Writing as ‘Q’, his literary output was quite extraordinary comprising numerous short stories, over twenty novels,over thirty non-fiction volumes and hundreds of magazine and newspaper articles. His reputation was such that he completed the final novel of Robert Louis Stevenson, ‘Ia’, at the request of Stevenson’s family. In a nice symmetry, Q’s last novel, ‘Castle Dor’ was completed at his widow’s request by Daphne du Maurier (May 13^th),  a close friend of his daughter, Foy.

Appointed Professor of English Literature at Cambridge, he created the university’s School of English Literature.  His fame was such that his public lectures were attended by over one thousand men and women. 

His non-fiction includes ‘Adventures in Criticism’ (1896), ‘The Oxford Book of English Verse (1250 – 1900), published in 1900 and which sold more than half a million copies, ‘On The Art of Writing’ (1916),  ‘On The Art of Reading’ (1920) and ‘The Oxford Book of Victorian Verse’ (1920).