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Horace Walpole

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Author

The Resume

    (September 24, 1717-March 2, 1797)
    Born in London, United Kingdom
    Birth name was Horatio Walpole
    Son of Prime Minister Robert Walpole
    Author and politician
    Member of Parliament for Callington (1741-54), Castle Rising (1754-57) and Kings Lynn (1757-68)
    4th Earl of Orford (1791-97)
    Wrote 'The Castle of Otranto,' generally considered the first gothic novel (1764)

Why he might be annoying:

    He feuded with poet Thomas Gray during their joint 'grand tour' of Europe.
    He used his connections to advance the career of his cousin (and rumored lover) Henry Conway.
    A political opponent called him a 'hermaphrodite horse.'
    He originally presented 'The Castle of Otranto' as a 12th-century Italian work that he had translated.

Why he might not be annoying:

    His home, Strawberry Hill, inspired the Gothic revival in architecture.
    He predicted the American and French Revolutions long before either started.
    Many critics who had praised 'The Castle of Otranto' as an important medieval work dismissed it as absurd romantic fiction after Walpole admitted his authorship.
    He coined the word serendipity and the epigram, 'This world is a comedy to those that think, a tragedy to those that feel.'

Credit: C. Fishel


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    In 2023, Out of 1 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 16 Votes: 62.50% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 6 Votes: 100% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 3 Votes: 66.67% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 4 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 8 Votes: 37.50% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 8 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 12 Votes: 75.00% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 51 Votes: 74.51% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 90 Votes: 70.0% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 17 Votes: 41.18% Annoying