide) (Spanish Edition)

Libros del Asteroide

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Symons, A.J.A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Symons, A.J.A.

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Symons, A.J.A.. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

The Quest for Corvo

The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography

The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography

The Quest for Corvo: An Experiment in Biography (New York Review Books Classics)

The Quest For Corvo: An Experiment In Biography

The Quest For Corvo: An Experiment In Biography

En busca del barón Corvo: Un experimento biográfico (Libros Del Asteroide) (Spanish Edition)