HEWLETT

hewlett, maurice henry (1861- ), english novelist, was born on the 22nd of january 1861, the eldest son of henry gay hewlett, of shaw hall, addington, kent. he was educated at the london international college, spring grove, isleworth, and was called to the bar in 1891. from 1896 to 1900 he was keeper of the land revenue records and enrolments. he published in 1895 two books on italy, _earthwork out of tuscany_, and (in verse) _the masque of dead florentines_. _songs and meditations_ followed in 1897, and in 1898 he won an immediate reputation by his _forest lovers_, a romance of medieval england, full of rapid movement and passion. in the same year he printed the pastoral and pagan drama of _pan and the young shepherd_, shortened for purposes of representation and produced at the court theatre in march 1905, when it was followed by the _youngest of the angels_, dramatized from a chapter in his _fool errant_. in _little novels of italy_ (1899), a collection of brilliant short stories, he showed again his power of literary expression together with a close knowledge of medieval italy. the new and vivid portraits of richard coeur de lion in his _richard yea-and-nay_ (1900), and of mary, queen of scots, in _the queen's quair_ (1904) showed the combination of fiction with real history at its best. _the new canterbury tales_ (1901) was another volume of stories of english life, but he returned to italian subjects with _the road in tuscany_ (1904); in _fond adventures, tales of the youth of the world_ (1905), two are italian tales, and _the fool errant_ (1905) purports to be the memoirs of francis antony stretley, citizen of lucca. later works were the novel _the stooping lady_ (1907), and a volume of poems, _artemision_ (1909).