Lost Treasures of Strawberry Hill by
Strawberry Hill, a fantasy gothic revival castle, was conceived and built by the influential art historian and antiquarian Horace Walpole (1717-1797) with his art collection in mind. For a new exhibition opening in October 2018 many pieces from his collection, which was dispersed at auction in 1842, will be reunited for the first time and displayed in their original settings within the castle. This beautifully illustrated accompanying book will describe the complex relationship between the house and its works of art, and allow a deeper understanding of the context and processes of Walpole's collecting and its relationship to the house. AUTHOR: Dr Silvia Davoli is the Research Curator at Strawberry Hill. Since 2013 she has been researching the whereabouts of the Walpole Collection. SELLING POINTS: * Accompanies an important exhibition that offers the chance to see Strawberry Hill House reunited with its extraordinary art collection after almost 200 years * The significance of the house and the collection is revealed in Silvia Davoli's scholarly yet accessible text * Will appeal to anyone with an interest in architecture, fine art, curios or the antiquarian and man of letters Horace Walpole
Horace Walpole's Strawberry Hill by
Horace Walpole (1717-1797), as the youngest son of the powerful Whig minister Robert Walpole, grew up at the center of Georgian society and politics and circulated amongst the elite literary, aesthetic, and intellectual circles of his day. His brilliant letters and writings have made him the best-known commentator on the rich cultural life of 18th-century England. In his own day, he was most famous for his extraordinary collections of rare books and manuscripts, antiquities, paintings, prints and drawings, furniture, ceramics, arms and armor, and curiosities, all displayed at his pioneering Gothic Revival house at Strawberry Hill, on the banks of the Thames at Twickenham. This timely and groundbreaking study of the history and reception of Walpole’s collection as it was formed and arranged at Strawberry Hill coincides with a planned restoration of this endangered house. Horace Walpole’s Strawberry Hill assembles an international team of distinguished scholars to explore the ways in which Strawberry Hill and its collections engaged with the creation of various and interconnected political, national, dynastic, cultural, and imagined histories.
@YALELIBRARY
© 2022 Yale University Library • All Rights Reserved