BESANT, Want', SIR Walter, English novelist: b. Portsmouth, England, 14 Aug. 1836; d. London, 9 June 1901. He was educated in London and at Christ's College, Cambridge, where he graduated with mathematical honors. He was for a time professor in the Royal Col lege, Mauritius. His first work, (Studies in Early French Poetry,' appeared in 1868, and to the field of French literature also belong his (French Humorists' (1873), and his (Rabe lais> (1877 for the Foreign Classics series). He was for years secretary to the Palestine Ex ploration Fund, and published a (History of Jerusalem) (1f371) in conjunction with Pro fessor Palmer, the life of whom he also wrote.
The (Survex of Western Palestine) was edited by him. He is best known by his novels, a num ber of which were written in partnership with James Rice, including 'Ready-Money Mord boy' (1f372);
Palace in London; (All in a Garden Fair) (1883); (Dorothy Foster' (1884), which in his own estimation was his best work; (The World Went Very Well Then' (1887) ; (The Ivory Gate' (1f392); 'The Rebel Queen) (1893); (Beyond the Dreams of Avarice' (1895); (The Orange Girl> (1899); (The Alabaster Box' (1900) (The Story of King Alfred' (1901), etc. A;nong his other works are 'The Eulogy of Richard Jefferies> (1888). He labored for many years to promote the interests of all members of the literary profession, and was editor of the monthly The Author. In 1894 he projected a great survey of London, which was intended to bring the history of the city from the earliest times down to the end of the 20th century, and wrote four volumes of preliminary studies with that end in view, but he did not live to complete the undertaking. He was knighted in 1895.