Book of materials, 1759, 1771, 1786

A collection of notes by Horace Walpole over the course of three years -- 1759, 1771, 1786 -- on a very wide range of topics. The volumes for 1759 and 1771 include: notes on books he is reading; observations about historical events and historical figures are interspersed with observations about current political topics and prominent social figures. His strong interest in art is reflected in the predominance of his observations on architecture, painters, paintings, prints, and printmakers; descriptions of fine houses, their contents and owners; clippings from newspapers: notices of forthcoming auctions and newly published books of or about art and artists; poems celebrating artists; death notices of artists and printmakers as well as poetry celebrating the lives of artists. The volume for 1786 also includes observations about books that Walpole is reading, generally on antiquarian topics, English history, etc.; anecdotes about his friends and prominent society figures; comments on historical events, including debates on the slave and trade and the events in France; thoughts on Samuel Johnson, Shakespeare, Joshua Reynolds, Fanny Burney, Lady Lyttleton, Lord North, Lord and Lady Salisbury, Mrs. Clive, and other prominent public figures of the period; fragments of epigrams and poems