WALPOLE (Horace). The Castle of Otranto. A Gothic History. Amsterdam and Paris, Prault le jeune, 1767. 2 parts in one volume in-12, marbled calf, smooth spine decorated, red edges (Binding of the period). Extremely rare French first edition of the first Gothic novel, a genre that was to become extremely popular in Europe. The French translation, based on the second English edition, was written by Marc-Antoine Eidous. "Walpole's novel is so special that we admire it a little more each time we reread it. A veritable literary tour de force, this short novel is part of several genres, or at least foreshadows them. A tale of terror, a fine example of fantasy literature, it is also a historical novel...; it is also a novel of adventure, a story of thwarted love, and it also anticipates the emergence of a new type of fiction, which will become detective literature" (Alain Morvan). A very fine copy in contemporary binding with the engraved bookplate of Horace Walpole. However, there is no guarantee that this is the author's copy. Discreet restoration to a headpiece and at the foot of the first cover. Martin-Mylne-Frautschi, 67.53 - Hazen, 55 - Lévy, 77-142 - Loliée, n°616 - Oberlé, n°1 - Alain Morvan, Frankenstein et autres romans gothiques, Pléiade, 2014, pp. 1260-1261.