Fr. Rolfe.

Frederick William Rolfe, better known as Baron Corvo, and also calling himself 'Frederick William Serafino Austin Lewis Mary Rolfe', (July 22, 1860 - October 25, 1913), was an English writer, novelist, artist, fantasist and eccentric. Rolfe, Frederick William (1860-1913) Source: Weeks, Donald. ... Rolfe, Frederick William (1860-1913) Source: Weeks, Donald. ... is the 203rd day of the year (204th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1860 is the leap year starting on Sunday. ... is the 298th day of the year (299th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1913 (MCMXIII) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar (or a common year starting on Tuesday of the 13-day-slower Julian calendar). ... For other uses, see England (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Novel (disambiguation). ...

Life and work

Rolfe was born in Cheapside, London, the son of a piano manufacturer; he left school at the age of fourteen and became a teacher. He converted to Roman Catholicism in 1886 and was confirmed by Cardinal Manning. With his conversion came a strongly felt vocation to priesthood which persisted throughout his life despite being constantly frustrated and never realised. In 1887 he was sponsored to train at Oscott seminary near Birmingham and in 1889 was a student at the Scots College in Rome, but was thrown out by both due to his inability to concentrate on priestly studies. At this stage he entered the circle of the Duchess of Sforza-Cesarini, who, he claimed, adopted him as a grandson and gave him the use of the title of "Baron Corvo". This became his best-known pseudonym; he also called himself "Frank English", "Frederick Austin", "A. Crab Maid", and several other pseudonyms. More often he abbreviated his own name to "Fr. Rolfe" (an ambiguous usage, suggesting he was the priest he had hoped to become). This article is about the street in London. ... This article is about the capital of England and the United Kingdom. ... The Roman Catholic Church, most often spoken of simply as the Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with over one billion members. ... 1882 caricature from Punch Henry Edward Cardinal Manning (July 15, 1808 - January 14, 1892) was an English Catholic Archbishop and Cardinal. ... Topics in Christianity Movements · Denominations · Other religions Ecumenism · Preaching · Prayer Music · Liturgy · Calendar Symbols · Art · Criticism Important figures Apostle Paul · Church Fathers Constantine · Athanasius · Augustine Anselm · Aquinas · Palamas · Luther Calvin · Wesley Arius · Marcion of Sinope Archbishop of Canterbury · Catholic Pope Coptic Pope · Ecumenical Patriarch Christianity Portal This box:      Catholic deacon... This article is about the British city. ... The Scots College (or The Pontifical Scots College) in Rome was established by Clement VIII in 1600. ... For other uses, see Rome (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Alias. ...

As "Baron Corvo" he was an occasional contributor to the Yellow Book published by John Lane; these contributions consisted of a series called Stories Toto Told Me, humorous retellings of Italian peasant legends about the saints, later collected in book form with that title and with a larger sequel, In His Own Image. These made his early reputation, such as it was, and this was enlarged by his Chronicles of the House of Borgia (1901), a serious if idiosyncratic historical study in refulgently Baroque prose. His extensive and obsessive erudition about the Renaissance period, of which the Chronicles is the most solid result, bore fruit in his two loosely-linked and intensely imagined historical novels of the Borgia period, Don Tarquinio (described by the author as 'a Kataleptic Phantasmatic Romance'), and Don Renato. The Yellow Book, with a cover illustrated by Aubrey Beardsley. ... John Lane (March 14, 1854 - February 2, 1925) was a British publisher. ... Borja (better known by the Italian spelling of the name, Borgia) was an influential Spanish family during the Renaissance. ... For other uses, see Baroque (disambiguation). ... This article is about the European Renaissance of the 14th-17th centuries. ...

During his own period, Rolfe was also a noted photographer:

In the first volume of the Studio [a respected journal on art topics published by Gleeson White] is printed an essay on the male nude in photography which was almost certainly written by White himself, revealing him as an expert in this form of art. In the course of the article, he printed a photograph of Cecil Castle, nude, lying on his stomach, taken by Baron Corvo.^[1]

An example of one of his photographs is here reproduced, Portrait of Tito Biondi at Lake Nimi (ca. 1890-92, Private collection^[2]), and is consistent both with his techniques and chosen subjects. Rolfe also experimented with color and underwater photography:

