WALPOLE, HORACE. The Castle of Otranto, a Story. Translated by William Marshall, Gent. From the Original Italian of Onuphrio Muralto...London: Printed for Tho. Lownds, 1765. 8vo, contemporary half calf and marbled boards, new red morocco spine label, front outer joint cracked, light wear at extremities, brown half morocco folding case. FIRST EDITION of what is generally regarded as the first gothic novel (the work is by Walpole himself rather than a translation). Hazen, Walpole 17; Rothschild 2491; Tinker 2274; Bleiler, p. 202; PMM 211. "'The Castle of Otranto,'" wrote Sir Walter Scott [quoted in PMM], "'is remarkable not only for the wild interest of the story, but as the first modern attempt to found a tale of amusing fiction upon the basis of ancient romances of chivalry.'"