It was met with great popularity, and later editions featured Walpole’s own name. Though Strawberry Hill was the inspiration for and arguably the setting of The Castle of Otranto, Walpole did not print the novel at his own press, but rather submitted it anonymously for publication to another London publisher. In 1757, Walpole built a printing press in his home, the Strawberry Hill Press, whose first publication was Thomas Gray’s Odes by Mr. Previously, “Gothic” had been associated with barbarism and unrefinement. The creation of his home, Strawberry Hill, has been credited for reviving interest in Gothic architecture. As an amateur enthusiast in architecture, he built a medieval-inspired castle in Twickenham from 1749 to 1753, drawing upon whatever Gothic styles suited his imagination.

He also became known for his remarkable library and art collection as well as his contribution to architecture. Though he never married, he was a social man, known to be amiable, clever, whimsical, and fixated on the quality of “singularity” or uniqueness in both his writing and his collection of antiquities. In 1741, Walpole returned to England, expecting a seat in parliament, only to find that his father’s influence and power had greatly diminished consequently, he sat at Parliament intermittently and occasionally worked as a pamphleteer. As young, well-to-do European men often did, Walpole then embarked on the Grand Tour, exploring Italy and France with his friend Thomas Gray. In 1737, Walpole’s mother Catherine, with whom he was very close, died, and he left Cambridge without a degree the following year. The four boys formed a friendship and called themselves the “Quadruple Alliance.” After Eton, Walpole continued his studies at Cambridge. As a child, Walpole attended Eton College, where he met figures such as Thomas Ashton, Thomas Gray, and Richard West. Horace Walpole was the fourth earl of Orford and the youngest son of Robert Walpole, the first prime minister of England.

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