Horace Walpole’s Gothic Castles, Part 1

Oct 21, 2024

Explore the fascinating life of Horace Walpole, the father of gothic literature. Discover his stunning Strawberry Hill castle and its impact on the Gothic revival. Delve into his early life, strained family dynamics, and the friendship with Thomas Gray that shaped his adventures in France and Italy. Uncover the emotional turmoil he faced after his mother's death and how his travels inspired his architectural innovations. This journey through Walpole's legacy reveals a captivating blend of literature, architecture, and personal struggles.

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Intro

00:00 • 2min

The Life and Legacy of Horace Walpole

01:34 • 4min

Struggles and Alliances: The Early Life of Horace Walpole

05:08 • 5min

Walpole's Personal Turmoil and Patronage

10:01 • 8min

Contrasting Journeys: Walpole and Gray

18:06 • 5min

Walpole's Italian Odyssey and Gothic Legacy

22:44 • 10min

The Legacy of Horace Walpole

32:27 • 14min

Career Paths and Gothic Revival

46:36 • 5min

Horace Walpole is best known for his gothic novel "The Castle of Otranto," but he lived a lot of life before that. The first part of this two-parter covers his early life, his travels with his friend Thomas Gray, and his time in Parliament.

Research:

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"Walpole, Horace." American Revolution Reference Library, edited by Barbara Bigelow, et al., vol. 2: Biographies, Vol. 2, UXL, 2000, pp. 459-465. Gale In Context: U.S. History, link.gale.com/apps/doc/CX3411900071/GPS?u=mlin_n_melpub&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=9d8ef915. Accessed 23 Sept. 2024.
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Scott, Walter. “Introduction.” From Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story. James Ballantine and Company. 1811. https://play.google.com/books/reader?id=QXw4AAAAYAAJ
Silver, Sean R. “Visiting Strawberry Hill: Horace Walpole’s Gothic Historiography.” Eighteenth Century Fiction, Volume 21, Number 4, Summer 2009, pp. 535-564 (Article). https://doi.org/10.1353/ecf.0.0079
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Vickery, Amanda. “Horace Walpole and Strawberry Hill.” The Guardian. 2/19/2010. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2010/feb/20/horace-walpole-strawberry-hill
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Walker, Susan. “24. Choice 14: Walpole’s Chattertoniana.” Horace Walpole at 300. https://campuspress.yale.edu/walpole300/tag/thomas-chatterton/
Walpole, Horace and L.B. Seeley. “Horace Walpole and his world.” New York, C. Scribner's Sons. 1895. https://archive.org/details/horacewalpolehis00wal
Walpole, Horace. “A description of the villa of Mr. Horace Walpole, youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole Earl of Orford, at Strawberry-Hill near Twickenham, Middlesex : with an inventory of the furniture, pictures, curiosities, &c.” Strawberry-Hill : Printed by Thomas Kirgate. 1784. https://archive.org/details/descriptionofvil00walp_0/page/n175/mode/1up
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