Yale's Lewis Walpole Library is marking the 200th anniversary of the death of British politician and author Horace Walpole with a symposium to be held Friday-Sunday, Oct. 17-19, both on campus and at the library in Farmington.
Horace Walpole (1717-97) was the youngest son of Prime Minister Sir Robert Walpole. In addition to a political career that included serving as a member of Parliament, the younger Walpole was involved in the arts in various ways. He was the author of the first Gothic novel, "The Castle of Otranto," which was published in 1765 and has never been out of print to this day. His "Anecdotes of Painting in England" was the first history of English painting and is still considered an important work in the field. He took a critical look at a 15th-century British monarch in his "Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of Richard III"; recorded his father's renowned art collection at Houghton Hall (which was later sold to Catherine the Great of Russia) in "Aedes Walpolianae"; and documented the creativity of the English aristocracy in "A Catalogue of the Royal and Noble Authors of England." His writings also include a verse tragedy about incest called "The Mysterious Mother."
Walpole is perhaps best known, however, for designing and building Strawberry Hill, the first Greek revival house in England, and his home from 1747 until his death. During his lifetime, Walpole filled Strawberry Hill with a renowned art collection, which was dispersed after his death in an auction sale in 1842.
The Lewis Walpole Library is an international center for the study of Horace Walpole and other aspects of 18th-century life in Britain. It houses the world's largest concentration of material from Walpole's collections -- including books from his library, manuscripts and letters, artworks and furniture.It also features a research collection covering all aspects of British life during the 1700s, as well as the largest collection of British 18th-century satirical prints, engraved portraits and topographical studies outside the British Museum. Most of the materials in the library were collected by Wilmarth Sheldon Lewis (1895-1979), editor of the Yale Edition of Horace Walpole's Correspondence. The library itself, a historic 1784 building, was formerly the home of Mr. Lewis, who bequeathed the surrounding property and its collections to Yale in 1979. The Lewis Walpole Library today draws visiting scholars from around the globe and has an ongoing fellowship and academic program.
The conference will open at 3 p.m. on Friday with welcoming remarks by Ruth Yeazell, the Chace Family Professor of English and director of the Lewis Walpole Library. This will be followed by the keynote address, "The Prime Minister of Taste: Walpole's Passion for Portraits," by Morris Brownell of the University of Nevada at Reno. Professor Brownell was a visiting scholar at the Lewis Walpole Library in 1990 and is the author of a forthcoming study on Walpole and the arts. This session and those on Saturday morning and afternoon will be held in Luce Hall, 34 Hillhouse Ave.
Friday's events will conclude at 5 p.m. with a reception at the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library, corner of Wall and High streets.
Saturday's sessions will feature presentations by leading scholars in the field from the United States, Canada and Britain. The morning session, "Walpole and the Arts," will take place 9:15 a.m.-12:30 p.m. The afternoon session, 2-6 p.m., is on the theme "Walpole's Literary Output" and features several presentations on Walpole's "The Castle of Otranto."
On Saturday evening, at 8 p.m., there will be a concert featuring 18th-century music performed on instruments of the period, drawn from Yale's Collection of Musical Instruments. The concert, which will take place at 15 Hillhouse Ave., will include works by George Frederick Handel John Stanley, Johann Christian Bach and Thomas Arne. The featured performers will be soprano Julia Blue Raspe, Susan Thompson on recorder, Paul Cienniwa on harpsichord and organ, and Richard Rephann on harpsichord.
The symposium will conclude on Sunday with an opportunity to visit the Lewis Walpole Library in Farmington and study its collections first-hand. A bus will depart from outside Luce Hall at 10 a.m. and will return at 2 p.m. The day will include a light lunch buffet.
While all of the conference activities are open to the public free of charge, those planning to participate in the Friday reception at the Beinecke, the Saturday concert or the Sunday visit to Farmington are asked to notify Librarian Richard G. Williams as soon as possible by calling (860) 677-2140, or by email at richard.g.williams@yale.edu.
In conjunction with the symposium, the Lewis Walpole Library is also sponsoring an exhibit titled "The Bewigged Bard: Horace Walpole's Shakespeare," featuring materials from the Farmington collection. This exhibit is on view at the Sterling Memorial Library, 120 High St.