July 16, 2000 - John Morgan, a dashingly dapper dandy who took it upon himself to dictate to the proper English about proper manners, down to the correct attire for impressing a former wife's rich young boyfriend, fell to his death on July 10 from the window of his third-floor London apartment. He was 41.

Mr. Morgan wrote a weekly etiquette column for The Times of London, was style editor of the British edition of GQ magazine and in 1996 wrote "Debrett's New Guide to Etiquette and Manners," published by Headline, which was a best seller in England. Two months ago, when a collection of his columns, "The Times Book of Modern Manners," was published by HarperCollins, the publication was celebrated at a glittering party at the Royal Opera House.

His influence was suggested by the fact that the Conservative Party leader, William Hague, accepted his unsolicited advice to stop wearing baseball caps.

Mr. Morgan never shrank from taking controversial stands, like his stalwart opposition to the public breast-feeding of infants.

"Thoughtful hosts offer lactating visitors a quiet room where they can feed away from the general throng," he wrote.

Mr. Morgan's range of knowledge extended from proper dress for a royal garden party (pants suits are frowned upon) to sartorial recommendations for a sexual fetish party. "Come on, loosen up," he urged a nervous correspondent.

Mr. Morgan knew the proper way to eat a banana. "The best technique involves first laying the banana horizontally across your fruit plate, cutting off each end and then slicing the skin lengthways," he wrote. Pomegranates? These, he said, are best devoured privately, if at all.

Mr. Morgan's personal sense of high style was reflected by the 300 monogrammed shirts, 90 pairs of handmade shoes and 60 Savile Row suits found in his small apartment. He packed his shirts for weekend visits in tissue paper and transported his shoes in a special wicker basket. He cashed his checks at the luxury hotel Claridge's.

News reports in London said the police did not suspect foul play in his death. His body was found on the sidewalk outside his home in Albany Court near Piccadilly. His death was attributed to severe head injuries.

An article in The Guardian quoted some of his friends as saying he may have been experiencing financial difficulties. Some said he had suffered occasional bouts of depression, treated with antidepressants. He never married and lived alone.

Anthony John Morgan was born on May 28, 1959, in Sunderland, England, and moved to Perth, Scotland, when he was very young. His father, Basil, worked as a manager for Royal Dutch Shell in Perth. He, his mother, Annie, and a brother survive him. All live in Scotland.

Though his cultivated accent bespoke Eton or Harrow, his educational background actually included the Cheltenham Art School, where he supplemented his income by playing the piano in a local restaurant. He then moved to London, where he worked as an assistant to Percy Savage, a prominent public relations executive.

He worked for The Guardian newspaper, on the fashion beat, then joined GQ, Condé Nast's new magazine, in 1988. He became style editor with responsibility for a section of the magazine.

"He was incredibly courteous," Dylan Jones, the current editor of GQ told The Guardian "He was a great charmer, very thoughtful, very kind and funny. He was the best dressed man I ever met."

Mr. Morgan wrote the Times column for three years, and editors said he received great amounts of mail. But not all his notices were favorable. An article by Matthew Engel in The Guardian last month chided Mr. Morgan for an inclination "to be prescriptive and proscriptive." In particular, the recommendation that birth announcements weigh precisely 335 grams struck Mr. Engel as excessively persnickety.

But Mr. Morgan liked to have the last word. He wrote in his new book that death is becoming more stylish as the population ages, and included a chapter titled "Death Duties."

He advised, "Every effort should be made to do things well and this includes the dress of mourners."