Horace Walpole Livres

This intriguing letter details the discovery of giants, offering a firsthand account of their existence and the implications for understanding human history and folklore. The author shares observations and reflections on the giants' physical characteristics, cultural significance, and the reactions of society to their discovery. Through vivid descriptions and personal insights, the narrative explores themes of myth versus reality, challenging readers to reconsider the boundaries of belief and the mysteries of the past.

Set against the backdrop of 18th-century England, this work explores themes of architecture, art, and the sublime through the lens of a fictionalized narrative. The story delves into the complexities of human emotion and the interplay between nature and creation, as characters navigate their relationships and aspirations within a grand cathedral setting. Walpole's vivid descriptions and intricate storytelling offer a rich tapestry that reflects the cultural and artistic movements of his time, making it a significant contribution to gothic literature.

By a mile, this is the most brilliant and most influential essay ever written on English garden history. For two centuries it mapped the whole landscape of the subject. However, the author was partial in the highest degree. Horace Walpole believed in progress, in modernization, and the superiority of everything English to almost everything that had gone before. He had a special dislike of Baroque gardens, as exemplified by Versailles, which for him symbolized absolutism, tyranny, and the oppression of nature.

This antiquarian book is a facsimile reprint of an original work, preserving its historical significance despite potential imperfections like marks and flawed pages. The reprint aims to protect and promote cultural literature, ensuring accessibility through high-quality editions that remain true to the original text.

THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO BY HORACE WALPOLE; VATHEK BY WILLIAM BECKFORD; THE VAMPYRE BY JOHN POLIDORI; AND A FRAGMENT OF A NOVEL BY LORD BYRON

Manfred, the lord of the castle of Otranto, has long lived in dread of an ancient prophecy: it's foretold that when his family line ends, the true owner of the castle will appear and claim it. In a desperate bid to keep the castle, Manfred plans to coerce a young woman named Isabella into marrying him. Isabella refuses to yield to Manfred's reprehensible plan. But once she escapes into the depths of the castle, it becomes clear that Manfred isn't the only threat. As Isabelle loses herself in the seemingly endless hallways below, voices reverberate from the walls and specters wander through the dungeons. Otranto appears to be alive, and it's seeking revenge for the sins of the past.

First published pseudonymously in 1764, The Castle of Otranto purported to be a translation of an Italian story of the time of the crusades. In it Walpole attempted, as he declared in the Preface to the second edition, `to blend the two kinds of romance: the ancient and the modern'. He gives us a series of catastrophes, ghostly interventions, revelations of identity, and exciting contests. Crammed with invention, entertainment, terror, and pathos, the novel was an immediate success and Walpole's own favourite among his numerous works. His friend, the poet Thomas Gray, wrote that he and his family, having read Otranto, were now `afraid to go to bed o'nights'. The novel is here reprinted from a text of 1798, the last that Walpole himself prepared for the press.

Three classic Gothic novels: Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, Thomas Love Peacock's Nightmare Abbey and William Beckford's Vathek

Exploring themes of incest, guilt, and tragic consequences, this play delves into the disturbing relationship between the Countess of Narbonne and her son, born from an unsettling circumstance. Haunted by her past and her deceased husband, the Countess's obsession leads to increasingly inappropriate dynamics. Initially controversial and banned for its taboo subject matter, the work has since garnered a cult following, establishing itself as a classic of Gothic literature. Its historical significance is preserved in this facsimile reprint.