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The Mysteries of Udolpho was first published in 1794. Her popularity is reflected in the acclaim of her peers, who labelled her the ‘Shakespeare of Romance writers’. She was one of the most popular and influential Gothic novelists of her time, publishing five novels between the years 1789-1797 (a sixth was published in 1826, three years of her death). Brotherton Library class mark BC Gen/RAD.Īnn Radcliffe, The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794)Īs a female author at a time when novels were often regarded as a lesser form of writing, Ann Radcliffe achieved remarkable success. Title page from 'A new edition of the mysteries of Udolpho : a romance (v.1)' by Ann Radcliff (London: Fisher, 1828). Other central themes that Walpole revived, and that subsequent writers like Clara Reeve, Ann Radcliffe and Matthew Lewis emulated, include: the ancestral curse, fainting heroines and labyrinthine passage ways. Medieval architecture is an important motif in Gothic texts, and the imposing, ruinous and decaying castle of Walpole’s novel is arguably the true protagonist of the story. Walpole completed the novel in less than two months, and the dream he described was to become an integral part of his wild story. During his dream he had found himself roaming an ancient castle when, at the top of a large staircase, he had witnessed a gigantic hand encased in armour. William Cole, dated 9th March 1765, Walpole revealed that the idea for his Gothic romance had originating from an eerie dream he had experience in June 1764. It was not until the second edition of Otranto was published in 1765 that the true identity of the author was exposed. Ironically, the supposed ‘exotic’ text was not translated from English into Italian until 1794, thirty years after its first publication. In his preface he wrote that the book had been discovered in the north England home of an ancient Catholic family and had originally been written in Naples by Onuphrio Muralto in 1529, before being translated into English by William Marshall (Walpole’s pseudonym). This was largely due to his elaborate, yet false, construction of a story detailing the supposed origin and discovery of the manuscript. Walpole created public intrigue following the anonymous publication of the first edition of his novel in December 1764. Written in 1764, The Castle of Otranto by Horace Walpole is considered to be the first example of a Gothic romance, and many critics and historians believe that the text marks the beginning of the literary gothic period that continued until 1818 when Mary Shelley published her famous novel Frankenstein. Horace Walpole, The Castle of Otranto (1764)

Brotherton Library class mark BC Gen/WAL. Title Page of 'Jeffery's edition of the Castle of Otranto : a Gothic story' by Horace Walpole (London: Blackader, 1800).