Difference between revisions of "Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford" - New World Encyclopedia
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| − | '''Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford''' (24 | + | '''Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford''' (September 24, 1717 – March 2, 1797), more commonly known as '''Horace Walpole''', was a politician, writer, architectural innovator, and the youngest son of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Robert Walpole]] and cousin of [[Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson|Lord Nelson]]. The pseudo-Gothic castle which he built at his country house, [[Strawberry Hill]] near Twickenham, became the showplace of England and revived the Gothic style many decades before its Victorian successors. His more than 3,000 ''Letters'' provide insight into the intellectual side of the aristocracy of his period. His [[novel]], ''The Castle of Otranto'', heralded a new genre, the [[Gothic novel]], which which anticipated nineteenth-century Romanticism. Walpole's other important works include ''Historic Doubts on Richard III'', ''Anecdotes of Painting in England'', and ''Reminiscences''. |
== Biography == | == Biography == | ||
| − | Horace Walpole was born in [[London]], the youngest son of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Robert Walpole]]. After | + | Horace Walpole was born in [[London]], the youngest son of [[Prime Minister of the United Kingdom|British Prime Minister]] [[Robert Walpole]]. After finishing his education at [[Eton College]] and [[King's College, Cambridge]], he toured the European continent with his friend Thomas Gray from 1739 to 1741, when the two quarreled and parted. He was elected to Parliament in 1741 and served as an MP until 1767, confining himself largely to the role of spectator and defender of the memory of his father, who died in 1745. In 1747, he acquired a country house, [[Strawberry Hill]], near Twickenham, where he built a pseudo-Gothic castle, which became the showplace of England. Walpole's lasting architectural creation in southwest London, Stawberry Hill revived the Gothic style many decades before its Victorian successors. This fanciful concoction of [[neo-Gothic]] began a new architectural trend. |
| − | |||
| − | + | He was reconciled with Gray in 1745, and later published his friend's [[Pindaric Odes]], as well as many first editions of his own works from the private printing press he started at Strawberry Hill in 1757. Walpole is especially known for his letters which have great charm and polish and are invaluable pictures of [[Georgian England]]. More than 3,000 of his correspondences are extant and cover a period extending from 1732 to 1797. Among his more famous letters are with Gray, [[Sir Horace Mann]], [[Thomas Chatterton]], and [[Madame Du Deffand]]. Walpole succeeded to the earldom of Orford in 1791. Besides his enthusiasm for [[medieval architecture and trappings]], he anticipated the [[Romanticism]] of the nineteenth century with his [[Gothic romance]], ''The Castle of Otranto'' (1765). His other important works include ''Historic Doubts on Richard III'' (1768), an attempt to rehabilitate the character of Richard; ''Anecdotes of Painting in England'' (4 vol., 1762–71); and posthumous works, ''Reminiscences'' (1798) and memoirs of the reigns of George II (1822) and George III (1845, 1859). | |
| − | He was reconciled with Gray in 1745 and later published his friend's Pindaric | ||
== Politics == | == Politics == | ||
| − | Following his father's politics, he was a devotee of King George II and Queen [[Caroline of Ansbach|Caroline]], siding with them against their son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, about whom Walpole wrote spitefully in his memoirs. | + | Following his father's politics, he was a devotee of King [[George II]] and Queen [[Caroline of Ansbach|Caroline]], siding with them against their son, Frederick, [[Prince of Wales]], about whom Walpole wrote spitefully in his memoirs. |
Walpole was a frequent visitor to [[Boyle Farm]], [[Thames Ditton]], to meet both the Boyle-Walsinghams and [[Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford|Lord Hertford]]. | Walpole was a frequent visitor to [[Boyle Farm]], [[Thames Ditton]], to meet both the Boyle-Walsinghams and [[Francis Seymour-Conway, 1st Marquess of Hertford|Lord Hertford]]. | ||
| Line 34: | Line 32: | ||
==Writings== | ==Writings== | ||
| − | Strawberry Hill had its own [[printing press]] which supported | + | Strawberry Hill had its own [[printing press]], which supported Walpole's intensive literary activity. |
In 1764, he published his [[Gothic novel]], ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'', setting a literary trend to go with the architecture. From 1762 on, he published his ''Anecdotes of Painting in England'', based on [[George Vertue]]'s manuscript notes. His memoirs of the Georgian social and political scene, though heavily biased, are a useful primary source for historians. | In 1764, he published his [[Gothic novel]], ''[[The Castle of Otranto]]'', setting a literary trend to go with the architecture. From 1762 on, he published his ''Anecdotes of Painting in England'', based on [[George Vertue]]'s manuscript notes. His memoirs of the Georgian social and political scene, though heavily biased, are a useful primary source for historians. | ||
