The Old English Baron by Clara Reeve
'Though I have been dead these fifteen years, I still command here, and none can enter these gates without my permission.' When Sir Philip Harclay returns to England after a long absence, he finds that his childhood friend, Arthur, Lord Lovel, is no longer alive, and that the castle and estates of the Lovel family have twice changed hands. But a mysteriously abandoned set of rooms in the castle of Lovel promises to disclose the secrets of the past. After a series of frantic episodes and surprising revelations, culminating in a trial by combat, the crimes of the usurper and the legitimacy of the true heir are finally discovered. 'The literary offspring of the castle of Otranto', as Reeve described it, The Old English Baron provides an ambitious rewriting of Horace Walpole's groundbreaking work, transporting the trappings of the Gothic to medieval England. Innovative and original in its day, Reeve's historical romance is increasingly recognized as a major influence on the development of Gothic fiction. ABOUT THE SERIES: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the widest range of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, helpful notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.Clara Reeve (1729–1807) was an English novelist best known for The Old English Baron (1777), a Gothic fiction. She also wrote The Development of Romance (1785), a groundbreaking history of prose literature. Her first project was a translation from Latin, which was a difficult language for a woman to acquire at the time. She moved to Colchester with her mother and sisters when her father died. She made her debut as an author there, with the publication of The Phoenix (1772), a translation of John Barclay's historical allegory Argenis.
She produced numerous novels, but only one is remembered: The Champion of Virtue, subsequently known as The Old English Baron (1777), written in imitation of, or in competition with, Horace Walpole's The Castle of Otranto, with which it has been frequently printed. The original edition, titled The Old English Baron, was dedicated to Samuel Richardson's daughter, who is supposed to have assisted Reeve in revising and correcting the work. Mary Shelley's Frankenstein was clearly influenced by the novel.
| SKU | Unavailable |
| ISBN 13 | 9780199549740 |
| ISBN 10 | 0199549745 |
| Title | The Old English Baron |
| Author | Clara Reeve |
| Series | Oxford World's Classics |
| Condition | Unavailable |
| Binding Type | Paperback |
| Publisher | Oxford University Press |
| Year published | 2008-07-10 |
| Number of pages | 176 |
| Cover note | Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary. |
| Note | Unavailable |