Matthew Gregory Lewis (July 9, 1775 - May 14, 1818) was an English novelist and dramatist, often referred to as "Monk" Lewis, because of the success of his Gothic novel, The Monk. July 9 is the 190th day of the year (191st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 175 days remaining. ... 1775 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... May 14 is the 134th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (135th in leap years). ... 1818 is a common year starting on Thursday. ... Royal motto (French): Dieu et mon droit (Translated: God and my right) Englands location within the British Isles Official language English de facto Capital London de facto Largest city London Area – Total Ranked 1st UK 130,395 km² Population – Total (mid-2004) – Total (2001 Census) – Density Ranked 1st UK... A novel is an extended work of written, narrative, prose fiction, usually in story form; the writer of a novel is a novelist. ... A dramatist is an author of dramatic compositions, usually plays. ... Strawberry Hill, an English villa in the Gothic revival style, built by seminal Gothic writer Horace Walpole The gothic novel is a literary genre that belongs to Romanticism and began in Britain with The Castle of Otranto (1764) by Horace Walpole. ... The Monk is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis that first appeared in 1796. ...

He was born in London and educated for a diplomatic career at Westminster School and Christ Church, Oxford, spending most of his vacations abroad in the study of modern languages; and in 1794 he went to the Hague as attache to the British embassy. Although he only stayed a few months, it was there that he produced, in ten weeks, his romance Ambrosio, or the Monk, which was published in the summer of the following year. It immediately achieved celebrity; but some passages it contained were of such a nature that about a year after its appearance, an injunction to restrain its sale was moved for and a rule nisi obtained. Lewis published a second edition from which he removed what he thought were the objectionable passages, but the work regained much of its horrific character. Lord Byron in English Bards and Scotch Reviewers wrote of "Wonder-working Lewis, Monk or Bard, who fain wouldst make Parnassus a churchyard; Even Satan's self with thee might dread to dwell, And in thy skull discern a deeper hell." The Houses of Parliament and the clock tower containing Big Ben Part of the London skyline viewed from the South Bank London is the capital city of England and the United Kingdom. ... Motto: Dat Deus Incrementum The Royal College of St. ... College name Christ Church Named after Jesus Christ Established 1546 Sister College Trinity College Dean The Very Revd Christopher Andrew Lewis JCR President William The Pimp Dorsey Undergraduates 426 Graduates 154 Home page Boat Club Christ Church, called in Latin ̠des Christi (i. ... 1794 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Arms of The Hague The Hague (with capital T; Dutch: Den Haag, formerly also s-Gravenhage) is the administrative capital of the Netherlands, located in the west of the country, in the province South Holland of which it is also the capital. ... The Monk is a Gothic novel by Matthew Gregory Lewis that first appeared in 1796. ... A decree nisi (non-absolute ruling) is a ruling by a court that does not have any force until such time that a particular condition is met. ... Lord Byron, English poet Lord Byron (1803), as painted by Elisabeth Vigee-Lebrun George Gordon Byron, 6th Baron Byron, (January 22, 1788 РApril 19, 1824) was the most widely read English language poet of his day. ...

Whatever its demerits, ethical or aesthetic, may have been, The Monk did not interfere with the reception of Lewis into the best society; he was favorably noticed at court, and almost as soon as he came of age he obtained a seat in the House of Commons as member for Hindon, Wiltshire. After some years, during which he never addressed the House, he finally withdrew from a parliamentary career. His tastes lay wholly in the direction of literature, and The Castle Spectre (1796), a musical drama of no great literary merit, but which enjoyed a long popularity on the stage, The Minister (a translation from Friedrich Schiller's Kabale und Liebe), Rolla (1797, a translation from Kotzebue), and numerous other operatic and tragic pieces, appeared in rapid succession. The Bravo of Venice, a romance translated from the German, was published in 1804; after The Monk it is his best known work. The death of his father left him with large fortune, and in 1815 he set off for the West Indies to visit his estates; in the course of this tour, which lasted four months, the Journal of a West Indian Proprietor, published posthumously in 1833, was written. A second visit to Jamaica was undertaken in 1817, in the hope of becoming more familiar with, and able to ameliorate, the condition of the slave population; the fatigues to which he exposed himself in the tropical climate brought on a fever which resulted in his death during the homeward voyage. British House of Commons Canadian House of Commons In some bicameral parliaments of a Westminster System, the House of Commons has historically been the name of the elected lower house. ... Hindon is a small town in Wiltshire, United Kingdom. ... 1796 was a leap year starting on Friday. ... Friedrich Schiller Johann Christoph Friedrich von Schiller (November 10, 1759 – May 9, 1805), usually known as Friedrich Schiller, was a German poet, philosopher, historian, and dramatist. ... 1797 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... 1804 was a leap year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Battle of New Orleans 1815 was a common year starting on Sunday (see link for calendar). ... The Caribbean or the West Indies is a group of islands in the Caribbean Sea. ... 1833 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ... 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ...

The Life and Correspondence of M. G. Lewis, in two volumes, was published in 1839. 1839 was a common year starting on Tuesday (see link for calendar). ...

External links

• Online edition of The Monk
• Works by Matthew Gregory Lewis at Project Gutenberg

Project Gutenberg (often abbreviated as PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize, archive, and distribute cultural works. ...

References

• This article incorporates text from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica, a publication in the public domain.