| Line 40: | Line 38: | ||
In one of the numerous letters, from January 28, 1754, he coined the word [[serendipity]] which he said was derived from a "silly fairy tale" he had read, [[The Three Princes of Serendip]]. The oft-quoted [[epigram]], "This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel," is from a letter of Walpole's to Anne, Countess of Ossory, on 16 August, 1776. The original, fuller version was in what he wrote to Sir Horace Mann on 31 Dec., 1769: "I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel – a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept." | In one of the numerous letters, from January 28, 1754, he coined the word [[serendipity]] which he said was derived from a "silly fairy tale" he had read, [[The Three Princes of Serendip]]. The oft-quoted [[epigram]], "This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel," is from a letter of Walpole's to Anne, Countess of Ossory, on 16 August, 1776. The original, fuller version was in what he wrote to Sir Horace Mann on 31 Dec., 1769: "I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel – a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept." | ||
| − | + | When Walpole's cat Selma died, [[Thomas Gray]] wrote a poem [[s: Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes|Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes]]. | |
==Personal life== | ==Personal life== | ||
| − | Walpole's sexual orientation has been the subject of speculation. He never married, engaging in a succession of unconsummated flirtations with unmarriageable women, and counted among his close friends a number of women such as [[Anne Seymour Damer]] and [[Mary Berry (writer)|Mary Berry]] named by a number of sources as [[lesbian]].<ref name=sapphick>Rictor Norton (Ed.), "A Sapphick Epistle, 1778," Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 1 December 1999, updated 23 February 2003 <http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm> Retrieved on 2007-08-16</ref> Many contemporaries described him as effeminate (one political opponent called him "a [[hermaphrodite]] horse").<ref>Paul Langford, "Walpole, Horatio , fourth earl of Orford (1717–1797)," ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28596 accessed 19 Aug 2007]</ref> The architectural historian Timothy Mowl, in his biography ''Horace Walpole: The Great Outsider'' offers the theory that Walpole was openly [[Homosexuality|homosexual]], and infers that he had an affair with Thomas Gray, dropping him during their Grand Tour in | + | Walpole's [[sexual orientation]] has been the subject of speculation. He never married, engaging in a succession of unconsummated flirtations with unmarriageable women, and counted among his close friends a number of women such as [[Anne Seymour Damer]] and [[Mary Berry (writer)|Mary Berry]] named by a number of sources as [[lesbian]].<ref name=sapphick>Rictor Norton (Ed.), "A Sapphick Epistle, 1778," Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 1 December 1999, updated 23 February 2003 <http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm> Retrieved on 2007-08-16</ref> Many contemporaries described him as effeminate (one political opponent called him "a [[hermaphrodite]] horse").<ref>Paul Langford, "Walpole, Horatio , fourth earl of Orford (1717–1797)," ''Oxford Dictionary of National Biography'', Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 [http://www.oxforddnb.com/view/article/28596 accessed 19 Aug 2007]</ref> The architectural historian Timothy Mowl, in his biography ''Horace Walpole: The Great Outsider'' offers the theory that Walpole was openly [[Homosexuality|homosexual]], and infers that he had an affair with Thomas Gray, dropping him during their Grand Tour in favor of [[Henry Pelham-Clinton, 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne|Lord Lincoln]] (later the 2nd [[Duke of Newcastle|Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne]]).<ref>''Horace Walpole: The Great Outsider'', Timothy Mowl, John Murray, 1998, ISBN 0719556198</ref><ref>[http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3724/is_199609/ai_n8739134 Who's Horry now?], Bevis Hillier, ''The Spectator'', September 14, 1996</ref> Nevertheless, there is no explicit evidence despite Walpole's extensive correspondence, and previous biographers such as Lewis, Fothergill, and Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer have interpreted him as asexual.<ref>Queering Horace Walpole, George E Haggerty, SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 46.3 (2006) 543-562, Johns Hopkins University Press</ref> |
| − | ==Formal | + | ==Formal titles from birth to death== |
