C.D. Warner, et al., comp.
The Library of the World’s Best Literature. An Anthology in Thirty Volumes. 1917.
Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford (1717–1797)
Walpole, Horace, later Earl of Orford. An English author, letter-writer, and dilettante; born in London, Sept. 24, 1717; died there, March 2, 1797. On an estate he bought near Twickenham, in a mansion he built, he established a library and museum, and set up a private press (1757), on which, with others, he printed his own works. He compiled ‘A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England’ (1758); ‘Anecdotes of Painters in England’ (1761–71); ‘Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of Richard III.’ (1768); and other works. He wrote: ‘The Castle of Otranto,’ a romance (1764); ‘The Mysterious Mother,’ a tragedy (1768); ‘Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of the Reign of George II.’ (1822); and other works. His many interesting letters are his chief title to literary fame. They were published in 9 vols., 1857–59. (See Critical and Biographical Introduction).