CASTLE OF OTRANTO, A GOTHIC STORY.|THE

Parma (Italy) and London: Bodoni for J. Dodsley, 1791. full crushed red morocco, gilt bordering to covers, title on black leather spine label in gilt, gilt ornamentation on spine, marbled pastedowns and endpapers. Bodoni, Giambattista. 8vo. full crushed red morocco, gilt bordering to covers, title on black leather spine label in gilt, gilt ornamentation on spine, marbled pastedowns and endpapers, xxxii, 245 pages. Translated by William Marshal, Gent. From the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St. Nicholas at Otranto. The sixth edition of which this is one of 300 copies printed on paper. Hazen, Walpole, 17, see: pp.56-63 (the watermark F.P. under fleur-de-lys not noted); Summers p.252; Brooks 420; Rothschild 2492. Private bookplate of Gilbert East, with his ownership inscription in ink on the first blank. This copy is also inscribed to Sir William and Lady East, Gilbert East's father and mother, dated 1792, by "Sir Blackstone" (most likely Blackstone's 7th child, William) in honor of Sir William Blackstone (1723-1780). Wear along the front and rear hinges, rubbing to spine ends and edges of the boards. Slight age-darkening to the top edge of the front board and spine. Corners worn through. Regarded as the first Gothic novel, The Castle of Otranto gave the genre its name.



Printed by Giambattista Bodoni (1740-1813) for the London bookseller James Edwards (1756-1816). Bodoni-printed editions in English are quite scarce. The printing of this edition in Italy evokes the fictional Italianate origins of the work as presented by Walpole: translated by William Marshal, gent. from the original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, canon of the church of St. Nicholas at Otranto. With the two plates of the castle, in States A and B, the portrait of Lady Mary Coke, and the six plates throughout the text, were engraved by Inigo Barlow after a 1785 drawing (BM: 1927,0712.8) by Willey Reveley (d.1799) depicting the real Castle of Otranto in Puglia. These and the portait were all published in July 1793. Some copies are on occasion mistakenly described as large paper , however no large paper copies were printed: comparing with the page dimensions listed in Hazen this is as large a cut copy as is possible. It is thought that Edwards the publisher arranged the binding of this and other similar morocco-bound copies.



This book, however, displeased Walpole: in a letter to Mary Berry in 1790 he said "I am glad you did not get a Parmesan Otranto. A copy is come so full of faults that it is not fit to be sold here". His concerns delayed publication and required many corrections, some but not all made on cancelled leaves. Furthermore, this edition was delayed multiple times as Bodoni was always editing errors.



Sir William East (1738-1819) was the 1st Baronet of High Place, Maidenhead (England) and Sir Gilbert East (1764-1828) was the 2nd Baronet of High Place, Maidenhead and was also appointed High Sheriff of Berkshire in 1822.