*Mr. Horace Walpole (1717-1741) | *Mr. Horace Walpole (1717-1741) | ||
*Mr. Horace Walpole, MP (1741-1742) | *Mr. Horace Walpole, MP (1741-1742) | ||
| Line 53: | Line 51: | ||
==Legacy== | ==Legacy== | ||
| − | With its | + | With its fantastic [[apparitions]], ominous [[prophecies]], and its complicated underground passages, ''The Castle of Otranto'' heralded a new [[genre]], the [[Gothic novel]], still present in our literary [[landscape]] today. Walpole's novel accomplished what no other novel had attempted before: to delight its readers with a tale of [[horror]]s, to make them enjoy what they had shuddered to read, in other words to find [[beauty]] within literary materials ostensibly laced with ugliness and horror. |
| + | |||
| + | His over 3,000 ''Letters'' give a vivid picture of the more [[intellectual]] part of the [[aristocracy]] of his period. | ||
| − | + | Walpole's lasting architectural creation, a pseudo-Gothic [[castle]] at his summer [[house]], Strawberry Hill in southwest London, revived the Gothic style many decades before its Victorian successors and began a new ([[neo-Gothic]]) architectural trend. | |
| − | |||
==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Revision as of 17:15, 20 November 2007
| Horace Walpole | |
 Horace Walpole by Joshua Reynolds 1756
National Portrait Gallery, collection London . | |
| Born | September 24 1717 London, England, UK |
|---|---|
| Died | March 2 1797 (aged 79) Berkeley Square, London, England, UK |
| Occupation | Author, Politician |
| Parents | Robert Walpole and Catherine Shorter |
Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (September 24, 1717 – March 2, 1797), more commonly known as Horace Walpole, was a politician, writer, architectural innovator, and the youngest son of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole and cousin of Lord Nelson. The pseudo-Gothic castle which he built at his country house, Strawberry Hill near Twickenham, became the showplace of England and revived the Gothic style many decades before its Victorian successors. His more than 3,000 Letters provide insight into the intellectual side of the aristocracy of his period. His novel, The Castle of Otranto, heralded a new genre, the Gothic novel, which which anticipated nineteenth-century Romanticism. Walpole's other important works include Historic Doubts on Richard III, Anecdotes of Painting in England, and Reminiscences.
Biography
Horace Walpole was born in London, the youngest son of British Prime Minister Robert Walpole. After finishing his education at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge, he toured the European continent with his friend Thomas Gray from 1739 to 1741, when the two quarreled and parted. He was elected to Parliament in 1741 and served as an MP until 1767, confining himself largely to the role of spectator and defender of the memory of his father, who died in 1745. In 1747, he acquired a country house, Strawberry Hill, near Twickenham, where he built a pseudo-Gothic castle, which became the showplace of England. Walpole's lasting architectural creation in southwest London, Stawberry Hill revived the Gothic style many decades before its Victorian successors. This fanciful concoction of neo-Gothic began a new architectural trend.
He was reconciled with Gray in 1745, and later published his friend's Pindaric Odes, as well as many first editions of his own works from the private printing press he started at Strawberry Hill in 1757. Walpole is especially known for his letters which have great charm and polish and are invaluable pictures of Georgian England. More than 3,000 of his correspondences are extant and cover a period extending from 1732 to 1797. Among his more famous letters are with Gray, Sir Horace Mann, Thomas Chatterton, and Madame Du Deffand. Walpole succeeded to the earldom of Orford in 1791. Besides his enthusiasm for medieval architecture and trappings, he anticipated the Romanticism of the nineteenth century with his Gothic romance, The Castle of Otranto (1765). His other important works include Historic Doubts on Richard III (1768), an attempt to rehabilitate the character of Richard; Anecdotes of Painting in England (4 vol., 1762–71); and posthumous works, Reminiscences (1798) and memoirs of the reigns of George II (1822) and George III (1845, 1859).
Politics
Following his father's politics, he was a devotee of King George II and Queen Caroline, siding with them against their son, Frederick, Prince of Wales, about whom Walpole wrote spitefully in his memoirs.
Walpole was a frequent visitor to Boyle Farm, Thames Ditton, to meet both the Boyle-Walsinghams and Lord Hertford.
His father was created Earl of Orford in 1742. Horace's elder brother, the 2nd Earl of Orford (c.1701–1751), passed the title on to his son, the 3rd Earl of Orford (1730–1791). When the 3rd Earl died unmarried, Horace Walpole became the 4th Earl of Orford. When Horace Walpole died in 1797 the title became extinct.
Writings
Strawberry Hill had its own printing press, which supported Walpole's intensive literary activity.
