Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto

Paul Baines (University of Liverpool)

The Literary Encyclopedia. Volume 1.2.1.05: English Writing and Culture from the Glorious Revolution to the French Revolution, 1689-1789.
Vol. editors: Paul Baines (University of Liverpool), Daniel Cook (University of Dundee), Pat Rogers (University of South Florida), Nicholas Seager (University of Keele)

Dates

First circulation or publication 1764

Places

England (Country of Origin)

Genres and Modes

Gothic & Ghosts
Novel

Resources

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On Christmas Eve 1764, a small book appeared in London with the title:

The Castle of Otranto, A Story, translated by William Marshall, Gent. From the original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St. Nicholas at Otranto

. The Preface explained that the book, which had been printed in black letter at Naples in 1529, had been found “in the library of an ancient catholic family in the north of England”. The events were dated to the period of the crusades but the Italian was of a kind current in about 1500, and it was suggested that it had been published as a Catholic riposte to the attack on superstition mounted by the proponents of the Reformation.

This much was obfuscation, though of an interesting kind, since the story was actually written by Horace Walpole, the

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1976 words

Citation: Baines, Paul. "The Castle of Otranto". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 07 March 2003 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=1356, accessed 19 April 2024.]

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