# Is "The Castle of Otranto, A Story" by Horace Walpole a First Edition?

> **Quick answer.** A first edition of The Castle of Otranto, A Story by Horace Walpole (Tho. Lownds, 1764) is identified by: Lownds, Fleet Street, and released around Christmas Eve, 24 December 1764, in an edition of about 500 copies on laid paper, although the title page itself is dated 1765. The book's actual date of issue (December 1764) predates its own 1765 title-page date, a common London publishing-trade practice for year-end books; bibliographies conventionally cite this as the '1764 first edition' despite the 1765 imprint.

**Checklist — a true first has these:**
- Lownds, Fleet Street, and released around Christmas Eve, 24 December 1764, in an edition of about 500 copies on laid paper, although the title page itself is dated 1765
- The first edition presents the novel as a genuine found manuscript, with the title page crediting it to 'William Marshal, Gent.' as translator, working from 'the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St
- Nicholas at Otranto' - a fiction Walpole maintained until revealing his authorship
- The first edition's title page does not carry the now-famous subtitle 'A Gothic Story,' which was added only when Walpole acknowledged authorship in the second edition of 1765
- Publisher imprint reads Tho. Lownds
- Not a book-club edition (see below)

| | |
|---|---|
| Author | Horace Walpole |
| Publisher | Tho. Lownds |
| Year | 1764 |
| True first | — |
| Format | Hardcover (trade) |
| Key point | Lownds, Fleet Street, and released around Christmas Eve, 24 December 1764, in an edition of about 500 copies on laid paper, although the… |
| Book-club edition exists? | — |

## Points of issue
Printed for Tho. Lownds, Fleet Street, and released around Christmas Eve, 24 December 1764, in an edition of about 500 copies on laid paper, although the title page itself is dated 1765. The first edition presents the novel as a genuine found manuscript, with the title page crediting it to 'William Marshal, Gent.' as translator, working from 'the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto, Canon of the Church of St. Nicholas at Otranto' - a fiction Walpole maintained until revealing his authorship. The first edition's title page does not carry the now-famous subtitle 'A Gothic Story,' which was added only when Walpole acknowledged authorship in the second edition of 1765.

## Is this the true first?
The book's actual date of issue (December 1764) predates its own 1765 title-page date, a common London publishing-trade practice for year-end books; bibliographies conventionally cite this as the '1764 first edition' despite the 1765 imprint.

## Telling it from reprints & book-club editions
Any copy with Horace Walpole's name on the title page, or carrying the subtitle 'A Gothic Story,' is the second edition (1765) or later, not the pseudonymous, unsubtitled first.

## Source
New Mexico Literacy Project — Is *The Castle of Otranto, A Story* by Horace Walpole a first edition? https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/first-edition/the-castle-of-otranto-a-story
CC BY 4.0. Part of the Canonical First-Edition Points of Issue dataset (https://newmexicoliteracyproject.org/api/first-edition-titles.json). Last reviewed 2026-07-04.