In 1764, he published his Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto, setting a literary trend to go with the architecture. From 1762 on, he published his Anecdotes of Painting in England, based on George Vertue's manuscript notes. His memoirs of the Georgian social and political scene, though heavily biased, are a useful primary source for historians.
In one of the numerous letters, from January 28, 1754, he coined the word serendipity which he said was derived from a "silly fairy tale" he had read, The Three Princes of Serendip. The oft-quoted epigram, "This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel," is from a letter of Walpole's to Anne, Countess of Ossory, on 16 August, 1776. The original, fuller version was in what he wrote to Sir Horace Mann on 31 Dec., 1769: "I have often said, and oftener think, that this world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel – a solution of why Democritus laughed and Heraclitus wept."
When Walpole's cat Selma died, Thomas Gray wrote a poem Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat, Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes.
Personal life
Walpole's sexual orientation has been the subject of speculation. He never married, engaging in a succession of unconsummated flirtations with unmarriageable women, and counted among his close friends a number of women such as Anne Seymour Damer and Mary Berry named by a number of sources as lesbian.[1] Many contemporaries described him as effeminate (one political opponent called him "a hermaphrodite horse").[2] The architectural historian Timothy Mowl, in his biography Horace Walpole: The Great Outsider offers the theory that Walpole was openly homosexual, and infers that he had an affair with Thomas Gray, dropping him during their Grand Tour in favor of Lord Lincoln (later the 2nd Duke of Newcastle-under-Lyne).[3][4] Nevertheless, there is no explicit evidence despite Walpole's extensive correspondence, and previous biographers such as Lewis, Fothergill, and Robert Wyndham Ketton-Cremer have interpreted him as asexual.[5]
Formal titles from birth to death
- Mr. Horace Walpole (1717-1741)
- Mr. Horace Walpole, MP (1741-1742)
- The Hon. Horace Walpole, MP (1742-1768)
- The Hon. Horace Walpole (1768-1791)
- The Rt. Hon. The Earl of Orford (1791-1797)
Legacy
With its fantastic apparitions, ominous prophecies, and its complicated underground passages, The Castle of Otranto heralded a new genre, the Gothic novel, still present in our literary landscape today. Walpole's novel accomplished what no other novel had attempted before: to delight its readers with a tale of horrors, to make them enjoy what they had shuddered to read, in other words to find beauty within literary materials ostensibly laced with ugliness and horror.
His over 3,000 Letters give a vivid picture of the more intellectual part of the aristocracy of his period.
Walpole's lasting architectural creation, a pseudo-Gothic castle at his summer house, Strawberry Hill in southwest London, revived the Gothic style many decades before its Victorian successors and began a new (neo-Gothic) architectural trend.
Notes
- ↑ Rictor Norton (Ed.), "A Sapphick Epistle, 1778," Homosexuality in Eighteenth-Century England: A Sourcebook. 1 December 1999, updated 23 February 2003 <http://www.infopt.demon.co.uk/sapphick.htm> Retrieved on 2007-08-16
- ↑ Paul Langford, "Walpole, Horatio , fourth earl of Orford (1717–1797)," Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, Oxford University Press, 2004; online edn, May 2005 accessed 19 Aug 2007
- ↑ Horace Walpole: The Great Outsider, Timothy Mowl, John Murray, 1998, ISBN 0719556198
- ↑ Who's Horry now?, Bevis Hillier, The Spectator, September 14, 1996
- ↑ Queering Horace Walpole, George E Haggerty, SEL Studies in English Literature 1500-1900 46.3 (2006) 543-562, Johns Hopkins University Press
ReferencesISBN links support NWE through referral fees
- Chalcraft, Anna. Strawberry Hill: Horace Walpole's Gothic Castle, Frances Lincoln, 2007. ISBN 978-0711226876
- Harfst, Betsy P. Horace Walpole and the Unconscious: An Experiment in Freudian Analysis, Ayer Co Publications, 1980. ISBN 978-0405126451
- Walpole, Horace. The Yale Editions of Horace Walpole's Correspondance (Vol. 36), Yale University Press, 1973. ISBN 978-0300016673
- Walpole, Horace. The Castle of Otranto: A Gothic Story, Oxford University Press, 1998. ISBN 978-0192834409
External links
- The Literary Encyclopedia.
- Works by Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford. Project Gutenberg
- The Friends of Strawberry Hill
- The Twickenham Museum - Horace Walpole
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