Selected Letters

A new and newly annotated selection of letters - the only selected edition available in hardcover from the English eighteenth-century historian, novelist, and politician whose correspondence is one of the most admired in English literature.

Author of the first gothic novel and son of the first prime minister of Great Britain, Horace Walpole had wide-ranging interests that included literature, politics, world affairs, collecting, antiquities, and architecture, and to his numerous correspondents he wrote on these and other topics in prose that is celebrated for its charm, eloquence, and wit. This new Everyman's edition offers an extensive selection of Walpole's letters, helpfully arranged by subject so the reader can choose from themes including social life, the Court, politics, literature, and the evolution of his Gothic castle and art and book collections at Strawberry Hill.

This edition offers new annotations throughout, with introductions to its various sections and a general introduction on Walpole as a letter writer. In addition, the text of the letters has been corrected and previously excised passages have been restored.

About the Author

Stephen Clarke lives in Paris, where he divides his time between writing and not writing. His five Merde novels, A Year in the Merde, Merde Actually, Merde Happens, Dial M for Merde and The Merde Factor have been bestsellers all over the world - including France. Stephen also writes non-fiction books, which include Talk to the Snail, an insider's guide to understanding the French, How the French Won Waterloo or Think They Did, an amused look at France's continuing obsession with Napoleon, Dirty Bertie, the story of King Edward VII's youthful follies in France, and 1000 Years of Annoying the French, which was a number one bestseller in Britain.

Research for Stephen's novels has taken him all over Europe and America.