The College of St. John and Holy Ghost, dormant and subdued by its academic life, is revolutionized by the return of the brilliant and evil Professor Parlabane and by the complicated inheritance the university has just received from Arthur Cornish, one of the most important Canadian art collectors of the twentieth century. The suspicions among the executors of Cornish’s will?professors Hollier, McVarnish and Darcourt?reach a boiling point when an unedited Rabelais manuscript is discovered among the objects in the will, and the greed brought about by the coveted manuscript will reveal each of the novel’s characters’ true colors. With this tale of intrigue, Davies takes us on a tour of academic life, arts patronage, alchemy, collectorship, and the gypsy tradition. Although it can be read independently, this novel is the first installment of The Cornish Trilogy.

La Universidad de San Juan y el Espíritu Santo, adormecida en su absorbente vida académica, se revoluciona con el regreso del brillante y malvado profesor Parlabane y con el complicado legado que la universidad acaba de recibir de Arthur Cornish, uno de los más importantes coleccionistas de arte canadienses del siglo XX. Las suspicacias entre los albaceas del testamento de Cornish?los profesores Hollier, McVarish y Darcourt'se acrecientan al descubrir entre los objetos del legado un manuscrito inédito de Rabelais. La codicia que va a desatar el preciado manuscrito revelará el verdadero carácter de cada uno de los personajes de la novela. Con esta historia de intriga Davies nos pasea por la vida académica, el mecenazgo, la alquimia, el coleccionismo, y la tradición gitana. Aunque puede ser leída independientemente, esta novela es el primer libro de la Trilogía de Cornish.

Robertson Davies, novelist, playwright, literary critic and essayist, was born in 1913 in Thamesville, Ontario. He was educated at Queen's University, Toronto, and Balliol College, Oxford. Whilst at Oxford he became interested in the theatre and from 1938 until 1940 he was a teacher and actor at the Old Vic in London. He subsequently wrote a number of plays. In 1940 he returned to Canada, where he was literary editor of Saturday Night, an arts, politics and current affairs journal, until 1942, when he became editor and later publisher of the Peterborough Examiner. Several of his books, including The Diary of Samuel Marchbanks and The Table Talk of Samuel Marchbanks, had their origins in an editorial column. In 1962 he was appointed Professor of English at the University of Toronto, and in 1963 was appointed the first Master of the University's Massey College. He retired in 1981, but remained Master Emeritus and Professor Emeritus. He held honorary doctorates from twenty-six universities in the UK, the USA and Canada, and he received numerous awards for his work, including the Governor-General's Award for The Manticore in 1973. It is as a writer of fiction that Robertson Davies achieved international recognition, with such books as The Salterton Trilogy (Tempest-Tost, Leaven Of Malice, winner of the Leacock Award for Humour, and A Mixture Of Frailties); The Deptford Trilogy (Fifth Business, The Manticore and World Of Wonders); The Cornish Trilogy (The Rebel Angels, What's Bred in the Bone, shortlisted for the 1986 Booker Prize, and The Lyre of Orpheus); Murther & Walking Spirits; and The Cunning Man. His other work includes One Half of Robertson Davies, The Enthusiasms of Robertson Davies, Robertson Davies: The Well-Tempered Critic, The Papers of Samuel Marchbanks, High Spirits, A Voice From The Attic and The Merry Heart, a posthumous collection of autobiography, lectures and essays. Many of his books are published by Penguin.

Robertson Davies died in December 1995. Malcolm Bradbury described him as 'one of the great modern novelists', and in its obituary The Times wrote: 'Davies encompassed all the great elements of life...His novels combined deep seriousness and psychological inquiry with fantasy and exuberant mirth.'

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"Robertson Davies is the sort of novelist readers can hardly wait to tell their friends about."  “Washington Post

"He is one of the most learned, amusing and otherwise accomplished novelists of our time. His novels will be recognized with the very best work of this century."  ?John Kenneth Galbraith, author, The Affluent Society

"Robertson Davies is one of the great modern novelists."  “Sunday Times

"Davies is author to one of the most consistent narrative works of the 20th century."  “La Vanguardia

"Full of the splended ironies and fateful turns, as well as the fascinating characters, one expects from Davies."  “Chicago Tribune, on the English-Language edition

"[T]he greatest comic writer since Dickens."  “John Irving, author, The Cider House Rules