Matthew Lewis is best remembered as the author of the sensational Gothic novel The Monk . He was also a slave-owner, inheriting two large plantations and making two visits to Jamaica to investigate the living and working conditions of his slaves. His anecdotal record, the Journal of a West India Proprietor , offers a vivid account of plantation life from the slave owner's perspective. This edition provides full contextual background and includes Lewis' verse narrative The Isle of Devils , as well as a telling last letter and extract from his papers.