Horace Walpole

Born in London in 1717, Horace Walpole was an English writer, collector, historian, and politician. He was the youngest son of Sir Robert Walpole, often regarded as Britain’s first prime minister, but he made his own mark through literature and cultural life rather than government office.

He is most famous for The Castle of Otranto (1764), widely described as the first Gothic novel in English. Walpole also became known for his huge body of letters, which give a lively picture of 18th-century society, and for Strawberry Hill, the fantastical villa he created at Twickenham, whose medieval style helped inspire the later Gothic Revival.

Walpole died in 1797. Today he is remembered not only as a novelist, but as a sharp observer of his time: a man whose interests in books, art, architecture, and conversation all fed into a literary legacy that still feels vivid and distinctive.