Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 1

Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797Project Gutenberg · United StatesMar 2023

Rating 4.2
Word count
750K words
Chapters
75

Tags

Motivation and Growth Historical ReappraisalCourt PoliticsCourt AnecdotesPolitical TurmoilPortrait GalleryPower GameHistorical NotesMemoirSocial ObservationModern Britain

Summary

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Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 1 (of 4) by Horace Walpole

Author: Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797,Language: English, Class: DA: History: General and Eastern Hemisphere: Great Britain, Ireland, Central Europe, Release Date: Apr 25, 2018

Editor's review

Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, Volume 1 is Horace Walpole's first-hand account of the early years of George III's reign. Moving in upper Whig social circles and widely connected, Walpole writes with both documentary value and literary flair: he is deft at capturing the words and deeds of figures at court and in Parliament, factional friction, and the mood of public opinion, and his tone is often ironic and pointed. The book is not a systematic political history but closer to private observational notes, through which readers can sense the immediacy and idiom of eighteenth-century English political life. The English original preserves the wording, syntax, and punctuation habits of the period, making it a suitable advanced reader for those approaching eighteenth-century English documents. It is best enjoyed as a primary source and a man of letters' observations; checking the many names, offices, and events against notes or background material will yield a firmer understanding.

Who it's for

A good fit for

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Reading tips

  1. First learn the early political landscape and main figures of George III's reign before entering the text, to reduce the burden of checking references.
  2. Make brief cards of people and events chapter by chapter, noting recurring names and offices for easy review.
  3. Mark Walpole's subjective judgments separately from the facts, keeping a critical distance while reading.
  4. Read alongside chapters from a modern general history of Britain so that background and detail complement each other.

About the publisher

Project Gutenberg United States · Founded in 1971

Project Gutenberg is a digital publishing project focused on public-domain ebooks. Its publishing direction centers on classic literary works whose copyright has expired, covering genres such as poetry, drama, fiction, and epic. Representative books include Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge, Proust's Du côté de chez Swann, Shakespeare's Macbeth and The Complete Works of William Shakespeare, Homer's The Iliad, Dante's La Divina Comèdia: Purgatòri, Cervantes's The History of Don Quixote, Volume 2, and Grahame's The Wind in the Willows. Its author resources consist mainly of classic Western writers such as Wordsworth, Proust, Shakespeare, Homer, Dante, Cervantes, Grahame, and Tolstoy. Its publishing feature is the provision of freely accessible ebooks in EPUB and Kindle formats; it is not a traditional publisher, and publicly available information is limited.

Contents

  1. 1
  2. 2
  3. 3
  4. 4
  5. 5
  6. 6
  7. 7
  8. 8
  9. 9
  10. 10
  11. 11
  12. 12
  13. 13
  14. 14
  15. 15
  16. 16
  17. 17
  18. 18
  19. 19
  20. 20
  21. 21
  22. 22
  23. 23
  24. 24
  25. 25
  26. 26
  27. 27
  28. 28
  29. 29
  30. 30
  31. 31
  32. 32
  33. 33
  34. 34
  35. 35
  36. 36
  37. 37
  38. 38
  39. 39
  40. 40
  41. 41
  42. 42
  43. 43
  44. 44
  45. 45
  46. 46
  47. 47
  48. 48
  49. 49
  50. 50
  51. 51
  52. 52
  53. 53
  54. 54
  55. 55
  56. 56
  57. 57
  58. 58
  59. 59
  60. 60
  61. 61
  62. 62
  63. 63
  64. 64
  65. 65
  66. 66
  67. 67
  68. 68
  69. 69
  70. 70
  71. 71
  72. 72
  73. 73
  74. 74
  75. 75

FAQ

Is this book a complete general history or a personal memoir? It is a memoir-like work based on Walpole's firsthand experience, focusing on the words and deeds of court and political figures, factional atmosphere, and the author's commentary; it is not a systematically organized general history textbook. Readers should treat it as a primary source and a literary observer's account, and consult a general history for the broader sequence of events.
Is the English original difficult to read? Eighteenth-century long sentences, old-style spelling, and the names and offices of the period pose certain obstacles, making it harder than modern popular works. A good foundation in English reading is recommended, along with background notes or a list of figures; on a first reading, grasp the general sense and then return to key passages for closer study.
What background knowledge should I prepare before reading? It is best to first understand the British parliamentary factions around George III's accession, the relationship between Whigs and Tories, and Walpole's own social position. With this background, the many personal references and the ironic tone will be easier to follow, and the density of names will be less likely to interrupt the reading rhythm.

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About the author

Walpole, Horace, 1717-1797 Author

Horace Walpole (1717–1797) was an English writer, letter writer and antiquarian. Details of his life available on this site are limited, yet his surviving works are enough to show his literary standing. The site holds nineteen of his works, mainly the two-volume Memoirs of the Reign of King George the Third, the multi-volume collections Letters of Horace Walpole and The Letters of Horace Walpole, Earl of Orford, and the Gothic novel The Castle of Otranto, included in Shorter Novels, Eighteenth Century. The Castle of Otranto is often regarded as a founding work of Gothic fiction, with its castle setting, supernatural atmosphere and intense emotion opening a narrative mode of lasting influence. His letters and memoirs are lively and closely observed, and remain valuable sources for the politics and society of eighteenth-century Britain. The site classifies his works under inspirational growth, for reference.