mentioned the quarto lucan, with the notes of Grotius and
Bentley; the Life of Lord Herbert of Cherbury by himself,
flentzner's Travels, and Lord Whitworth's account of Russia. Of
all these he printed a very limited number. It does not,
however, appear, as stated in the Biographical Dictionary, (39)
he reserved all the copies as presents; on the contrary, it would
seem that in most instances he sold a certain portion of the
copies to the booksellers, probably with a view of defraying the
expenses of his printing establishment. As, however, the supply
in the book-market of the Strawberry Hill editions was very
small, they generally sold for high prices, and a great interest
was created respecting them.

In 1764 Walpole published one of the most remarkable of his
works, "The Castle of Otranto;" and in 1768 his still more
remarkable production, "The Mysterious Mother." (40) In speaking
of the latter effort of his genius, (for it undoubtedly deserves
that appellation,) an admirable judge of literary excellence has
made the following remarks; "It is the fashion to underrate
Horace Walpole firstly, because he was a nobleman, and secondly,
because he was a gentleman: but, to say nothing of the
composition of his incomparable letters, and of "The Castle of
Otranto," he is the Ultimus Romanorum, the author of the
'Mysterious Mother,' a tragedy of the highest order, and not a
puling love-play: he is the father of the first romance, and of
the last tragedy in our language, and surely worthy of a higher
place than any living author, be he who he may." (41)

In speaking Of "The Castle of Otranto," it may be remarked as a
singular coincidence in the life of Walpole, that as he had been