[As one of his former friends reported,] "The Baron chiefly occupied himself in what he called 'beating up' all the well-to-do Catholics, [...] for money to aid him in carrying out schemes which he put forward of colour-photography, submarine photography, new light for instantaneous photography, and all the rest." [...] Rolfe claims to have "invented a portable light by which I can dispense with the sun." His reference is to photography by magnesium light, at that time (the early "nineties") still a novelty. It is charitable, and reasonable, to suppose that Rolfe, who, even in the admission of the Aberdeen writer [of a newspaper article on him], was an "expert" photographer, had stumbled upon some advance, or improvement, on the methods then employed.^[3]

In regard to the few paintings he made--several of which are still extant, including the fresco at St. Michael's Christchurch, Hampshire ( This is almost certainly incorrect; it has yet to be confirmed that the painting he executed here was a fresco,a painting on canvas affixed to the wall or a wall hanging. In any case, the present image is not by Rolfe.)--photography served to augment his lack of skill: "Conscious of a weakness in figure drawing, it was his custom to photograph his models, make lantern slides from the photographs, and then project the image on to the painting area so that he could sketch in an outline".^[3]

Rolfe spent most of the rest of his life as a freelance writer, mainly in England but eventually in Venice. He also executed a number of paintings and designs, including cover designs for some of his books, and some church paintings in Christchurch, Dorset and Holywell Chester( These paintings took the form of banners, lodged in the Catholic Church at Holywell and processed through the town on occasion. Rolfe painted the figures of the Saints and John Holden assisted with the lettering on the borders. Some 5 of Rolfe's banners remain in existence) . Throughout Rolfe's life, his argumentative nature made him many enemies and lost him numerous friends. Rolfe was a homosexual,^[4] and many passages of his books can be read as more or less veiled descriptions of homosexuality; this is explicit in his posthumous work 'The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole' (published 1934) in which he also took revenge on his many actual and imagined enemies. Eventually, out of money and out of luck, he died in Venice from a stroke. For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... Christchurch is a borough and town in Dorset on the English Channel coast, adjoining Bournemouth in the west, with the New Forest to the east. ... Holywell (Welsh: ) is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, north Wales, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee. ... For the larger local government district, see Chester (district). ... Since its coinage, the word homosexuality has acquired multiple meanings. ...

Tito Biondi at Lake Nimi Photograph by Rolfe; ca. 1890-92.

Rolfe's design for Don Tarquinio.

Rolfe's fiction steers well clear of any 'mainstream'. His works still find interested readers today, perhaps largely on account of his prose style and the unusual personality it reveals; erudite, ornate, and somewhat precieux, they belong on the same shelf with Symbolist prose poetry. His most autobiographical novel is Nicholas Crabbe and his best-known by far (and least-distracting in its eccentricities) is Hadrian the Seventh (1904), a fantasy autobiography in which an obscure literary Englishman, George Arthur Rose, bearing many similarities to Rolfe (including his heavy smoking) is elected Pope and moves forward with an ambitious programme to set the world to rights. Fr. ... Fr. ... Prose is writing distinguished from poetry by its greater variety of rhythm and its closer resemblance to everyday speech. ... La mort du fossoyeur (The death of the gravedigger) by Carlos Schwabe is a visual compendium of Symbolist motifs. ... // Prose poetry is usually considered a form of poetry written in prose that breaks some of the normal rules associated with prose discourse, for heightened imagery or emotional effect, among other purposes. ... Hadrian the Seventh is probably the best-known work of the English novelist Frederick Rolfe, who wrote as Baron Corvo. Published in 1904, this novel of extreme wish-fulfilment developed out of an article he wrote on the Papal Conclave to elect the successor to Pope Leo XIII. The prologue... For other uses, see Pope (disambiguation). ...

The book was very successfully adapted by Peter Luke as a stage production in London in 1968, in which the part of Hadrian/Rolfe was played by Alec McCowen. Further productions with Barry Morse played in Australia, on Broadway, and in a short USA national tour. Alec McCowen (born May 26, 1925) is an English actor, best known for classical roles including Shakespeare. ... Barry Morse in Space: 1999, 1975 Barry Morse (born June 10, 1918, Shoreditch) is an English actor best known for a number of his television roles. ... For other uses of Broadway, see Broadway. ... Motto: (traditional) In God We Trust (official, 1956–present) Anthem: The Star-Spangled Banner Capital Washington, D.C. Largest city New York City Official language(s) None at the federal level; English de facto Government Federal Republic  - President George W. Bush (R)  - Vice President Dick Cheney (R) Independence - Declared - Recognized...

