In 1868 he published Studies in French Poetry.
Three years later he began his collaboration with writer James Rice.
Among their joint productions are Ready-money Mortiboy (1872), and The Golden Butterfly (1876), both, especially the latter, very successful.
This association was ended by the death of Rice in 1882.
Thereafter Besant continued to write voluminously by himself, his main novels being All in a Garden Fair (which Rudyard Kipling credited in Something of Myself with inspiring him to leave India and make a career as a writer, and which George Gissing read with 'extreme delight', calling it 'one of the most charming and delicate of modern novels), Dorothy Forster (his own favorite), Children of Gibeon, and All Sorts and Conditions of Men.
The two last belonged to a series in which he endeavored to arouse the public conscience to the hardship among the poorest classes of cities.
In this crusade Besant had considerable success, the establishment of The People's Palace in the East of London being one result.
His 1889 novel The Bell of St. Paul's was considered by his contemporary author George Gissing to be an 'absurd and empty book'.
In addition to his fiction, Besant wrote largely on the history and topography of London.
His plans for this topic were left unfinished: among his books on this subject is London in the 18th Century.

Besant was a freemason, joining the Lodge of Harmony in Mauritius in 1862.
He became Master of Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge, London in 1873, having joined in 1869.
He was one of the founders of the first Masonic research lodge, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No 2076, of which he was the first treasurer from 1886.
He was also one of the founders and first chair of the Society of Authors in 1884.
He was knighted in the 1895 Birthday Honours.

He was treasurer of the "Atlantic Union", an association which sought to improve social relations between Britons and Americans.
He died in Frognal in London on 9 June 1901, aged 64.
In 1868 he published Studies in French Poetry. Three years later he began his collaboration with writer James Rice. Among their joint productions are Ready-money Mortiboy (1872), and The Golden Butterfly (1876), both, especially the latter, very successful. This association was ended by the death of Rice in 1882. Thereafter Besant continued to write voluminously by himself, his main novels being All in a Garden Fair (which Rudyard Kipling credited in Something of Myself with inspiring him to leave India and make a career as a writer, and which George Gissing read with 'extreme delight', calling it 'one of the most charming and delicate of modern novels), Dorothy Forster (his own favorite), Children of Gibeon, and All Sorts and Conditions of Men. The two last belonged to a series in which he endeavored to arouse the public conscience to the hardship among the poorest classes of cities. In this crusade Besant had considerable success, the establishment of The People's Palace in the East of London being one result. His 1889 novel The Bell of St. Paul's was considered by his contemporary author George Gissing to be an 'absurd and empty book'. In addition to his fiction, Besant wrote largely on the history and topography of London. His plans for this topic were left unfinished: among his books on this subject is London in the 18th Century.
Besant was a freemason, joining the Lodge of Harmony in Mauritius in 1862. He became Master of Marquis of Dalhousie Lodge, London in 1873, having joined in 1869. He was one of the founders of the first Masonic research lodge, Quatuor Coronati Lodge No 2076, of which he was the first treasurer from 1886. He was also one of the founders and first chair of the Society of Authors in 1884. He was knighted in the 1895 Birthday Honours.
He was treasurer of the "Atlantic Union", an association which sought to improve social relations between Britons and Americans. He died in Frognal in London on 9 June 1901, aged 64.
Walter Besant