Horace Walpole - Author of The Castle of Otranto
Portrait by Thomas Lawrence, c. 1795
Horace Walpole (1717–1797), 4th Earl of Orford, was an English writer, historian, and politician, best known as the author of The Castle of Otranto (1764), considered the first Gothic novel. Walpole's groundbreaking work launched the Gothic literary genre, influencing renowned writers from Ann Radcliffe to Mary Shelley and Edgar Allan Poe.
Beyond his literary achievements, Walpole created the famous Strawberry Hill House, his neo-Gothic villa in Twickenham, which became an architectural symbol of the Gothic Revival movement. As a prolific letter-writer, Walpole documented 18th-century English society with remarkable wit and insight, leaving behind one of the most comprehensive records of his era.
At Rambler Press, we are proud to publish The Castle of Otranto, bringing this foundational work of Gothic literature to modern readers who appreciate classic horror and supernatural fiction.
