Born September 24, 1717
London, England
Died March 2, 1797
London, England

Writer, historian, politician

"I am what I always was, a [fervent supporter of] liberty in every part of the globe, and consequently … I most heartily wish success to the Americans."
Portrait: Horace Walpole. Reproduced by permission of Archive Photos, Inc.

Horace Walpole was a brilliant eighteenth-century man of letters. An accomplished writer of essays, Walpole was also an expert in the fields of history, art history (particularly painting), and gardens. His Memoirs, which he wrote secretly from about 1751 to 1791, is one of the greatest sources of information about the political history of his time.

Horace Walpole, born in London, England, on September 24, 1717, was the fourth child and youngest son of the great British prime minister Sir Robert Walpole, First Earl of Orford, and Catherine Shorter Walpole. The child was christened Horatio, but he disliked the name, preferring to...