Uniquely bizarre, unsettling and suffused with a sly with and outright laughter, Walpole's Hieroglyphic Tales - according to him 'incontestably the most ancient work in the world' - are some of the rarest writings of the eighteenth century, and a literary counterpart to the sham battlements and paper gargoyles of Walpole's enchanting architecture. This edition was prepared by Professor Kenneth Gross of the University of Rochester, and includes an extra story preserved only in manuscript transcribed specially for his edition. Professor Gross's introduction explores the unique character and importance of these Tales.