HORACE WALPOLE The Castle of Otranto A Gothic Story
W.S.LEWIS E.J.CLERY, Horace Walpole, edited by W.S. Lewis, with a new introduction and notes by E.J. Clery, Walpole, Horace
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 the text of 1798, the last that Walpole himself prepared for press This book is the earliest and most influential of the Gothic novels. 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 favorite among his numerous works. - Back cover. First published pseudonymously in 1764, "
Year:
1995
Edition:
The world's classics, Oxford, New York, England, April 1995
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
Language:
English
ISBN 10:
0192823515
ISBN 13:
9780192823519
File:
PDF, 31.64 MB
IPFS:
,
English, 1995