Rolfe engaged in a number of ill-starred collaborations, notably with R. H. Benson (brother of E. F. Benson and A. C. Benson) on a book about St. Thomas à Becket (Rolfe's contribution to this is minimal), and with Harry Pirie-Gordon, which gave rise to two books almost entirely Rolfe's work, namely Hubert's Arthur, a historical fantasy about Arthur I, Duke of Brittany, and The Weird of the Wanderer, envisaged as a sequel to The World's Desire by Andrew Lang. Robert Hugh Benson (born November 18, 1871; died October 19, 1914) was the youngest son of Edward White Benson, Archbishop of Canterbury, and younger brother of Edward Frederic Benson. ... Edward Frederic Benson (July 24, 1867 – February 29, 1940) was an English novelist, biographer, memoirist and short story writer, known professionally as E.F. Benson. ... Arthur Christopher Benson (24 April 1862 – 17 June 1925) was one of six children of Edward White Benson, a late nineteenth-century Archbishop of Canterbury. ... Saint Thomas Becket (December 21, 1118? – December 29, 1170) was Archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 to 1170. ... Arthur I, Duke of Brittany (1187 – 1203), was the posthumous son of Geoffrey Plantagenet and Constance, Duchess of Brittany, and designated heir to the throne of England, originally intended to succeed Richard I. While Richard was away on crusade, Constance took more independence for Brittany, and in 1194 had the... The Worlds Desire, written by H. Rider Haggard and Andrew Lang, is the story of the hero, Odysseus after his return from his untold second journey. ... For the former National Basketball Association player, see Andrew Lang (basketball). ...

Bibliography

Rolfe's principal works include:

Rolfe's grave in Venice, (San Michele).

• Stories Toto Told Me (1898)
• Chronicles of the House of Borgia (1901)
• Tarcissus the Boy Martyr of Rome (1901)
• Nicholas Crabbe (1903-4, posthumously published 1958)
• Hadrian the Seventh (1904)
• Don Tarquinio (1905)
• Don Renato (1907-8, printed 1909 but not published, posthumously published 1963)
• Hubert's Arthur (1909-11, posthumously published 1935)
• The Weird of the Wanderer (1912)
• The Desire and Pursuit of the Whole (1909, published 1934)
• In His Own Image (posthumously published 1926)
• The bull against the enemy of the Anglican race (posthumously published 1929) (an attack on Lord Northcliffe)

Image File history File links VE_-_S._Michele_-_Tomba_di_Frederick_Rolfe_-_Foto_di_G._Dall'Orto. ... Image File history File links VE_-_S._Michele_-_Tomba_di_Frederick_Rolfe_-_Foto_di_G._Dall'Orto. ... For other uses, see Venice (disambiguation). ... San Michele, nicknamed The Island of the Dead, is the cemetery island of Venice. ... Hadrian the Seventh is probably the best-known work of the English novelist Frederick Rolfe, who wrote as Baron Corvo. Published in 1904, this novel of extreme wish-fulfilment developed out of an article he wrote on the Papal Conclave to elect the successor to Pope Leo XIII. The prologue... Alfred Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, 1st Viscount Northcliffe ( 15 July 1865 - 14 August 1922) rose from childhood poverty to become a powerful newspaper and publishing magnate, famed for buying stolid, unprofitable newspapers and transforming (some say demeaning) them to make them lively and entertaining for the...

References

From John Addington Symonds 1891 book A Problem in Modern Ethics. ...

Further reading

• Benkovitz, Miriam. Frederick Rolfe: Baron Corvo. Putnam, New York, 1977. SBN: 399-12009-2.
• Bradshaw, David. "Rolfe, Frederick William" in Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (consulted online).
• Connell, Brendan. The Translation of Father Torturo. Prime Books, 2005. Dedicated to Rolfe, this book is a clear homage to Hadrian the Seventh.
• Johnson, Pamela Hansford. The Unspeakable Skipton. Macmillan, 1959; Penguin Books (No.1529) 1961. Rolfe's life as source for the characterization of Daniel Skipton.
• Norwich, John Julius. Paradise of Cities: Venice and its Nineteenth Century Visitors. Penguin, 2004.
• Reade, Brian (ed.). Sexual Heretics; Male Homosexuality in English literature from 1850-1900 - an anthology. London, Routledge, Keegan and Paul, 1970.
• Symons, A.J.A. The Quest for Corvo. Cassell, London, 1934.
• Weeks, Donald. Corvo. Michael Joseph, London, 1971.