Walpole family ephemera collection

A collection of printed portraits, topographical views, real estate advertisements, maps, and other ephemera associated with the English historian and collector Horace Walpole (1717-1797), his family, and their properties. The majority of the items are plates produced for publications, and over half of the collection is related to two of the family's estates, Strawberry Hill in Twickenham, Middlesex, and Houghton Hall near King's Lynn, Norfolk.

Series I holds engraved portraits of Walpole, his father Robert Walpole, other Walpole and Waldegrave family members, and friends such as Mary Berry and Anne Seymour Damer. Series II documents the sale and development of Strawberry Hill and Houghton Hall through printed prospectuses with hand-colored maps and site plans issued by London firms marketing the properties. Also present are engraved views of the houses, a photograph of Houghton Hall taken from Norfolk Photographically Illustrated (1865), prints of Strawberry Hill interiors, and views of homes of Walpole's associates. Series III contains a disparate group of Walpole-related items, including a receipt signed by Horatio Walpole of Wolterton (1716), a manuscript note from Horace Walpole to Joseph Cooper Walker (1792), and a prospectus for Mrs. Paget Toynbee's edition of The Letters of Horace Walpole (1903), among other papers, prints, and photographs.