01588    a2200181   4500001000700000020001800007020001100025041000800036082000800044100002000052300001100072490002900083520109700112856002401209040002501233245011201258260003601370119105  a9780198704447  qbroch.  aeng  a823  aWalpole, Horace  a132 p.  aOxford world´s classics  aIt is the first supernatural English novel and one of the most influential works of Gothic fiction. It inaugurated a literary genre that will be forever associated with the effects that Walpole pioneered. Professing to be a translation of a mysterious Italian tale from the darkest Middle Ages, the novel tells of Manfred, prince of Otranto, whose fear of an ancient prophecy sets him on a course of destruction. After the grotesque death of his only son, Conrad, on his wedding day, Manfred determines to marry the bride-to-be. The virgin Isabella flees through a castle riddled with secret passages. Chilling coincidences, ghostly visitations, arcane revelations, and violent combat combine in a heady mix that is both chilling and terrifying.
In this new edition Nick Groom's wide-ranging introduction explores the novel's Gothic context in the cultural movement that affected political and religious thinking before Walpole developed it as a literary style, helping to explain the novel's impact on contemporaries, its importance, and Walpole's pioneering innovations in the horror genre.  u000034/0000341c.jpg  aBR-BrIDEAcBR-BrIDEA10aThe castle of Otrantoba gothic storycHorace Walpole ; edited with an introduction and notes by Nick Groom  aOxfordbOxford Universityc2014