Just completed a tapestry of this picture. It's a detailed aspect of Strawberry Hill, the Gothic Castle built in Twickenham by Sir Horace Walpole in the 18th Century. It has since been incorporated into St Mary's University College, and was the place where Pope Benedict addressed thousands of Catholic young people during his recent visit to the UK. Below is a fuller picture.
I spent some time reading Walpole's letters some years ago while researching the life of Hannah More, the bluestocking evangelical playright, committed Tory and writer of moralistic tracts that now read like politically combustible material!
Walpole's Letters are rightly valued as amongst the finest examples of the genre, because Walpole combines literary lightness of touch with imaginative and informative comment, laced with spontaneity and wit, and all the time he is self-revealing in his thoughts and feelings, providing a rich tapestry of detail on the social and cultural conventions of18th Century life. Oh, and the letters can now be downloaded free to my Kindle - which is easier than burrowing in the basement of Aberdeen University Library for the hard to find Correspondence of Hannah More and the relegated multi-volume set of Walpole's letters :))
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