Arthur Quiller-Couch Arthur Quiller-Couch Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch (; 21 November 186312 May 1944) was a Cornish writer who published using the pseudonym Q. Although a prolific novelist, he is remembered mainly for the monumental publication "The Oxford Book Of English Verse 1250–1900" (later extended to 1918) and for his literary criticism. He influenced many who never met him, including American writer Helene Hanff, author of "84, Charing Cross Road" and its sequel, "Q's Legacy". His "Oxford Book of English Verse" was a favourite of John Mortimer fictional character Horace Rumpole. Arthur Quiller-Couch was born in the town of Bodmin, Cornwall, by
Richard Quiller Couch Bell's "British Stalk-eyed Crustacea," 1853. Couch was also interested in Cornish geology, and did useful work in developing the difficult subject of Cornish fossil remains. From 1848 onwards he was curator of the Royal Geological Society of Cornwall, and contributed to its "Transactions" several valuable papers, as well as annual reports. The diseases of the Cornish miners were a subject of his careful investigation, and his papers on the mortality of miners in the "Polytechnic Reports" (185760) are, as far as they go, of permanent value; they were translated into French. Couch died, in the full vigour of his powers,