Call Number:

C1248

Repository:

Princeton University Library: Manuscripts Division

Extent:

• 1 box
• 0.2 linear feet

Language:

English

Preferred Citation:

Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Horace Walpole Family Collection,>, Box and Folder Number; Special Collections, Princeton University Library.

Date:

1724-1786 (bulk) and 1724-1857 (inclusive)

Creator:

Princeton University. Library. Special Collections and Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797.

Form:

Documents -- 18th century., Engravings-- England-- 19th century., and Letters -- 18th century.

Abstract:

A collection of letters and documents of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, the English historian, Member of Parliament, connoisseur, playwright, and novelist, and of his father Sir Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford, who was to become England's longest running Prime Minister.

Horace Walpole was the third son of Sir Robert Walpole. From 1741 to 1747 he was a member of Parliament. In 1747 he acquired a small villa at Twickenham, near London, and transformed it into a Gothic showplace known as Strawberry Hill. Over the years he added cloisters, turrets, and battlements, filled the interior with pictures and curios, and amassed a valuable library. Walpole established a private press on the grounds, where he printed his own works and those of his friends. Strawberry Hill was the stimulus for the Gothic revival in English domestic architecture. Walpole's literary output was extremely varied. The Castle of Otranto (1765), which was first published anonymously, succeeded in restoring the element of romance to contemporary fiction, and his private correspondence of some 4,000 letters constitutes a survey of the history, manners, and taste of his age.

The collection consists of selected letters of Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford, and documents of his father, Robert Walpole, 1st Earl of Orford. In a letter to Philip Yorke, 2nd Earl of Hardwicke, dated January 12, 1775, Walpole relates that he is closing the "Strawberry Hill" printing press due to health reasons. There are two letters from Walpole to the Duc de Nivernais, dated January 6, 1785, and February 1, 1785, thanking the Duke for his translation into French of Walpole's Essay on Modern Gardening and for allowing him to print it at Strawberry Hill. There is also a letter from Princess Amelia to Walpole, dated June 17, 1786, and endorsed by Walpole; and there is another letter to "My Lord," dated March 17 (n.y.)

Included are four documents signed by Robert Walpole: a warrant to pay Samuel Grice £400 on November 19, 1724, signed by Walpole and others; a warrant to pay £50 to Francis Earl of Godolphin, dated September, 1732; a warrant to pay Henry Beeston, dated May, 1734; and a warrant to pay John Pitt, dated August 14, 1739.

In addition, there are several illustations: a steel engraving of Horace Walpole at the age of ten, engraved by Samuel Smith, dated 1857; a wood engraved portrait of his father Robert by Thomas Chambars; and a stipple engraved portrait also of Robert Walpole, by Edward Harding.

Organized by accession number.