15 OCTOBER 1954, Page 17

SPECTATOR COMPETITION No. 244 Set by Allan 0. Wai0 A

recent volume of brief biographies described Byron as 'The " Perfect Lover," who

• chewed tobacco, bit his fingernails and drank wine out of human skulls,' while the chapter on Dickens is headed: ' He only went to school for four years—yet he wrote 17 immortal novels.' A prize of £5 is offered for similarly succinct descriptions of any five of the following: Hamlet, Heathcliff, Mr. Polly, Don Juan, Socrates, Lady Macbeth, Sancho Panza, Father Brown, Anna Karenina, Gulliver.

Entries, addressed 'Spectator Competition No. 244,' 99 Gower Street, London, W.C.1, must be received not later than October 26. Results in the Spectator of November 5.