Hieroglyphic Tales - Softcover

Uniquely bizarre, unsettling and suffused with a sly with and outright laughter, Walpole's Hieroglyphic Tales - according to him 'incontestably the most ancient work in the world' - are some of the rarest writings of the eighteenth century, and a literary counterpart to the sham battlements and paper gargoyles of Walpole's enchanting architecture. This edition was prepared by Professor Kenneth Gross of the University of Rochester, and includes an extra story preserved only in manuscript transcribed specially for his edition. Professor Gross's introduction explores the unique character and importance of these Tales.

Horace Walpole, 4th Earl of Orford (1717-1797), MP, collector and writer, was the fourth son of Sir Robert Walpole, the first prime minister. His most famous work is The Castle of Otranto (1764), the first Gothic novel. At Strawberry HIll, just south of London, he built a 'little Gothic castle', which he filled with antiquarian treasures. There he also established a printing press, and published works of history, art history and poetry. Kenneth Gross teaches English at the University of Rochester. He is the author of many essays on English literature, and of several books, including The Dream of the Moving Statue (1992), Shakespeare's Noise (2001) and Shylock is Shakespeare (2006). He is at work on a book about the aesthetics of puppet theatre.