Indeed, her account lacks the rich density of detail that distinguished Henri Troyat's magisterial study of the writer; and it lacks the sense of immediacy that makes the couple's own diaries so absorbing to read.

John Marszalek's magisterial 1993 study saw Sherman, whose private life was chaotic at best, as devoted nevertheless to "order," a control freak who sought always to curb unruliness.

She is best known for her magisterial study of the Irish harvest festival, The Festival of Lughnasa (1962, 1983).

FALSTAFF," writes Julian Budden, the author of the magisterial three-volume study "The Operas of Verdi," "was never to become a popular favorite.

In the 1960's, when a papal commission re-examined Catholic teaching on contraception, a magisterial 1965 study by Noonan, tracing the history of the doctrine, was widely used to support change.

Just four years ago, Malcolm Bell Jr. told the story of five generations of the Butler family in his magisterial study "Major Butler's Legacy."

Mr. Wilson has since won two Pulitzer Prizes, for his speculative book, "Human Nature," and his magisterial study "The Ants" (written with Burt Holldobler).

George Steiner begins his magisterial study of translation, "After Babel," by making the point that every act of comprehension is an act of translation.

She's Hester Prynne, the dark lady of "The Scarlet Letter," Nathaniel Hawthorne's magisterial study of sin and salvation in Puritan New England.