Horace Walpole collection

Collection

Call Number: LWL MSS 1

Scope and Contents

The collection includes approximately 3,000 letters to and from Horace Walpole as well as other manuscript materials by him, including copies of Aedes Walpolianae and The Mysterious Mother, his commonplace books, "Books of Materials," and various miscellanies.

Dates

1725 - 1797

Creator

Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797

Language of Materials

In English, with some French and Latin.

Conditions Governing Access

The materials are open for research.

Existence and Location of Copies

Most of the correspondence in this collection has been published in The Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1937-1983). An electronic version was made available in 2011. See: http://images.library.yale.edu/hwcorrespondence/

Conditions Governing Use

Horace Walpole Collection is the physical property of The Lewis Walpole Library, Yale University. Literary rights, including copyright, belong to the authors or their legal heirs and assigns. For further information, consult the W. S. Lewis Librarian/Executive Director.

Immediate Source of Acquisition

From the bequest of W. S. Lewis and Annie Burr Lewis, with subsequent additions by purchase.

Arrangement

Organized into three series: I. Horace Walpole's Correspondence. II. Horace Walpole's Manuscripts. III. Manuscripts transcribed or annotated by Horace Walpole.

Extent

17 Linear Feet (44 boxes)

Catalog Record

A record for this collection is available in Orbis, the Yale University Library catalog

Persistent URL

https://hdl.handle.net/10079/fa/lwl.mss.001

Additional Description

Abstract

Biographical / Historical

Horace Walpole (1717-1797) was an author, politician, antiquarian, patron of the arts, and prolific letter writer. He was the youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, England's first prime minister, and moved in a circle comprised of the most influential figures in both the social and political worlds of 18th-century England. He wrote histories, fiction, plays, verse, essays, political pieces, and art catalogues, and compiled notebooks covering topics such as "Anecdotes of Painting in England," "The Catalogue of Engravers who have been born, or resided in England," "Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England, Scotland, and Ireland," and "Essay on Modern Gardening." Walpole was the author of Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third and Memoirs of the Last Ten Years of the Reign of George II. His fiction included the first gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto; the fantasy Hieroglyphic Tales; the play "Mysterious Mother"; and Fugitive Pieces in Verse and Prose.

Walpole founded the Strawberry Hill Press, which published Thomas Gray's Odes, at his gothic revival home Strawberry Hill, in Twickenham. He spent the better part of his long life building a significant collection of art and objects which he displayed at Strawberry Hill, and extensively documented in two editions of his self-published catalogue A Description of the Villa of Mr. Horace Walpole.

Accruals

The bulk of the collection was assembled by Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis from 1929 until his death in 1979. The library continues to add to the collection as materials become available.