Author(s): Clara Reeve; James Trainer (Editor); James Watt (Introduction by)

Classic Fiction

The Old English Baron is an early Gothic novel by the English author Clara Reeve. It was first published under this title in 1778, although it had anonymously appeared in 1777, and is considered a major influence in the development of Gothic fiction.Reeve noted in the 1778 preface that..."This Story is the literary offspring of The Castle of Otranto, written upon the same plan, with a design to unite the most attractive and interesting circumstances of the ancient Romance and modern Novel, at the same time it assumes a character and manner of its own, that differs from both; it is distinguished by the appellation of a Gothic Story, being a picture of Gothic times and manners."Originally, Reeve presented the story, as Walpole had done before her, as an old manuscript she had merely discovered and transcribed.