Hieroglyphic Tales, and Other Writings

Six tales printed at Strawberry Hill in an edition of six copies and described by their author as nonsense written for his own amusement — and with them, Walpole setting out to prove that Richard the Third did not murder his nephews, working from the rolls and chronicles an antiquary had at hand, an argument every Ricardian since has reopened; and a hoax letter announcing the discovery of giants in Patagonia. Horace Walpole built a Gothic castle in Twickenham, wrote the first Gothic novel and left thousands of letters; here he is by turns joker, scholar and antiquary. Sixty plates, among them Turner and Delaroche, trace the Gothic taste Walpole indulged at Strawberry Hill and Houghton, matching the antiquarian curiosities gathered here.